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I looked and its nest is right next to the walk going to the porch along the side of the house. Its in a bed of Johnny Jump ups, small perennial pansies. It seems very exposed and the dog might find them if she walks by and smells them.
I wouldn't shoot it but if it abandons the nest I guess I'd have to take the babies to a wildlife center or try to raise them. I've got a guinea pig who might not mind them moving in with her.
1: wild rabbits do not make good pets, they will scratch they will bite and the stress of being removed from their natural habitat and placed in a cage usually ends in death...
2: baby wild rabbits do not do well in captivity either, if you find an abandoned nest the average person doesnt have the time or energy or patients or sklls/knowledge to raise and rehabilitate orphaned rabbit kits. the stress again usually kills them
3: its not a good idea to keep a rabbit with a guinnea pig, they have completly different dietary requirments and while some folks have done it sucesfully it usually ends up with one or both of the animals not thriving or soetimes even surviving the situation.
if momma hasnt had her babies yet, throw a handfull of mothballs in there, she will decide to move all on her own...
personally i wouldnt shoot/trap it unless your 1: planning to eat it, or 2: its being a serious pest...it sounds like neither of these cases apply, but i wouldnt want a shallow rabbit nest neer your walkway either...so i personally think detering her now while she still has time to find a new nest site to have her babies is much more humane than 1: trying to catch her to turn her into a "pet" or 2: waiting untill she abandons the nest due to excess foot traffic dogs ect and then HOPING the babies survivie on bottle feedings.
We have an occasional rabbit problem depending upon the movement of local coyote packs. When the coyotes are elsewhere the rabbits multiply and strip almost all tender low vegetation. I use hardware cloth (fine mesh fencing) to keep them out of my property that adjoins the green belt. I always cheer the return of the coyotes.
I would think the dog would chase her off. Ours sits on the porch and waits until the rabbit comes near the garden and chases her off.
I let Dreifus, our German Shepherd male take care of raccoons, he's gotten three so far this year. He can get to the raccoon before they can get to the woods. Isn't really a fight to it, he'll hit them before they can make it back to a safe spot.
Hear, hear, Dusty! We had gophers and rabbits; between the two we barely had a garden. I got three barn cats from a neighboring rancher. They stay in the feed shed in the winter, and when spring comes - not a gopher, not a bun, not a squirrel, not even a snake lasts long in our yard. The cats hide out in the woodpile in the summer and go after anything not-cow, not-horse, or not-chicken (the chickens are penned due to coyotes and wild dogs anyway).
My neighbor is grateful; he used to shoot the buns with a .22, but they kept coming; our property is 60 acres of pasture behind his house and ours where they breed and live, but apparently they prefer the smorgasbord of gardens over pasture grass. Now the cats keep the buns out of his yard, too... they even go into the pasture hunting. Wild buns are a nuisance; you can talk about cute lil bunnies all you want, but when they can mow down your entire garden row in an evening, you'll think again. Cats beat lead poisoning - or any other kind - for varmints.
Get a barn cat - not one of those gussied-up indoor cats that lay on a windowsill and only eat food that is shaped like triangles or stinks in a can.
For what it is worth, I agree with foxy. She knows what she is talking about. Icy Tea I noticed foxy wrote two posts for you with basically the same information. If you follow her instructions, you shouldn't have a problem. Good luck!
Don't shoot a rabbit out of season. Why risk a fine when letting your dog chase it off will work just as well?
To help ease your conscience I'll tell you that I've read 85% of the rabbits alive at any time in a year will die before the next year so don't feel too bad whatever you decide to do.
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