Hopping into trouble

Learn how to manage these furry foragers before your garden becomes their next feast

n author Lewis Carroll’s book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the young girl asks the White Rabbit “How long is forever?” To which he responds, “Sometimes, just one second.”

As the summer days saunter along for what may seem like forever, the reality is even this season too shall pass. Before it does, three species of Oklahoma rabbit will be actively repopulating across the state until September: cottontail, swamp and the black-tailed jackrabbit.

With three to five litters possible each year for both the cottontail and swamp rabbits, and up to four litters for the jackrabbit (technically a hare), the opportunity for damage to crops, orchards and landscaping is real.

Just as every plant is not categorized a weed until it’s unwanted, every wild animal isn’t considered a nuisance until it becomes problematic. Such can be the case for rabbits.

While the hairy herbivore can help to control vegetation, an abundance of the population can overgraze a property and even harm preferred plant growth. In drier months, succulent garden plants are an easy source of needed moisture, and as cooler months eventually return newly planted trees and shrubs offer late-season needed nutrients.

Rabbits themselves can also offer food for predators such as bobcats, foxes and birds of prey.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC), rabbit hunting season for sport in the state is Oct. 1, 2025, to March 15, 2026; however, there is no open season on jackrabbits east of Interstate 35. For specified daily limits, refer to ODWC regulations.

But what options in addition to nature’s course is there to control these mammals?

The Kansas Forest Service specifically mentions four: (1) fencing; (2) tree protectors; (3) habitat modification; and (4) removal. In nuisance wildlife terminology, the first three can be exclusionary in approach and the last can involve lethal means of riddance.

Fencing can include the use of staked, galvanized poultry wire around a garden area. Tree protectors can be homemade barriers of plastic and/or wire, and should not be too tight to avoid girdling plants. They should also be 12 to 18 inches higher than expected snow depths for winter.

Alterations to the environment can include the removal of brush piles; keeping lawns mowed and trimming limbs close to the ground around trees and shrubs.

Per the ODWC website, jackrabbits and cottontail rabbits may only be taken without a nuisance wildlife control operator’s permit by individuals for non-commercial nuisance wildlife purposes after obtaining a depredation permit from their county game warden.

An Oklahoma hunting license, or proof of exemption, is required to harvest rabbits during season and may be obtained from the ODWC.