Q: I live in an association complex in San Clemente. The cottontail rabbit population has exploded and the rabbits are doing a lot of damage to lawns and vegetation. The association says they can do nothing because the rabbits are protected. What can be legally done by the association or me? Can I take a spear to them?

A: Because you are within city limits your best alternative will be to put up some type of exclusionary fencings to prevent further damage. Associate Wildlife Biologist Randy Botta suggests that a fence of two-foot high chicken wire with the bottom buried a few inches in the soil should be sufficient to exclude rabbits from the area. Mesh size should be one inch or smaller.

To protect trees or landscape plants, construct a barrier around the plants in the form of a cylinder made of plastic tubing or 1/4 inch wire hardware cloth that extends higher than a rabbit’s reach and stands far enough away from the trunk such that a rabbit cannot eat through the mesh. Mesh size from 1/2 to 3/4 inch can be used, but hardware cloth will best guarantee protection.

Taste and odor repellents may also be used but are most effective when dealing with small numbers of rabbits and at the first sign of damage. These repellents usually have to be reapplied at regular intervals, especially following rains. In some cases, habitat manipulation to remove their living and hiding places may be effective but this may require official approvals and authorization from your association.

If you or your association decides all of these passive persuasions are not enough and more drastic measures are needed, a ruling by the Attorney General in 2006 now authorizes that cottontails and brush rabbits may be killed at any time if they are found to be damaging landscaping, ornamental plants, crops and/or gardens. In Orange County, you have the authorization to use box traps in addition to the other methods of take. Box traps have been successfully used to catch and remove the animals. Firearms and other methods of take may be used only where local ordinances allow it, so check with local authorities first. Even if all other methods fail, you cannot take them by spear.