Currently elected to stay home due to the Covid outbreak so I figured it’s a great time to get caught up on some wildlife habitat around my home place/farm. My driveway coming in to the house is roughly half mile long and I’ve been needing to cut the trees and brush back along the edges. Been seeing more rabbits than usual so I figure I’m going to strategically build brush piles while doing it and try placing them no farther than 50ft apart. This is something I’d like to also start implementing in other places throughout my farm. Hoping I’ll see a little boost in my rabbit population!

Very cool! That base of larger limbs and rocks if you have them is a key component of a well built brush pile. You motivated me to build a couple tomorrow in a new spot.

If you take the time and build them right ... with the big logs stacked at base, big, and very dense piles ... 2 to 3 piles is a solid days worth of work!

They sure like my outside wood piles. Stacks of unsplit rounds.

I try to select an area that is high and dry. Provide some good shelter where they can hide from predators and you will grow a resident population of rabbits. As Ricky has said build them right....

I have several nice Clover plots on my place and a couple wheat,rye,oat plots for the deer. Think I’m going to try doing brushpiles along the edges of these also.

Knew a guy that used to use car hoods. Lay em down where a rabbit could get under them and then pile some dirt on em them top with brush.

Said he covered with dirt first so a coyote wouldn't scratch directly on the metal and scare the bunny out.

Don't know how it worked but he had quite a few of them scattered around.

Been doing the same with brush around my place. Trying to give them a hide-out from the hawks. The bigger timber at the bottom is a good idea but with my OCD I would have a hard time not cutting those pieces to stove length 😁

Also going to leave some hedge rows when we do hay this year. Planted trees in the future hedgerow couple weeks ago. Mostly red cedar, some pine, beech, and persimmon.

I have done similar to those in your pics. Also made a similar pile with a plastic half barrel set up in the bottom of the pile to make sure of a dry spot for shelter. We only have snowshoe hares here, but they seem to use them.

Interesting idea.

I have built a bunch of those over the years. Those base logs are the key to a good brush pile they will use. Yours look great and the rabbits will use them.

I love seeing folks making rabbitat. It seems all anyone is interested in anymore is deer hunting east of the Rockies. I call myself a beagler not a rabbit hunter because I'm in it for the my pack of hounds. I'v shot one rabbit and one hare in the last 5 years. A dead rabbit leaves no tracks. I've done a lot of work as well to try to improve the cover for rabbits and even hare where I hunt. Keep up the great work guys!!

Robster, you remind me of my youth in the 60’ & 70’s. My dad always had 2 beagles and we hunted cottontails every weekend in the Mohawk Valley, south from October 1 until the southern tier deer season and then hunted snowshoes up on Tug Hill until mid-March.

Shawlerbrook, I'm on the North side of Oneida Lake. I hunt cottontail in southern Onondaga County and Hare across the Tug, north of the Tug near Carthage, Croghan and Castorland and across to Inlet. My kids are grown up and out of the house and that's what I do from August 15th when the running season opens until April 15th when the running season closes. If I'm not with the dogs, I
'm on the horse riding. A lot of times I combine the two!!

I love habitat augmentation!!!!
All part of being stewards of the land.

You inspired the boys and I to build 2 today. the first came out great, the second was sorta spare parts... We have a mountain of hawks, cats, fox, and racoons, so rabbits are like hens teeth here. We'll see.

Took the kids for a four wheeler ride to check the persimmon trees I planted and jumped a rabbit at one of the brush huts I made. I was worried the spot wasn’t dry enough, but apparently they like it. 😁

Always nice to see a little pay back and appreciation from the critters. I think it makes a difference.

Just had a new 40ac we bought logged pretty heavy. Looking to dot the hillside with piles like this from the tops. 'Twould love to have a few more rabbits around.

It’s getting close to that time fellas! Now that my deer hunting is coming to an end I’m anxious to go hit the woods, field edges, and fence rows to see if my rabbit condos are holding them bunnies!!

I hear ya, been jumping a few rabbits here and there walking to the deer stand. The fresh coat of white stuff this morning just about got my legs churning through the briars, but had to work. Then sat the evening for deer and filled my last buck tag.

I ended up building about a dozen rabbit condos and had my neighbor who does my hay leave a few hedge rows. Planted a bunch of cedar and maple trees. Definitely seeing more rabbits which is rewarding. Now if I could only do something about the hawks.

cool idea, do you rabbit hunt at all?

Our population down in central Ga has dwindled, the days of killing 20 or more are over, lucky to scratch out a few now no matter where we hunt. Coyotes are worse than ever.

I have quite the bamboo patch at our new house, been cutting down and hauling off, bet I could get a bunch of these condos going with it.

