I'm gonna get that pesky wabbit

On Tuesday I wrote about my new fruit trees, which I was delighted with.
Unfortunately, after a couple of days away from home, I returned to find those damn wild rabbits had nibbled the bark.
I knew they had a penchant for fresh leaves and shoots but I never realised they had a tree fetish.
Luckily my other half noticed and moved them, still in their pots, behind the rabbit-proof fence surrounding my veg patch. One of them is in a bit of a sorry state.
My much wiser partner in crime is optimistic the trees will be okay. The knawing has not completely circled the trunk or branches so he thinks they have a good chance of surviving.
In the meantime, if anyone can teach me how to humanely kill a wild rabbit and safely prepare it to eat - I have a few in my garden that are starting to look awfully tasty!
As Elmer Fudd said in the Warner Bros. cartoons: "I'm gonna get that pesky wabbit!"

Wild gardens and rabbit-proof fences

When we first arrived at the new house, the garden was high with grasses and wild flowers. Consequently, it was a popular spot for butterflies, grasshoppers and rabbits.
While the butterflies are an absolute joy so see, the rabbits are a nuisance, scraping away the lawn and pooping everywhere, and with the first salad crops starting to emerge, I was concerned they might ruin those too.
One of the first tasks was to cut the grass (leaving a corner as a wild garden for the butterflies and insects), which seemed to discourage some of the less persistent bunnies.
But one in particular just wouldn't hop off. Banging on the window (me, not the rabbit) made no difference, and even when I ran outside, it would just hop beyond the back gate and peer back at me.
As unsightly as chicken and rabbit fences are, I had little choice but to protect my veg patch. Luckily I was donated some used chicken wire, which was already attached to fence posts (albeit broken ones) and, with the loan of a sledgehammer and some canny positioning of bamboo canes, I managed to hammer a rickety-looking fence around the vegetable patch.
To make sure the blighters didn't dig their way in, I pinned down the wire with tent pegs and laid old bricks around the edge. The only way those bunnies are getting in now is by pole vaulting.
The end result doesn't look the best, but it will suffice until I can decide on a better solution when I dig my additional vegetable beds.