Mad June Hares!

We’ve never paid much attention to the multitudes of rabbit warrens on the gravelly slopes behind Sainte Rose.  Yes, there are lots of them and we have been known to drive up to the top of the hill in the dark with our children to see how many bunnies we can spot!  If anything, they have had a positive effect on our old Grenache block at the top of the hill, keeping down the weeds and doing the ébourgeonnage (clearing of new shoots at the foot of the vine) for us.

Well, numbers are on the increase and food, it seems is becoming harder to come by at the top of the hill.  They don’t seem to like the older, knarly vines with trunks as thick as my leg!  Further down the hill these long-eared midnight feasters have discovered our vulnerable new vine plantation.  We have noticed that several of our new Viognier vines that were planted in March have had leaves nibbled by something!

Was it rabbits or hares, we asked ourselves?  Apparently hares nibble the sweet, juicy new growth, whereas rabbits eat the whole thing!  So we think we’ve got hares, and we are worried that they are getting a taste for Viognier!

We have subsequently learned from owners of neighbouring vineyards on the hill that they have huge issues with these furry pests!  Many have pulled vineyards up as they have lost up to 30% of their vines through rabbit damage.  The rabbits nibble off the bark in a ring around the trunk of the vine so that in the winter when the sugars (sap/energy) in the vine attempts to return to the root system, it can’t and the vine dies.  The same applies to an olive grower who has lost trees through the same process.

What to do?  Clearly our problem is not on the scale of these other growers so we’re not panicking yet!  The above-mentioned olive grower now has permission to trap rabbits and sell them to hunting syndicates to release in their zones de chasse for the winter!  There are repulsive products available that require being sprayed onto the leaves of the vines every 3 days, which is not ideal and then there are the bright blue plastic tubes that you can put round the young vines as a barricade against the bunnies! 

We’re watching carefully and considering our options.