Why Rabbits & Birds Eat My Pepper Plants

Rabbits and birds might get to your pepper plant before you can harvest it.

While you see your vegetable garden as a source of food and possibly income for you, rabbits and birds see it as an all-you-can-eat buffet. Pepper plants are no exception, and these animals will readily feast on different parts of the plants.

Rabbits

Your tender pepper plants are an ideal food source for rabbits.

Rabbits feed on and devour young, tender plants and the tender parts of the plants. They will not eat the fruit of peppers high in capsaicin, the chemical that produces the burning sensation in peppers.

Birds

Capsaicin may make you sweat, but it's a treat for birds.

Unlike other animals, botanists and other scientists have found that birds are immune to capsaicin. In the wild, the birds are beneficial because they drop the undamaged, ready-to-germinate seeds in their droppings, allowing the plants to grow in other areas.

Protection

Put up a chicken wire or other wire-mesh fence for rabbits.

To keep rabbits away, consider putting up a chicken wire fence that is 2 feet tall and at least 4 to 6 inches below the soil surface. For birds, cover your pepper plants with row covers or put up shiny, mylar strips that frighten birds. Repellents and deterrents are also commercially available, some of which are natural and nontoxic.

References

• University of Maryland Extension: Wildlife Tips
• University of Florida News: For Peppers, "Hot" Quite Literally the Spice of Life, UF Research Shows
• Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities Cooperative Extension System: Control of Mammals and Birds in the Vegetable Garden
• Gardener's Supply Company: Pest & Disease Detective: Birds