Is it possible to take an area that doesn't hold many rabbits and turn it into a good running grounds? I have 62 acres in Ky that consists of a large cedar thicket, open fescue fields that havn't been mowed for two years and are starting to thicken up with scrub brush, small stands of woods, and two ponds. The adjacent land is deep valleys with cedar and woodland mix. Plenty of deer, turkey, and squirrels. I'm lucky to find 3 rabbits on a good day in the whole area. I want to attract more rabbits. I'm not much on farming but I do have a tractor, two bladed plow, and and old disk. What is best to plant, how and when to plant it? I wouldn't think the soil is very fertile in the area. What type of fertilizer should I use.
If anyone has done anything similar to this, how have the results been and how long did it take to establish a good population. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Rabbit Habitat
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
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BB Man
Rabbit Habitat
I would recommend liming your soil. Cedar trees grow where the soil is acid. I would also plow some strips and put a mixture of blue grass and clovers with some oats. When the clovers and blue grass are started you should keep the paths mowed. Also put in some strips of oats and let them mature. You would be supprised how the rabbits love the oat patches, especially the young rabbits. I would plan a schedule of turning over some of the grounds on a regular basis. If we all look back, the best hunting was in the first three to ten years after a farm started to grow up after it was taken out of farming. Also I would check the predator problem.
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jackrabbit
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make some big changes.
first thing to do is cut lots of those ceder trees and make rabbit brush piles. put them close to a woodline that gives them room to run for a fast get away, and close to feeding areas. several big brush piles spread over the property is best. second, get rid of that fesue. its poor food or shelter, and it crowds out the good food that rabbits need. like was said early do some strip disking and also plant some grain food plots. perhaps besides clover plant some corn, sorghum, or wheat.... or a little of all three. also close to or inside your brush piles put salt. you can get it at the farm supply store. work your habitat in about 20 acre patches. man with that much ground you could have a rabbit haven in no time at all.
this i feel is worth sayng twice..... eradicate that fescue.... it is a big problem.
jackrabbit
this i feel is worth sayng twice..... eradicate that fescue.... it is a big problem.
jackrabbit
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CW
pen
Also, get rid of the fescue in the immediate area. It has no value to rabbits and can harm a rabbit's health due to fungus and potential digestive tract trouble. Take your tractor and plow some barren stips through the area. This will provide early succesional vegetation in the spring that rabbits need. Keep these strips as narrow as possible and adjacent to cover. Spend lots of your time providing cover in the form of briars or brush piles.
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jackrabbit
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nasty stuff it seems
purdue did a study and so did a couple other animal/ag. schools. they made several small plots of habitat of diffierant types. the best ones got 4 to 6 rabbits per acre..... two of them got over grown by fescue and they ended up abandoning them because they couldnt get rabbits to stay in it.
if you can till it under and plant some of the feed and seed mentioned, along with cutting the ceder and making bunny piles out of them you would be well on your way to getting the rabbits back. and by adding the salt now, your property would be ready for really large litters spring followiong this one. by the way when are we all invited down to help you run some of them wascally wabbits.....lol.
if you can till it under and plant some of the feed and seed mentioned, along with cutting the ceder and making bunny piles out of them you would be well on your way to getting the rabbits back. and by adding the salt now, your property would be ready for really large litters spring followiong this one. by the way when are we all invited down to help you run some of them wascally wabbits.....lol.
endophyte free grass seed
i pulled this off the net...... if you are interested in introducing planting to your grounds here is a great site for starters http://www.ernstseed.com
also you may be interested in pulling a soil sample (composit of the whole area) and sending it to your county extension ag. office they may help...
Both grass seed growers and livestock producers can benefit by grazing animals on grass seed fields and feeding grass seed straw. However, problems can develop if livestock consume turf varieties of tall fescue and perennial ryegrass. Some turf varieties are infected with high levels of endophyte, which produces toxins harmful to livestock.
What is endophyte?
Endophyte is a fungus that lives inside the grass plant. The relationship between grass and endophyte is symbiotic; that is, it benefits both. Although, the endophyte does not harm the grass, it produces toxins that are harmful to livestock. Since it does not affect the appearance of the grass plant, its presence can be detected only by laboratory analysis.
Some grass varieties grown for turf seed have high levels of endophyte. The reason is that infected plants can have increased growth, increased drought tolerance, and resistance to certain insects-qualities for which plant breeders select.
