Do Rabbits like Nasturtium?

alfharris8

Have found the information on the Internet confusing and contradictory so I have come here for a bit of sense.
Do wild Rabbits eat Nasturtiums or leave them alone as a general rule please?
I am starting to feel like Mr Mcgregor 🙄.
Thanks 

Jellyfire

I think the only way to find out is to try them to be honest. The rabbits we get here seem to pay little heed to the lists of plants they will and won’t eat. They love alliums, hydrangea, geraniums which are all apparently unpalatable to them, they have an absolute abundance of grasses and wildflowers to eat but still seem to prefer anything they are not supposed to like! 

I’d imagine nasturtium would be very appealing to them as it’s almost a salad crop, but haven’t tried myself 

raisingirl

They eat anything, in my experience. They don't necessarily annihilate everything but they'll try any plant at least once and its a matter of chance whether they come back to it. Nasturtiums are fast growers though, so if you put a wire hat over them as babies, they may be able to outgrow the grazers. They taste quite peppery but I don't know from a rabbit's point of view whether that will make them less appetising than other things like grass and dandelions

alfharris8

Ha ha. Thanks for the replies. 
Like Jellyfire we have lots of nice things for them to eat as we've hardly cut the grass in our field this year so they do make me cross and childish. Ha ha.

wild edges

I can't speak for the wild ones but we had pet rabbits that loved to eat them.

jaderichardson42779pM51qQj

Yes rabbits love nasturtiums obviously as with humans everyone is different. But on the whole yes. To much of anything is bad but in moderation they are good. Most things will only eat what they know is right and if conditions dictate they only eat nasturtiums then that is bad as would be for any food. You usually find things will eat what they are used to. If you have a wild rabbit that has lived in a forest and you move in and plant nasturtiums for the first time ever they prop wont touch them but if they have come across them or parents have they will prob go for them. I have a tortoise...the type I have on a whole eats the things in UK grass but he has been pampered before I got him only fed salad mix from shop and dandelion flowers. He will only eat new things if I give him dandelion flower and sneak new food into his mouth....over time he is starting to love other things and for first time today he went around garden eating things without being hand fed. It all boils down to circumstance. If you think somthing is getting your things I recommend a camera trap you don't have to.spend a lot and as long as you set it up right you will be amazed what you see. Hope this all makes sense and helps 

Dovefromabove

Rabbits don’t like eating long grass … they like the soft short new tips, (and young clover) so cut your meadow and they’ll stay there more often. 

alfharris8

That's interesting. Thank you. 

Jellyfire

@Dovefromabove They have the option of oodles of long grass, short grass, medium grass, clover, dandelions, buttercups, every imaginable rabbit feast. But no, here, they just like anything that comes with a price tag, such as this lovely border crammed full of geraniums, lupins and verbena 

Dovefromabove

Maybe they're just clearing it so that you can grow some more grass and clover ?

alfharris8

Oh that's awful. I'm not going to feel sorry for myself anymore.