North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[PermacultureNo1@aol.com]

Torn, the path with the snow blower  is a great idea!  Of course I can't use 
it here in Florida, but I'll pass it along to my daughter in N. Vermont.  I 
expect they will stay on the trail if they find food.  Hungry animals are 
resourceful animals.

A bit of apple in a box trap will tempt the little suckers, often, as apple 
is aromatic and appeals to many animals.  If you get a spring-loaded box 
trap, you have to hold it open if you happen to catch a fox (also like 
apples) and want to release him/her.  If you get the type where the hinged 
end just falls into place by gravity, you will likely catch almost as many 
rabbits.  It will take the flesh of at least a dozen rabbits to pay you back 
for the trap, not counting trees saved.  You can strew ofal around the trees 
at night to attract predators to that area.  A little fox or hound piss 
around the area will help as a repellant and will avoid the difficulty of 
trying to burry guts, etc., in frozen ground.  (Of course they are great for 
YOUR dog.  I had a dog that lived for years on rabbits and woodchucks he 
caught for us.  Best dog I ever had!  I ran a community farm for youth 
outside of Boston and I made it a punisable offense for anyone to feed that 
dog.  Like I said, hungry animals are resoruceful animals.

For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since 
1982), Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses, 
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and annual correspondence 
courses via email.  Join our current online course, in progress. Copyright, 
2000, Dan & Cynthia Hemenway, P.O. Box 52, Sparr FL 32192 USA  Internships. 
BarkingFrogsPC@aol.com 
 http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames.html
or
http://www.permaculture.net/~EPTA/Hemenway.htm
We don't have time to rush.

A list by topic of all Yankee Permaculture titles may be found at 
http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/ypc_catalog.html   
-------------------
In a message dated 12/25/00 12:06:49 PM, tolenio@sentex.net writes:

<< Hi All,

I noticed something in the habits of a rabbit that passes
through my back yard almost nightly.

1)  It usually follows the same route.
2)  If there is a path in the snow, the rabbit  sticks to
the path

I only noticed this, as this season it is snowing most every
other day, and I can observe the rabbit tracks in the
morning.

With these observations, I used my snow blower to make a
path through the snow that bypasses my fruit trees and berry
bushes.  I started the path where the rabbit usually enters,
and ended it where it usually exits my backyard.

With a snow cover of about 18 inches right now, my path
makes a shoot that directs the rabbits through and away from
my seedlings, currants, and grapes..

Does anyone know for sure if rabbits do indeed follow the
same nightly foraging route?

This technique is working for me so far, but it will only
work as long as the snow is deep enough.

Just finished my calculations to see if the dog will survive
chocolate poisoning (hopefully, not a yearly ritual with
small kids).  There is a formula if anyone needs to
calculate it.

Oh yes...  The dog will live to chase rabbits another day.
I am keeping my fingers crossed on the vomiting and diarrhea
though.  8^)

Merry Christmas,

Tom
--
Thomas Olenio
Ontario, Canada
Hardiness Zone 6a
 >>


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