All of the forage varieties of tall fescue and perennial ryegrass produced in Oregon, however, are endophyte-free or have very low levels of endophyte. Breeders of forage varieties have been selecting out infected fields since the 1970s, when the connection between endophyte in tall fescue and a livestock disease called fescue toxicity was discovered.
Endophyte is transmitted only by seed, and its entire life cycle takes place inside plant tissues. A plant does not become infected from its neighbors. Therefore, a stand of a noninfected variety will remain noninfected. If it is over-seeded with an infected variety, only the new plants will be infected. A stand of an infected variety cannot be cured with an application of fungicide.
Different species of endophyte infect tall fescue and perennial ryegrass, and they produce different toxins. Acremonium coenophialum infects tall fescue, and the major toxin is ergovaline. Acremonium lolii infects perennial: ryegrass, and the major toxin is lolitrem B.
Until recently, it was thought that ergovaline was present only in tall fescue. However, an Oregon State University survey of Willamette Valley grass seed straw found that the perennial ryegrass straws had an average ergovaline content higher than the tall fescue-214 parts per billion (ppb) in the perennial ryegrass and 86 ppb in the tall fescue. Of the tall fescue fields sampled, 14 percent had ergovaline levels higher than 200 ppb, while 42 percent of the perennial ryegrass fields had ergovaline levels higher than 200 ppb. The study sampled grass seed straw collected from 122 tall fescue fields and 136 perennial ryegrass fields during the summer of 1991.
Disease symptoms in livestock
Tall fescue toxicity is caused by the toxin ergovaline. The effects on livestock include hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), lower feed intake and weight loss, lower pregnancy rates, and decreased milk production. These clinical signs, although more apparent during hot weather, can occur at any time of the year. Horses are especially prone to developing serious reproductive problems--abortions, difficult births, and foal deaths.
Another disease condition, fescue foot, is more apparent in the winter. Animals with this condition have swelling in the legs and restricted blood flow to the feet, which causes tissue to die and hooves to detach from the feet. Tissue death because of restricted blood flow also can occur at the tips of the tail and ears.
Ryegrass staggers is caused by the toxin lolitrem B. Most affected animals show no clinical signs unless they are excited. However, when they try to run, they experience problems ranging from tremors to severe incoordination and falling down. This condition occurs most commonly in sheep grazing perennial ryegrass as their only feed. A 7- to 14-day exposure is required. The clinical signs usually disappear in 2 to 3 days if the animals are removed from the feed, but sometimes can last as long as 2 weeks.
Documented cases of tall fescue toxicity and ryegrass staggers have occurred in Oregon. Hyperthermia is common in cattle grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures in the southeastern states, where summer temperatures are higher than in Oregon
ant.
cgmlawns@yahoo.com
also you may be interested in pulling a soil sample (composit of the whole area) and sending it to your county extension ag. office they may help...
Both grass seed growers and livestock producers can benefit by grazing animals on grass seed fields and feeding grass seed straw. However, problems can develop if livestock consume turf varieties of tall fescue and perennial ryegrass. Some turf varieties are infected with high levels of endophyte, which produces toxins harmful to livestock.
What is endophyte?
Endophyte is a fungus that lives inside the grass plant. The relationship between grass and endophyte is symbiotic; that is, it benefits both. Although, the endophyte does not harm the grass, it produces toxins that are harmful to livestock. Since it does not affect the appearance of the grass plant, its presence can be detected only by laboratory analysis.
Some grass varieties grown for turf seed have high levels of endophyte. The reason is that infected plants can have increased growth, increased drought tolerance, and resistance to certain insects-qualities for which plant breeders select.
All of the forage varieties of tall fescue and perennial ryegrass produced in Oregon, however, are endophyte-free or have very low levels of endophyte. Breeders of forage varieties have been selecting out infected fields since the 1970s, when the connection between endophyte in tall fescue and a livestock disease called fescue toxicity was discovered.
Endophyte is transmitted only by seed, and its entire life cycle takes place inside plant tissues. A plant does not become infected from its neighbors. Therefore, a stand of a noninfected variety will remain noninfected. If it is over-seeded with an infected variety, only the new plants will be infected. A stand of an infected variety cannot be cured with an application of fungicide.
Different species of endophyte infect tall fescue and perennial ryegrass, and they produce different toxins. Acremonium coenophialum infects tall fescue, and the major toxin is ergovaline. Acremonium lolii infects perennial: ryegrass, and the major toxin is lolitrem B.
