Do bird feeders attract rabbits?

The short answer

• Yes, but only the seed on the ground. Penn State says rabbit damage occurs primarily within 2.5 ft of the ground, so a hanging feeder is out of reach and the spill under it is the meal.
• In a camera study of 58 North Carolina yards, cottontails were among the common species at feeders, and feeding had the strongest effect of any yard feature on how many animals used a yard.
• Keep them off the drop zone with an open-topped ring of 1 in mesh about 24 in high, bottom staked or buried a few inches. Juncos and doves fly over it. In jackrabbit country, NMSU says 30 to 36 in.
• Winter is the season. Rabbits come to feeders when green food is gone and clip shrubs at snow height, so guard any shrub near the feeder with a hardware cloth cylinder that rises 20 in above your expected snow (ICWDM).
• Trapping rarely ends it. Cottontails live in 10 acres or less at about one to five per acre, and Penn State says neighbors fill any gap. Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York let owners remove a damaging rabbit; check before moving one.

Yes, but only through the seed on the ground. A cottontail cannot reach a hanging feeder: Penn State Extension says rabbit damage occurs "primarily within 2.5 feet above ground." What brings it in is the spill, plus anything you put on a ground tray or a low platform. Clear the drop zone, put a low ring of wire around it, and keep the feeder itself above rabbit reach plus your snow depth.

Two answers circulate. One says rabbits are grazers, eat grass and leave seed alone, so the animal under your feeder must be after something else. The other treats a rabbit at the feeder as a pest to be trapped. Both miss. Rabbits do eat seed: a Duluth naturalist, Larry Weber, described cottontails arriving consistently under winter feeders, about two hours after dusk, where seed fell below them, and in a camera study of 58 yards around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina State researchers listed cottontails among the common species at feeders. But trapping it is mostly wasted effort, for reasons below.

Is it a rabbit?#

Several animals work the ground under a feeder. The rabbit is the one that leaves stems cut like a knife did it.

Seed gone overnight with no cut stems or droppings? Start with what empties a feeder at night.

Why the feeder matters more in winter#

ICWDM describes a summer diet of flowers and vegetables and a winter diet of bark, buds and twigs. A feeder adds seed when green food is gone, which is when Weber's rabbits turned up. Missouri says winter trapping works best "because food is scarce," the same hunger working the other way.

The yard studies explain what the feeder changes and what it does not. The North Carolina work found feeding, "mainly at birdfeeders," had the strongest effect of any yard feature on how many animals used a yard. A Cornell study in Ithaca named rabbits (Lagomorpha) among the groups seed could feed, though the species it detected significantly more often at feeders were gray squirrels and raccoons. And an Arkansas study of up to 96 yards tied herbivore richness to garden area, while it was predator diversity that rose with the number of bird feeders. Read together: your garden and cover decide whether rabbits live in the yard; the feeder decides where they spend their evening, and draws the animals that hunt them, including the coyotes covered on our coyote page.

The reach numbers#

Penn State gives the figure every other rule here builds on: damage "primarily within 2.5 feet above ground," and 2 to 3 ft "depending on the snow depth in winter." ICWDM says young plants are clipped "up to 2 inches above the height of the snow." Snow is a platform. A rabbit on 18 in of packed snow reaches about 4 ft.

So our working rule: keep any seed surface higher than 2.5 ft plus your usual snow depth.

• Hanging tube or hopper. Already out of reach. Only what falls matters.
• Platform feeder on legs. A tray at 2 ft is a rabbit feeder. Raise it, or switch to a hanging platform tray.
• Ground tray. A ground feeder is open to rabbits at any height of snow. It needs the fence ring below, or nothing in it overnight.

The fence ring#

Every source we read gives the same exclusion figures for gardens, and they work as well around a feeder's drop zone.

Build it open-topped, as a circle or square around the patch of ground where hulls and seed land under a hanging feeder. Ground-feeding birds such as Dark-eyed Juncos and Mourning Doves drop in over a 24 in wall. A rabbit could in principle jump it, but every source above treats 24 in as enough for cottontails, and we found none that measured a jump. The bottom edge is the part every source tells you to stake or bury, so do not skip it.

Guard the shrubs near the feeder#

The real cost of a rabbit at the feeder is usually not the seed. It is the shrubs the birds use as cover, gnawed while the rabbit waits for the next handful. Penn State says rabbits "can severely damage landscape plants" when snow covers the ground for long periods, and ICWDM says trees and shrubs may be "completely girdled."

