Seeing wild rabbits around your property can be hugely comforting in many cases. Indeed, wild rabbits are often a welcome sight – but when their food begins to become scarce, seeing their numbers drop can be a painful reminder. Luckily, whether you’re rehabilitating a wild rabbit as part of a rehabilitation center or simply wanting to make sure your local population of wild rabbits have plenty of food to enjoy, we’ve outlined some of the best foods for wild rabbits you should know about.
Contents
- 22 Best Foods for Wild Rabbits
- 1. Grass
- 2. Hay
- 3. Hay Blocks
- 4. Herbs
- 5. Leafy Greens
- 6. Broccoli Stems
- 7. Clover
- 8. Tree Leaves
- 9. Cauliflower Stalks
- 10. Cucumber
- 11. Dandelions
- 12. Grapes
- 13. Watercress
- 14. Nettles
- 15. Strawberries
- 16. Deseeded Apple
- 17. Bramble Leaves
- 18. Straw
- 19. Blueberries and Blackberries
- 20. Bark
- 21. Rabbit Food
- 22. Alfalfa Pellets
- Final Thoughts
22 Best Foods for Wild Rabbits
If you want to make wild rabbits feel at home, the following 22 food options could be excellent ideas to consider.
But remember: a wild rabbit is exactly that – wild. So, even with the tastiest rabbit buffet, there’s no guarantee they will visit your garden, especially if you are nearby watching. While wild rabbits may become less wary of you with time, at the outset, they’re likely to flee as soon as they see you.
1. Grass
Wild rabbits are grazing animals, and grass makes up a significant amount of their diet. As such, if you want to give them an all-you-can-eat buffet, starting with a well-maintained (chemical-free!) grass garden is a good option to consider.
It’s worth considering here that your regular lawn will be low in nutrition for rabbits, so ideally, try to plant a more nutritious grass, like meadowgrass or ryegrass.
2. Hay
As an alternative to grass, you could always consider putting out a very small amount of hay for wild rabbits. They may not necessarily eat it immediately, but if food supplies become scarce, hay may be a good option to help keep wild rabbits fed.
3. Hay Blocks
As well as fresh hay, if you want to make less mess in your garden, you could leave out small hay blocks. These are ultra-compressed blocks of hay, making them excellent long-lasting foods for visitors to your garden.
4. Herbs
While they may not provide much in the way of nutrition, if you have any fresh herbs, these can be excellent to mix into an offering of fresh leafy greens.
5. Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are a popular option for those wanting to feed wild rabbits. Make sure leafy greens are clean and fresh – spoiled veggies may not be a good option for wild rabbits to eat!
6. Broccoli Stems
If you have any leftover broccoli stems, you might just find that these make an excellent option for your wild rabbits. Broccoli stems are packed with goodness, making for a tasty treat. However, try to avoid feeding wild rabbits the flower of the broccoli; the stems and leaves are the safest parts to avoid bloating.
7. Clover
As an excellent protein source, clover is another brilliant option to consider if your wild rabbits need a little extra nutritional support. You could either grow clover directly for your wild rabbits, or otherwise pick it from elsewhere and leave it out.
8. Tree Leaves
One foodstuff that also surprises many people is the idea that tree leaves can actually make an excellent foodstuff for rabbits. Make sure you check that your chosen type of tree if safe.
9. Cauliflower Stalks
As with broccoli, feeding wild rabbits cauliflower stalks and leaves can also be a delicious treat. Avoid the flower and always introduce this slowly to ensure your wild rabbits don’t end up getting ill.
10. Cucumber
While it’s not necessarily packed with energy, cucumber can be a tasty and very refreshing treat for your wild rabbits. Better still, rabbits are usually happy to take the end pieces we often don’t want!
11. Dandelions
Dandelions are a much loved treat for many wild rabbits. As such, if you come across any fresh dandelions (especially dandelion leaves) during your travels, picking them and leaving them out for the wild rabbits in your garden could be an excellent option to consider.
12. Grapes
Similarly to berries, rabbits will often be highly appreciative of grapes. However, don’t leave out more than a couple of grapes, as they’re pretty substantial and indulgent for wild rabbits.
13. Watercress
If you want to tempt wild rabbits into your garden, watercress is a brilliant option to consider. Not only is it delicious for wild rabbits, but it’s exceptionally easy to grow in your own home.
14. Nettles
Did you know that rabbits will often eat nettles? Nettles, especially when dried out to help them lose their sting, can be a brilliant and nutritious food overall.
15. Strawberries
They’re very rich by wild rabbit standards, so make sure not to leave out too many. However, strawberries can offer your wild rabbits with a brilliant source of energy; in fact, a single strawberry meets a decent amount of a rabbit’s daily needs.
16. Deseeded Apple
Apples are a popular favorite of rabbits – but the seeds contained within apples aren’t always safe. If you want to leave out some apples, make sure you remove the seeds first to keep your visitors safe.
17. Bramble Leaves
Bramble leaves offer a brilliant option for people wanting to tempt wild rabbits into their gardens. Not only are they relatively easy to source, but feeding bramble leaves to wild rabbits can also help tidy up your garden simultaneously.
18. Straw
Technically speaking, wild rabbits can actually have straw as part of their diet. However, keep in mind that straw is nutritionally poor. So, this shouldn’t really make up much of your offering!
19. Blueberries and Blackberries
If you want a treat type of food to leave out for wild rabbits, a small amount of berries could be a good option. Blueberries and blackberries are popular options, especially, but don’t leave too many of these out, as this could leave the rabbits at risk of sickness.
20. Bark
It’s not the most appetizing source of food, but when resources are scarce, you may find that wild rabbits will begin eating bark and wood.
21. Rabbit Food
While you can always offer natural foodstuffs, it’s worth noting that you could always just feed wild rabbits commercial rabbit food. However, it’s important to tidy this away regularly, as it will likely also attract pests to your garden.
22. Alfalfa Pellets
If you’ve been looking for an easy way to top up your wild rabbits’ diets, alfalfa pellets might be ideal. Indeed, these excellent pellets are both easy to feed and incredibly delicious for rabbits.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been looking to keep your local wild rabbit population well-fed, today’s options for the best foods could really help. Of course, it’s important to recognize that wild rabbits’ diets should be based on herbivorous foodstuffs, as they would enjoy in their natural habitat.
Remember: if you start feeding your local wild rabbit population, try to ensure that you keep a regular supply of food available; otherwise, your rabbits may come to depend on this, struggling to fill the gap in forage in the interim.