Until recently, it was thought that ergovaline was present only in tall fescue. However, an Oregon State University survey of Willamette Valley grass seed straw found that the perennial ryegrass straws had an average ergovaline content higher than the tall fescue-214 parts per billion (ppb) in the perennial ryegrass and 86 ppb in the tall fescue. Of the tall fescue fields sampled, 14 percent had ergovaline levels higher than 200 ppb, while 42 percent of the perennial ryegrass fields had ergovaline levels higher than 200 ppb. The study sampled grass seed straw collected from 122 tall fescue fields and 136 perennial ryegrass fields during the summer of 1991.
Disease symptoms in livestock
Tall fescue toxicity is caused by the toxin ergovaline. The effects on livestock include hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), lower feed intake and weight loss, lower pregnancy rates, and decreased milk production. These clinical signs, although more apparent during hot weather, can occur at any time of the year. Horses are especially prone to developing serious reproductive problems--abortions, difficult births, and foal deaths.
Another disease condition, fescue foot, is more apparent in the winter. Animals with this condition have swelling in the legs and restricted blood flow to the feet, which causes tissue to die and hooves to detach from the feet. Tissue death because of restricted blood flow also can occur at the tips of the tail and ears.
Ryegrass staggers is caused by the toxin lolitrem B. Most affected animals show no clinical signs unless they are excited. However, when they try to run, they experience problems ranging from tremors to severe incoordination and falling down. This condition occurs most commonly in sheep grazing perennial ryegrass as their only feed. A 7- to 14-day exposure is required. The clinical signs usually disappear in 2 to 3 days if the animals are removed from the feed, but sometimes can last as long as 2 weeks.
Documented cases of tall fescue toxicity and ryegrass staggers have occurred in Oregon. Hyperthermia is common in cattle grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures in the southeastern states, where summer temperatures are higher than in Oregon
ant.
cgmlawns@yahoo.com
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tnbeagleman
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Just cut down some of the cedars and pile them for extra cover . Bush hog the fescue down leaving a few strips where you have the shrub brush. I would think if you have plenty of deer, turkey and squirrel that you also have a preditor problem, maybe coyote or fox , or even hawks . more cover will help with that problem. I would not think the fescue would be a large problem . There is nothing but fescue on most of the farms I hunt and we have several rabbits sometimes jump 12 or 15 a day , but an area of grain will improve wildlife habitat. Check with the wildlife agency on making an area they will sometimes give you seed and assitance if you agree to leave it that way for a period of time
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jackrabbit
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tis a real problem
actually most states have information they hand out for increasing small game and upland bird habitat, and the eradication of fesue is the first thing they recommend doing. and all the other habitat improvements i listed above.
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tnbeagleman
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Hey, Jackrabbit: I was not impling that the the eradication of fescue wasn't good, or even questioning the facts because I am well aware or the different problems with it after all I'm a farmer with a degree in horticulture and turfgass management and a professional horticulturist with a local college, But if his area in Kentucky is like it is in East Tn. the eradication of fescue would mean redoing the whole farm. Going back and adding clover to the fescue pastures will help as well as putting in clemson clover or birdsfoot trefoil or serecia and a little winter wheat in areas . I hope you didn't think I was downgrading your reply after rereading my post I realized I didn't type all I was thinking. I was meaning you can still have plenty of rabbits with the fescue if you have enough other cover and food .
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jackrabbit
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nope, not at all.