1. Cylinders on young trunks. Missouri uses 1/4 in hardware cloth, 18 to 24 in high, set into the ground. ICWDM says the cylinder should rise 20 in above the expected snow and stand 1 to 2 in off the trunk.
2. Snow beats short guards. Missouri warns that guards "are not effective when snow depth exceeds the height of the wire." Size them to your deepest normal snow.
3. Brush piles are a trade. Missouri says removing brush piles and debris makes a yard less suitable for rabbits. Our cover page recommends cover near feeders because birds need an escape route. Keep living shrubs, guard their stems, and move loose brush piles away from the garden rather than next to it.

What does not work#

Trapping as a cure. ICWDM puts cottontails at about one per acre, Penn State at three to five, and both say a cottontail spends its life in 10 acres or less. Penn State adds that in suburbs rabbits are numerous and mobile enough to fill the space left when others are removed, and New Mexico State says removal in one year "never guarantees" low numbers the next.

Scare devices. ICWDM says frightening devices "are not effective" for rabbits, and NMSU says electromagnetic and ultrasonic units "have not been proven effective."

Rabbit disease and pet rabbits#

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV2) kills wild cottontails, jackrabbits and hares. California's Department of Food and Agriculture dates the North American outbreak to March 2020 and reports average mortality of about 60 percent, ranging from 20 to 100. It says the virus "can persist in the environment for 4 months" and moves on objects, including feeders, and that birds and rodents can carry it. Virginia's wildlife agency says it is inactivated by a 10 percent bleach solution left on for at least 10 minutes.

This matters most if you keep rabbits. CDFA tells owners to "exclude wild rabbits from your yard," and seed spilled on the lawn does the opposite. Report dead wild rabbits to your state wildlife agency, then clean as in how to clean a bird feeder.

What the law allows#

ICWDM says rabbits are game animals in most states, protected outside hunting seasons, with some states letting owners remove those causing damage.

Where this page stops#

• Five states, no provinces. We read rules for five states. Local firearm and trapping limits apply on top, and Canada was not checked.
• Jackrabbits. The fence heights cover them; the feeder evidence here is all cottontail.
• New England. Penn State notes a second species there, the New England cottontail, which prefers forest and is "rarely a problem species."

For the rest of the cold-season changes, see winter bird feeding. If the rabbits also bring a hawk, hawks at feeders explains what the birds will do. The problems section matches every other symptom to its cause.

Frequently asked questions#

Do rabbits eat bird seed?

Yes, from the ground. A Duluth naturalist describes cottontails arriving consistently under winter feeders where seed falls, and a 58 yard camera study in North Carolina listed cottontails among the common species at feeders. Rabbits do not climb to a hanging feeder: Penn State says their damage occurs primarily within 2.5 ft of the ground. So what they eat is the spill and anything on a ground tray or a low platform.

Is bird seed bad for wild rabbits?

None of the agency or extension sources we read addresses that question, so we cannot give you a sourced answer either way. What they do agree on is what rabbits eat by choice: green plants in summer, and buds, bark and twigs in winter. Seed is an extra the feeder supplies. The practical concern is not the rabbit's diet but what a rabbit fed all winter does to the shrubs and young trees around your feeder.

How high does a fence need to be to keep rabbits out?

For cottontails, 18 to 24 in of woven wire or poultry netting with a mesh of 1 in or less, according to Missouri's Department of Conservation and New Mexico State University. ICWDM and Penn State use 24 in. Stake the bottom tight to the ground or bury it a few inches so rabbits cannot push under. Jackrabbits in the West need 30 to 36 in, per NMSU.

Can I trap a rabbit and release it somewhere else?

It depends on the state. In Ohio rabbits may be released or euthanized, and a trapped nuisance animal released off site has to go outside any city or village with the landowner's permission. Missouri and Pennsylvania let owners trap or shoot a rabbit causing damage outside the season. New Mexico does not protect cottontails under its game laws. Check your state agency first, and remember that Penn State says other rabbits fill the space anyway.

Should I worry about rabbit hemorrhagic disease at my feeder?

If you keep pet rabbits, yes. RHDV2 has killed wild cottontails, jackrabbits and hares in the United States since March 2020. California's agriculture department says the virus persists in the environment for about 4 months and spreads on objects including feeders, and it tells rabbit owners to exclude wild rabbits from the yard. A feeder that pulls wild rabbits into the yard works against that. Report dead wild rabbits to your state wildlife agency.

