Got a stubborn patch of brown grass on your lawn that just won’t grow? Well, bugs and grubs or the beating rays of the sun may not be the only reasons behind the unsightly turf.
It turns out that dry patch could be a rabbit nest burrowed beneath your lawn.
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An Ontario pest control company released a video that aims to make homeowners aware of rabbit nesting habits in order to prevent deadly consequences when it’s time to mow the yard.
“When rabbits are first born a lawnmower can go over a rabbit nest and the bunnies will be fine,” Jared Houliston of Ontario Wildlife Removal Inc. says. “But when they’re older and they can move around they’ll be scared by a lawnmower and that’s when accidents happen.”
Houliston filmed the video after a rabbit nest was discovered at a customer’s house and realized it would be the “perfect PSA opportunity” to inform the public.
“This video was worth it, because it’s probably saving a lot of rabbits,” he says.
Houliston says he typically receives between eight and 10 calls per week about rabbit nests that have been run over by lawnmowers but has been “getting a huge increase in calls” this spring regarding nests that have been discovered.
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There are several precautions homeowners can take if they discover bunnies sheltering below the ground, including leaving a six-foot ring of uncut grass around the nest and then using a weed-wacker to trim the grass closer to the nest.
Homeowners are also urged to isolate the area and protect the nest from children and family pets.
Houliston says the rabbits will generally depart their nest within three weeks, but warns other dens could form throughout the warmer months as the breeding season for rabbits runs from early spring to late summer.
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