no offense was taken at all. i do a lot of hunting and fishing in southern indiana and the folks there plant tall fescue for lawns because it is drought tolerant and they have clay ground. put the two together and you get a lawn that will not absorb rain water and in the dry weather the fesue stays green while bluegrass and ryegrass dry up and die. i was noticing that when i ran the dogs down there in the cooler summer mornings there were rabbits everywhere. after the dry summer and early fall it was almost impossible to find a rabbit in those same places. that was when i started surfing the net to get some ideas of what was happening. the research ive done all says that fesue will take over an area and ruin the habitat. it has the ability to choke out good food sources and hiding areas that the rabbits need. the ceder does the same thing. it does not leave the small game with suitable protection or food. so the two combined leaves much to be desired as rabbit habitat. but at least the ceder has the potential once cut to be great bunny pile hiding places, and i didnt mean to indicate that all the areas needed to be eradicated either, though i see it looked as though i was saying just that. most hunting areas have habitat that the carrying capacity for bunnies is high and other spots where you jump few rabbits. i dont think a clover field the size of a football field in 78 acres would quite do the job. if say twenty acres were worked into great habitat, along with salt supplimentation the number of rabbits would increase and so would litter size. within three seasons the rabbit population would increase tremedously. and as you already know its not a do now and forget it project. diferant areas should be worked in subsequent years in sort of a rotation basis. sorry about the misunderstanding also. we are both saying the same thing just from a differant prosective. i do think that if "what is not ceder is fesue" as was stated it would be well worth the effort to have the fescue plowed under and strips of sorgham, clover, and wheat be planted. and with the added cut ceder brushpiles.... WOW... he might check to see if kentucky has a program like indiana has to help suppliment the cost.
jackrabbit
jackrabbit
The Ky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife came out a couple of years ago and gave me some ideas. Their main thing was get rid of the fescue by means of spraying with roundup. Of course that would take a big sprayer. The biologist said the state had a sprayer they would loan out........yeah good luck on getting it, I tried. Then when I figured up the cost of roundup...geeesh, that stuff is expensive. I gave up on the wildlife biologist and put the project on hold. Now I'm ready to give it a try again.
The main question of my post was if anyone has taken a place like this and had success in attracting rabbits. How long was it before you noticed a significant increase in population? There are all kinds of ideas of things to do, but....is it true that "if you build it, they will come" or is it more like "this place never had many rabbits and probably never will"? Theres a place in the next county that I run dogs on. Same type land, same type cover.......full of rabbits.????????
The idea of a football sized area converted to native grasses is moreless to see if it attracts rabbits better as opposed to just the grown up fescue fields. If those two or three rabbits on the place are always hanging around the reverted area then you can bet I would try doing it more on the property. Maybe it's a so so idea, but its worth a shot. Not too many flat places bigger than a football field to try it on.
We're finally starting to get some decent weather here and I'm itching to get started on this! Thank you fellows for you input, you've been very helpfull.
The main question of my post was if anyone has taken a place like this and had success in attracting rabbits. How long was it before you noticed a significant increase in population? There are all kinds of ideas of things to do, but....is it true that "if you build it, they will come" or is it more like "this place never had many rabbits and probably never will"? Theres a place in the next county that I run dogs on. Same type land, same type cover.......full of rabbits.????????
The idea of a football sized area converted to native grasses is moreless to see if it attracts rabbits better as opposed to just the grown up fescue fields. If those two or three rabbits on the place are always hanging around the reverted area then you can bet I would try doing it more on the property. Maybe it's a so so idea, but its worth a shot. Not too many flat places bigger than a football field to try it on.
We're finally starting to get some decent weather here and I'm itching to get started on this! Thank you fellows for you input, you've been very helpfull.
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jackrabbit
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sure will
lance. the idea of if you build it they will come is true on a bit differant slant. with the rabbits if you build it the few rabbits you have will reproduce bigger litters, and more of them will stay in the area to reproduce again and again. what you will find is that most litters are four to six bunnies, and one doe can have three to five litters per summer. the first two litters will be able to have litters of their own the first summer. when the food is plentiful, and the there is plenty of cover to hide in the rabbits stay and mulitiply consistantly. if you got just four does to reproduce 5 young and multiply that by four litters . then factor in that the first 8 litters will have at least one litter each. you would have about 60 rabbits the first season. you will also lose to preditors and disease about 50% of them. so you could reasonably expect about 30 rabbits in the fall from that original 4 does. whether you hunt them or not you will lose about 80% each year. so of that 30 in the fall only about 6 will be left to reproduce in the spring. so now its beginning to sink in that the better the habitat for reproducing, holding, and protecting the rabbits the higher the carrying capacity becomes. obviously the more rabbits that are in an area in the fall, the larger the number of breeders left in the spring. by the second season of habitat improvement you will see a big increase in the number of cottontails . my example is pretty simple math and is not 100% accurate, but real close. it does work. my son and i did it on a small maybe 15 acre tract in our area. after the son got out of school and was busy starting a family, we let the area go and now its back to needing attention again.... looks like ill fire up the ole chain saw again this spring. dont forget to put out some salt also.... it helps increase the size of the litters also. good luck.
jackrabbit.
jackrabbit.