Sources and further reading

1. Rabbits; Rabbit Biology; Rabbit Damage Identification; Rabbit Damage Prevention and Control Methods Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management Nine cottontail species in the US; eastern cottontail 15 to 19 in, 2 to 4 lb; game animals in most states; 1-1-2 track pattern, droppings in bunches of round balls; 10 acres or less; about one per acre; 2 to 3 litters a year in the north, 5 to 6 in the south; do not dig burrows; young plants clipped up to 2 in above snow height; 24 in fence of 1 in mesh or smaller; cylinders 20 in above expected snow; frightening devices not effective; most repellents not registered for food plants; trapping best in late winter
2. Cottontail Rabbits Penn State Extension Active year round at dawn and dusk; 3 to 5 per acre; up to six litters, about five young; damage primarily within 2.5 ft, 2 to 3 ft depending on snow; 45 degree knife-like cut; 2 ft chicken wire, mesh 1 in or smaller; cylinders taller than reach on expected snow; game animals in Pennsylvania, may be trapped or shot out of season by owners when causing damage; removing rabbits one year does not keep numbers low the next
3. Cottontail Rabbit Control Missouri Department of Conservation Game mammal; damage-causing cottontails may be shot or trapped out of season without a permit (3 CSR 10-4.130); 18 to 24 in fence of 1 in mesh, staked or buried; 1/4 in hardware cloth cylinders 18 to 24 in; guards fail when snow exceeds their height; remove brush piles and debris; winter trapping more effective
4. Rabbits and Their Control in New Mexico (Guide L-210, revised December 2022) New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service Three cottontail and two jackrabbit species; fence mesh no greater than 1 in, 30 to 36 in for jackrabbits, 18 to 24 in for cottontails; cottontails live in 10 acres or less; cottontails and jackrabbits nongame and unprotected in New Mexico; white-sided jackrabbit threatened; frightening devices unproven; removal one year does not guarantee low numbers the next
5. Scientists Find That Backyards May Be Good for Wildlife (26 Oct 2020) NC State University News, on Hansen et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Cameras in 58 yards near Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill; eastern cottontails among seven species more common in yards than forest; feeding, mainly at bird feeders, had the strongest effect on animal abundance; cottontails, raccoons and opossums common at feeders
6. Supplementing non-target taxa: bird feeding alters the local distribution of mammals (Ecological Applications, 2018) J. Hunter Reed and David N. Bonter, Cornell University (abstract via Dryad and OpenAlex) Ithaca, NY; 15,684 images, 12 mammal species; seed could nourish Lagomorpha, Rodentia and Cetartiodactyla; gray squirrel and raccoon detected significantly more often at feeders, deer marginally
7. The effects of landscape and yard features on mammal diversity in residential yards within Northwest Arkansas (Urban Ecosystems, 2023) Emily P. Johansson and Brett A. DeGregorio (abstract via USGS and OpenAlex) 46 yards in 2021 and 96 in 2022; mesopredator diversity rose with the number of bird feeders; herbivore richness tied to garden area
8. Northland Nature: Cottontail rabbits in the yard (5 Jan 2013) Larry Weber, Duluth News Tribune Cottontails arriving under winter feeders where seed falls, about two hours after dusk; also eating twigs and buds
9. Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (January 2022) California Department of Food and Agriculture, Animal Health Branch RHDV2 affects cottontails, jackrabbits and hares; southwestern US outbreak from March 2020; persists about 4 months in the environment; spread on objects including feeders; birds and rodents can carry it; average mortality about 60 percent (20 to 100); exclude wild rabbits from the yard
10. Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Serotype 2: Guidance for Commercial Rabbit Breeders and Pet Rabbit Owners (rev. July 2020) Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Virus may remain infectious for months on surfaces; 10 percent bleach for at least 10 minutes; releasing domestic rabbits into the wild is illegal
11. Rule 1501:31-15-03, Nuisance wild animal control (effective 1 January 2024) Ohio Administrative Code Rabbits may be released or euthanized; other releases outside city or village limits and with landowner permission; rabbits on the list that may be killed without written permission
12. Environmental Conservation Law 11-0523 New York State Senate Cottontails injuring property on occupied farms or lands may be taken at any time by the owner or occupant, except with ferrets