"Awww, lookit the bunnies."  Boy, do I regret those words!

Two weeks after I planted my bare root peach tree, nibble marks about four inches above ground level almost completely girdled the tree.  Because tree growth occurs between the bark and the wood of the trunk, removing the bark all around is almost always a death sentence for the tree.  And the culprit? Attila the Rabbit!  And I'm not the only victim: an aquaintance of ours planted petunias not long ago; they didn't last a whole day before being devoured by ravaging "bunnies." 

Conclusion?  The country is no place for undefended plants.  Solution?  Research and experimentation.

After a quick trip to our local Ace Hardware, I painted the tree trunk with a black tarry patching compound. Breaches in a small tree's bark cause dehydration and draw pests.  We knew a woman who chained a dog to a citrus tree; within a week, the links scratched thru the bark, damaging the tree beyond salvage. 

If you want to garden in the country, check out herbs that repel rodents (rabbits, rats, javelinas?)   A great starting place for this information is the Sunset Garden Book.  Some suggestions  include garlic, peppermint and society garlic (not a garlic).  A combination of chives, peppermint and society garlic appears to be protecting my small garden.  Or maybe Peter Rabbit doesn't like fennel...

When you plant fruit trees, consider surrounding them with a twelve inch to eighteen  inch tall  tube constructed from hardware cloth (a type of thick screen) and wire.  Each tube will require between three to four feet of hardware cloth.  This allows you to build the tube and slip it over the tree.