Rabbit Enclosure

I got several comments from folks about housing the rabbits outdoors in an enclosure, saying they'd be more worried about foxes and coyotes than hawks or owls. We have foxes, coyotes, raccoons, bobcats, and probably other predators at Palazzo Rospo that I'm not aware of. We set out to build Fort Lagomorph, and I think we've mostly succeeded, though I do see a couple of weak points. The enclosure is fenced with 4' high welded wire with 2"x4" openings. It has two strands of electric scare wire powered by a solar charger. The scare wires are at 12" and 48" high. You can click any of these photos for a larger view. The one above shows a messy looking corner, because the fence came down the hill then turned a corner and we had to cut and overlap the fence to handle the angle of descent and the turn. In the upper right corner you can see the top of the dog crate they were living in while in our mud room.


At the bottom of the welded wire, we put 2' chicken wire with 2" openings. We brought the 2' chicken wire down the bottom foot of the welded wire and then bent it so it goes out along the ground 1' from the welded wire fence. We put rocks every foot or so to hold it down. Eventually it will get covered by leaves and other debris. The chicken wire is to prevent baby rabbits from unwittingly leaving the protection of the enclosure, and to discourage coyotes and other predators from digging under.

The gate is framed in wood and covered with chicken wire. There is a concrete sill beneath the gate, to prevent dig-unders. I see two points of vulnerability here. One is that the gate is not electrified, so a predator could climb the gate if they realized there's no scare wire here. It should be easy enough to electrify the gate if we need to. The other point of weakness is that we only used chicken wire to cover the gate. I've been told that a raccoon can tear right through chicken wire, and I expect coyotes and bobcats can as well. I plan to put welded wire on the gate in addition to the chicken wire.

A third point of vulnerability is from above. We hear a lot of hawks crying and the occasional owl, but they haven't harmed the rabbits yet. Perhaps they don't like the closed-in feeling of the fence, or maybe the trees and shrubbery in the enclosure make it difficult for them to attack from above. We're considering stringing some bird netting or monofilament across the top of the enclosure anyway.

In the bottom left corner of the last photo you can see the bottom of the dog crate, turned upside down, to provide another temporary shelter for the rabbits. We put their food in there, to keep it out of the rain. We will build a permanent feeding hut after we get some other higher-priority projects taken care of. This does well for now. Their water bottle is hanging from the fence beside the gate but I don't think it shows in any of these photos. They don't drink from it. We check it daily to ensure it's clean and that water is coming out of it properly. The rabbits must be getting all the moisture they need from the grass and garden scraps they're eating, and from licking dewfall off the plants in their enclosure. We run about 80-95% humidity in the summer time here and the grass is soaked in the mornings, so there's lots of moisture available.

The rabbits seem to enjoy life in their enclosure. They sit up and look around, prairie-dog style. They run "fast like a bunny" from one side to another, in fits of exuberance or showing off. They loll about in the shade waiting on someone to peel them a grape -- it hasn't happened yet, but they're confident it's just a matter of time, you can tell.