Hey, guys!

Nya is almost a year old now! Woohoo! She's still energetic like crazy, and loves playing outside. Speaking of outside... We finally moved into a house with a fenced yard (yay!), but what we didn't realize is that there are a lot more animals we have to think about now, such as rabbits.

Well, Nya and our other dog, recently came upon a rabbit nest. We had no idea. We happened to be walking by the window and saw them chewing on something aggressively. I send my boyfriend out to take a look, and lo and behold, Nya is chomping on a poor newborn baby rabbit. We had only been gone for about an hour to get dinner, and we come back, and there are newborns. 5 of them.

Unfortunately by the time we discover them, there are only 2 left. One of which, we had to pry from Nya. They didn't eat them, but certainly would have if we had let them. We dispose of the 3 that don't make it, and put back the one Nya would have killed. We don't let them out the rest of the night because we can't figure out what to do.

Well, we decide to put a bucket on top of the nest, so we can continue to let them out. They didn't seem to bother the bucket, so we let them be. But my boyfriend moved the bucket, not realizing what he was doing, and next thing we know, Nya has killed the other two. One of which, she completely devours.

I did some Googling online about what to do if she eats one, and it seems like it's fine. But I wanted to see if anyone else had similar experience, and what to do in those situations. I know huskies have a high prey drive, and they can't help it. What do you guys do when this happens? I'm worried that rabbits will decide to have some more babies in the yard, and I don't know what the proper protocol for this is because I don't want them to not be able to go outside because of the rabbits. Any advice would be appreciated!

Part of the reason we have a husky is to keep rabbits, deer woodchucks away.  We've lived her almost 30 years and the damage these mammals do to gardens and landscaping is horrendous.  Before Ami, we had cats that ate the rabbits but there more then she could take care of and she was no way a deterrent.  One year the bunnies ate $72. of oriental lilies.  Now with a husky,  its a whole different ball game.  The foraging animals have all moved to safer ground and I am now planting apple, peach, plum and cherry trees, had my first real tomato harvest last year and my daylilies now flower...  

So, I would be grateful - those bunnies would have been feeding on your plantings.  Yes, it is disturbing when you walk down the path and see brand new bunnies strewed along...been there, done that.  A consolation  is, that the rabbits will liklely settle somewhere else and you will no longer have to worry about it

I didn't think about that. I just walked outside, and Nya just killed a squirrel. It's just all very new to me because I've never seen such a vicious act. I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

Try not to think of it as vicious - it's really a relic of a survival instinct. Nature can be brutal... survival of the fittest, the food chain and all that.

With time the smart critters will learn to stay away from the yard. Luckily most varmints reproduce in mass quantities so the population won't take a hit. Mine put a beating on the rabbits when we first got here too and now the rabbits tease them from the other side of the fence.

Bodhi has killed a mouse and almost a bird, but never a rabbit.
I'm sure he would if he was off-leash.

We walk in a natural area that's full of rabbits.
The trail that loops through it we call it the "bunny trail."
Bodhi will "bust" the rabbits, sending them back into the blackberry thickets.
One day in the fall, his predecessor Tasha busted 11 rabbits.
We call that the "Eleven Bunny Day."

Like said previously, it is a part of who they are; it isn't a vicious act, it is natural. Huskies were bred to have a high drive. Mishka has caught a dozen opossums and killed a handful. Now they don't come in the yard or use our fence as a highway through the neighborhood.

Hopefully they will learn to steer clear of your yard.