I have built quite a few over the years utilizing several methods;

1. Standard brush pile with larger Osage Orange or Black Locust as a base. These rot resistant trees will stay viable for years, as fenceposts 50 year mark is nothing
2. Cut barrels in half and then cover with brush, I usually utilize 4" plastic pipe in the ends for a chute
3. Stack up old oak pallets (Pine rots too quickly) with good hole in the center, cover with a waterproof fabric and then brush

I talked to the local wildlife management officers and they stated these are the most effective however rabbits need salt. If legal in your area, place salt/blocks in your rabbitat and you will notice large increase in offspring. They stated they will produce and raise up to three times the amount if they have salt.

For #3, I you stacking them in a circle so that there is not pallet in the middle? I may be able to source some pallets cheap, so this appeals to me.

Never heard the salt deal, explains why I get a ton of rabbits on the trail camera at my mineral stations during the summer.

They suggest elevating the pallets off the ground with stones/bricks however I have been either been placing two of them flat on the ground facing each other or elevated on top of small logs (they will last longer since not in contact with wet ground). I ensure the ends with the pallet forks openings are facing each other (provides rabbit runs), separate the pallets by about 2/3 length of the pallets and place one on top to cover gap between the two, place your salt in the gap (where legal). I had large sheets of thick rubber that I cut and placed on top of pallets that protects the salt if you use it as well as helps to preserve the pallets, I then cover them in a wide area with brush. If you have rabbits in the area, they will immediately start using.

I have also made some out of cinder blocks, form a circle with some of the openings facing outwards, lay a roof on top and then brush. You can essentially utilze anything availble to provide structure and a base. Attached is a link from Indiana DNR that further explains different practices;

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/Wildlife_Brushpile_Jobsheet.pdf

Ditto’s from a life long rabbit hunter to you guys for going out there and trying to help out ol’ bugs. He needs all the help he can get.
My boys and I made a couple of good brush piles a while back and we are in the process of completely cutting out a fence row leaving only three persimmons, a couple of cedar and three decent size oaks.
When I was a kid (80’s), this fence row was always good for a couple of rabbits and sometimes a covey of quail. The past 35 years the trees have gotten so big that they have shaded out all the undergrowth leaving no cover for any small game so the plan is to cut it all out and let it “brush” up again so it will hold some rabbits.
It has been an enjoyable task.

Thanks for the information. Might have a line on some free pallets to use.

Three Hoosiers talking about rabbits. Not sure where you guys are, but there are many times more rabbits in town here than in the country.

I’m in the Bedford area 70 miles south of Indy. A mix of agriculture, hills and timber.

I'm a bit south and west of there, just north of Evansville. Do most of my hunting straight south of you on 37 in Crawford Co. Patoka Lake is my cabin neighbor.

Gotcha! I came through there back in February going into Kentucky to get a bluetick beagle puppy.
My two oldest boys were at Glendale yesterday rabbit hunting. That’s not to far from you either!

I'm in the hills in SE Indiana, just north of the OH river/outside of Cincinnati OH, corners of IN/OH/KY. I grew up close to Patoka Lake, was there as a kid prior to them building it, was able to go through all of the old sites prior to them flooding it, have a lot of fishing time on that lake!. I was also at Lake Monroe about 1 1/2 months ago, wore out the wipers!

Unfortunately I have been fighting the rabbit population here, too many predators! If it's not the hawks/falcons, it's the coyote's/fox (have active management program for the coyotes), it's the mink and weasels. Seems when I make gains, the predators start their feast to include several bald eagles that have worn out my poultry/harass the wild turkeys. DNR stated to cut down the old/large trees the hawks/falcons use as hunting perch, asked him if they would simply move to another, he shrugged... Also stated to try not to have clearings/fence lines in a straight line... A lot of their management practices are geared towards gentleman farmers/recreational land owners however a lot of it is outstanding. Other than shelter and salt, getting rid of invasive fescue (not much nutrition for them and they get tangled/stuck in it when running from predators) and seeding with plants that is rabbit friendly is some of the best practices. I have not had a good beagle for quite a few years, may be time to start looking...

Good chasing!

Its not, though I've never hunted it. Need to get over there for the planted pheasants some year. Good on you for keep beagles! Grew up with a dad and grandfather who always had some beagles. Lots of good times following them along railroad ROWs and in strip pits.

Miller- Where abouts did you grow up? My BIL is from the Eckerty/Taswell area and who I own ground with. His dad helped build the lake. Kudos to you for mentioning the problems with fescue. It's is GREAT for erosion control, but not very good at all for wildlife. The endophyte free stuff is better, but still not what I'd call good.

I used to fish Patoka quite a bit for crappie. There used to be some decent rabbit hunting around there too.
Keep up the good fight with the rabbits. Cover is their best chances of survival. I wish Indiana DNR didn’t love their predators so much. I’m having bobcat issues here.
As for fescue, I have heard it makes rabbits sterile and I’ve also heard that of they eat it that it will wad up in their intestinal tract killing them.
Now I don’t know if either one of those are true but I do know that if you have a lot of fescue rabbits will be scarce.

