Direct answer: If a rabbit chewed your deck lattice, the fix is usually either a small patch for one low corner or a full lattice panel replacement when the edge is shredded, split, or no longer fastens tightly. Check first that the damage is only in the lattice and not in the framing behind it.
Most likely: Most often, rabbits chew the bottom edge or corner of wood or plastic lattice where it stays damp, salty, or easy to reach from the ground.
Start with the simple visual check: find out if you have a cosmetic chew spot, a broken panel edge, or hidden rot where the lattice meets the ground. Reality check: rabbits usually damage the easiest low edge, not the whole deck structure. Common wrong move: patching over soft, wet, crumbling lattice and calling it done.
Don’t start with: Do not start by buying a full stack of materials or covering the opening with random wire before you know whether the panel itself is still solid and whether moisture damage is already behind it.
Shallow gnaw marks, rough edges, and maybe a little missing material, but the panel is still attached and mostly flat.
Start here: Check whether the lattice is still hard and dry around the damage. If it is, a localized patch may hold.
A corner or strip is missing, the pattern is broken open, and the panel may flap or bow.
Start here: Look at the frame and fastener points next. Once the edge is gone, replacement is usually cleaner than patching.
The damaged section feels punky, swollen, or breaks apart when touched.
Start here: Treat this as moisture damage first. The rabbit may have started at already-weakened material.
You repaired the opening, but fresh chew marks show up at the same low edge or nearby panel.
Start here: Check for ground contact, cover, and easy access under the deck. Repeated chewing usually means the access problem was never fixed.
Rabbits work low to the ground. Wet, softened wood fiber or weathered plastic at the bottom edge is the usual target.
Quick check: Press the lattice near the chew marks and along the bottom rail. If it feels soft, swollen, or brittle, the panel is past a simple cosmetic repair.
Rabbits often enlarge an existing crack, broken diamond, or loose corner instead of starting in a sound section.
Quick check: Follow the damage outward. If you see old splits, sun-faded brittleness, or missing fasteners, replacement is more reliable than filling.
Ground contact traps moisture and gives rabbits cover while they chew.
Quick check: Look for mulch piled against the panel, vines, tall grass, or lattice buried into soil at the damaged spot.
If rabbits are trying to get under the deck, they will keep chewing weak corners and edges.
Quick check: Look for droppings, fur, a worn path, or a shallow burrow near the damaged section.
You want to fix the right problem. Rabbit chewing leaves a different pattern than carpenter ants, rot, or mower damage.
Next move: If the damage is clearly low-edge chewing on otherwise solid lattice, stay on this page and repair the panel. If the material is hollowed out by insects, badly rotted, or the damage extends into posts or framing, stop treating this as a lattice-only problem.
What to conclude: Most homeowners find the rabbit only took advantage of a weak bottom corner. If the damage pattern does not match that, the real problem is bigger than the panel face.
A patch only lasts if the surrounding lattice and attachment points are still firm.
Next move: If the panel is firm, the frame is sound, and the damage is limited, you can patch or reinforce the opening. If the panel flexes, the edge is torn out, or the frame no longer holds it flat, replace the whole deck lattice panel section.
What to conclude: This is the main split in the job: solid panel gets a localized repair, weak panel gets replaced. Trying to save a loose, rotten panel usually wastes time.
Patches and new fasteners fail fast on dirty, wet, crumbling material.
Next move: If you get back to clean, solid material, you can make a neat patch or install a replacement panel that will actually hold. If cleaning exposes more cracking, softness, or missing edge support than you first saw, move to full panel replacement.
Small chew spots can be stabilized, but missing edges and loose corners need a more decisive fix.
Repair guide: How to Replace Deck Fasteners
Related repair guide: How to Replace a Deck Joist Hanger
If you only fix the visible chew marks, rabbits often come back to the same sheltered edge.
A good result: If the panel stays dry, tight, and unchewed, the repair is holding and the access issue is under control.
If not: If fresh chewing starts again, the repair itself may be fine but the site conditions are still inviting animals. Improve exclusion and consider local wildlife guidance if activity continues.
What to conclude: The lasting fix is not just a new piece of lattice. It is a sound panel plus less cover, less moisture, and less easy access at ground level.
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Only if the surrounding lattice is still solid and the damage is truly small. If the edge is split, soft, or missing enough material that fasteners will not hold, replacement is the better repair.
Wood lattice gets chewed more often when it stays damp or softened near the ground. Plastic lattice can still get gnawed, especially at thin weathered edges, but it usually fails by cracking or tearing rather than rotting.
Patch a small localized chew spot when the panel is otherwise firm and well supported. Replace the panel when a corner is torn out, the border is broken, or the bottom edge is weak along a longer section.
Repair the panel, but also deal with the access and cover that made the spot attractive. If you leave a sheltered path, soft ground edge, or damp hidden corner, the chewing often comes back.
Usually the lattice itself is not structural, but it can hide structural trouble behind it. If you remove the panel and find rotten supports, loose framing, or a failed connector, that is no longer a simple skirting repair.
A small cosmetic chew mark can wait a bit if the panel is still secure. A larger opening should not sit open long because it invites repeat animal access and lets moisture and debris build up behind the skirting.