Best Rabbit & Small-Animal Fencing

Wire Mesh Specifications

The critical specification for rabbit fencing is mesh opening size. Adult cottontail rabbits can squeeze through openings as small as 3 inches. Baby rabbits (kits) can fit through 1-inch openings. For complete rabbit exclusion including juveniles, use mesh with openings no larger than 1 inch at the bottom 12 inches and no larger than 2 inches above.

Hardware cloth (1/2-inch mesh, 19-gauge) is the most rabbit-proof fencing material available. The small mesh excludes everything from adult rabbits to juvenile chipmunks. The rigid galvanized steel resists bending and gnawing. The trade-off is cost — best used for small, high-value garden areas rather than full perimeters.

Price: $$

Welded wire fencing (1×2-inch mesh, 16-gauge) is the standard recommendation for garden perimeter rabbit fencing. The 1-inch horizontal dimension excludes juvenile rabbits, and the 2-inch vertical dimension provides adequate ventilation. Galvanized welded wire resists rust for 10 to 15 years. Vinyl-coated versions add corrosion resistance and a less industrial appearance.

Price: $–$$

Chicken wire (1-inch hexagonal mesh) works for rabbit exclusion but has significant drawbacks. The hexagonal mesh is floppy and difficult to stretch taut, the thin wire bends easily, and the galvanized coating is thinner than on welded wire. Adequate as a temporary or budget solution but outperformed by welded wire in every dimension except initial cost.

Height and Burial Requirements

Rabbit fencing needs to be 24 to 36 inches above ground. Cottontail rabbits can jump 18 to 24 inches vertically, so 24 inches is the minimum effective height. 36 inches provides a comfortable margin and also deters most groundhogs.

Below ground is equally important. Rabbits are enthusiastic diggers and will excavate under a fence that is not buried or skirted. Bury the bottom edge 6 to 10 inches deep, bending the buried portion outward in an L-shape (extending 6 inches horizontally away from the garden). The L-shape confounds digging — when a rabbit digs at the fence base and hits horizontal wire, it does not understand to dig farther out and gives up.

If burying wire is impractical, an above-ground apron achieves the same effect. Lay 12 inches of wire mesh flat on the ground extending outward from the fence base, secured with landscape staples. Weight with gravel or mulch. Rabbits approaching the fence step on the apron and cannot dig at the base.

Posts and Installation

T-posts (steel fence posts with a T-shaped cross section) are the most common support. Drive with a T-post driver at 6 to 8-foot intervals. T-posts are inexpensive, reusable, and require no concrete — they hold firmly in most soils when driven 12 to 18 inches deep. Attach wire mesh with wire clips or zip ties at 6-inch vertical intervals.

Price: $

Wood posts (4×4 pressure-treated or cedar) create a more finished appearance and provide stronger corner and gate supports. Set corner posts in concrete for rigidity — wire tension on corners is substantial.

Gate design is the weak link in most rabbit fences. The gate must seal as tightly as the fence — a 2-inch gap under the gate lets every rabbit through. Use a gate that extends to ground level with a brush sweep or flexible flap along the bottom edge. Self-closing hinges and a positive latch prevent the gate from being left open — the most common failure mode.

Electric Fence Option

A single strand of electric fence wire at 4 to 6 inches above ground deters rabbits effectively without the visual impact or cost of welded wire. The low strand targets the rabbit's nose — the first body part to contact the fence. A solar-powered fence energizer provides adequate shock (5,000 to 7,000 volts, low amperage — startling but not harmful) for rabbit deterrence.

Electric fencing requires clear vegetation management along the fence line — weeds and grass touching the wire ground out the charge. Trimming or mulching a 6-inch strip along the wire is necessary every few weeks during the growing season. For gardeners willing to maintain the wire, electric fencing provides effective exclusion at a fraction of the cost of welded wire.

Protecting Specific Garden Areas

Raised beds: Rabbit fencing around raised beds is simpler than perimeter fencing because the bed frame itself provides structure. Staple welded wire mesh to the outside of the bed frame, extending 24 inches above the bed rim and 6 inches below the frame's bottom edge (bent outward as a ground-level apron). The bed frame's height adds to the total fence height — a 12-inch-tall raised bed with 24 inches of wire above the rim creates a 36-inch barrier without tall posts.

Young trees and shrubs: Hardware cloth cylinders protect trunks and low branches from rabbit bark-chewing (girdling) during winter, when rabbits shift to woody plant material as their primary food source. Form a cylinder 18 to 24 inches tall and 6 to 8 inches in diameter around each trunk, burying the bottom edge 2 inches into the soil. Leave 2 inches of clearance between the wire and the trunk to prevent the wire from contacting bark during wind events. Remove or expand cylinders as trunks grow — a cylinder left in place can girdle the tree itself as the trunk expands.

Flower beds and borders: Ornamental gardens present a different challenge — fencing must be effective yet aesthetically acceptable. Decorative wire border fencing (18 to 24 inches tall, with ornamental top curves) provides rabbit exclusion while maintaining garden aesthetics. These fences are less secure than welded wire (wider mesh openings, no burial apron) but deter casual rabbit browsing effectively. Combine with repellent sprays on high-value plantings for additional protection.

Seasonal Considerations

Rabbit pressure peaks in two seasons: early spring (when emerging vegetation is scarce and rabbits are desperate for green food) and late fall through winter (when annual vegetation dies back and rabbits shift to bark, woody stems, and evergreen foliage). Summer rabbit pressure on established gardens is typically lower — natural forage is abundant, and rabbits graze widely rather than concentrating on garden plantings.

Install fencing before spring emergence for maximum protection. Rabbits that discover a food source return to it repeatedly — a fence installed after rabbits have already found your garden faces more determined testing than a fence installed before they explore the area. The best time to fence is late winter, before the first spring growth attracts foraging attention.

Snow changes the equation in cold climates. Accumulated snow effectively raises the ground level, reducing the above-ground fence height. A 36-inch fence with 12 inches of packed snow at the base becomes a 24-inch fence — still adequate for most cottontails, but marginal for jackrabbits and large snowshoe hares. In heavy-snow areas, extend fence height to 48 inches or periodically clear snow from the fence base to maintain effective barrier height.

Companion Strategies

Fencing is most effective when combined with habitat management that reduces rabbit presence near the garden. Remove brush piles, tall grass, and dense ground cover within 50 feet of the garden perimeter — these features provide the concealment that rabbits require for comfortable feeding. Rabbits are prey animals with minimal tolerance for exposure; removing cover forces them to feed in less comfortable areas away from your garden.

Encourage natural predators as a complementary control measure. Hawks, owls, foxes, and snakes all consume rabbits. Install raptor perches (a simple T-post 8 to 10 feet tall) near the garden to provide hunting platforms for hawks. Owl nest boxes encourage resident barn owls and screech owls that hunt at night when rabbits are most active. These predator-friendly features reduce overall rabbit density in the area, decreasing the pressure on your fence.

Cost Analysis and Budgeting

A complete rabbit fencing system for a 20×30-foot garden (100 linear feet of perimeter) costs approximately 150 to 250 dollars for materials: 100 feet of 36-inch welded wire mesh (80–120 dollars), 15 T-posts at 6-foot spacing (60–90 dollars), a gate with hardware (30–50 dollars), and miscellaneous supplies (wire clips, landscape staples, 10–20 dollars). Installation takes a full day for one person or a half day for two. This one-time investment protects the garden for 10 to 15 years — the lifespan of galvanized welded wire — at an amortized cost of 15 to 25 dollars per year. Compare this to the value of even a single season of crop losses to rabbits, and the economic case for fencing is overwhelming.