So I gotta ask you guys since my farm has lots of fescue on it ... what keeps my hillsides and waterways from eroding if I were to kill off the fescue?? I’d love more than anything to make my place as rabbit friendly as possible but at same time I hate dealing with soil erosion.

Yes. Kind’ve a catch-22 situation. Maybe look into some Egyptian Wheat, Bi-colored Lespedeza or Prairie Grass. The DNR might be able to give you some guidance.
The trick is not replacing it with something else but getting rid of the stuff.

Lots of options, but it depends on a few things like degree of slope, soils, your management options, and tolerance for certain species. if by waterway, these are constructed grassed waterways as designed by the NRCS for CRP you'll probably have to keep them in fescue to stay in the program. Most any perennial grass species would help mitigate erosion, but it's hard for me to say for certain without knowing your farm. Lots of pasture mixtures that include legumes and grass species like orchard grass and smooth brome would likely be more more rabbit friendly than fescue. Especially those with sod forming grasses. Warm season grasses (prairie grasses) would be much better for wildlife than most cool season species, but they are more expensive and harder to establish while requiring a bit more/different management. But, if you are willing to do that, they are great! Species like big bluestem, little bluestem, Indiangrass, switchgrass, etc. Often times technical and financial assistance can be had for these plantings from the DNR, NRCS, or county.

Lespedeza has been used a bunch in SW IN for mine reclamation, but I'd not suggest it. IMO/E it causes other problems down the road than other options.

I think pointer is the guy you need to talk to. Sounds like he has a good amount of experience in habitat.

Tagged for future reference.

We bought a patch of brush last week. I walked it for maybe 45 minutes the other day and got up 3 rabbits. About as many as I have gotten up off of one piece of property in the last 20 years.

Time to build some hideouts.

And updates RickyBobby?

I cant keep a rabbit on my 3 ac. plot of brush for nothing. I do have some brush pile though. I never thought of salt. I will give them plenty of salt this winter and put chunks of salt around the brush piles. Just 5 or 6 yrs. ago I had all kinds of rabbits. I shot 7 on a 3 ac. parcel behind my house and there were still a few around in spring . I figure , if I dont get them, the coyotes will. And come to think of it, I used to always put salt out for the deer and rabbits were always on the trail cam, but I have not put out salt in about 5 or six yrs. I imagine that is what was doing it. I never thought of salt.

You can solve that problem with a few traps.

Just me- I like to eat rabbit, but the
thought of a coyote stew or fried
coyote doesn't appeal to me at all

I need a few more brush piles on my place and this layout provides some nice structure underneath them. Just sharpened the chainsaw blades so will get a few of these up in Jan/Feb. Need to kill some coyotes on same trips. Sure nice jumping a few cottontails when you are walking around. Seems like they are hanging in there around my place. And have a few coveys of quail so I do think the existing piles I just tossed together are also helping.

On the state forest where I hunt in Virginia, the clear cut areas have huge swathes of piles of brush like that. The place is absolutely loaded with rabbits. I counted 17 one morning running in front of my truck on the road leading to the place where I park, and that was less than a two mile drive. I've never seen as many rabbits as I have this year.

Wildlife management is really pretty simple. They gotta have a safe place to live.........

Funny you say that .I have not had a fox or coyote on the trail cam since winter. Now that we got our 1st snow, sure enough, there are the fox tracks. I could have trapped them all fall but seemed there were none there and could not figure out why. I have a new trap I bought and didnt use it. I did however trap 15 coons this summer and thought that would help. I know they get baby rabbit nests too. Didint help at all. With all the coon trapped, I noticed more mice however. It is very hard to trap in frozen ground and I never did that. I did get a few fox when i was a kid though.

And don't leave as many possible spots for hawks to sit. Telephone poles right over brushpules won't help.

Looks like a worthwhile project! Nice old thread

If you can get your hands on some pallets they make a great base for rabbit condos. Also help reduce the size of trees you need to drop for the bases if that's an issue. I like this document. Especially how it shows how to build in entry/exit for the bunnies.

https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Documents/brushpiles[1].pdf

Actually saw a youtube video with those. They would also work great I'd think. I didn't get that link to work but will watch for some extra pallets.

Looks like I got a new project for this summer at my cousins farm. Used to be a ton of rabbits and squirrels there but have seen a major decline in recent years. I have seen an increase in raptors of late.

Any update? Did it help?

Park a bunch of old cars out on a fence row and don’t mow around them. You’ll be covered up in rabbits!

I put out some salt but have not see a rabbit by it yet, just deer every night..I saw my first rabbit in the yard the other day though. I am sure it is the only one , but many times where there is 1 there is 2 ... I cant get a rabbit population no matter how hard I try...

I put out some salt blocks out this spring and now am seeing a lot more rabbit tracks and a few more rabbits. I think the salt helped and will keep putting more out along with brush piles .