Burgeoning bunny problem has Alberta town in a lather
Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, April 19, 2006

CANMORE, Alta. (CP) -- An award-winning gardener is wondering how to deal with a hare-raising situation after she became the latest victim of marauding rabbits overrunning a mountain community west of Calgary.

The bad bunnies hopped over a knee-high wire fence and ate about two dozen freshly sprouted tulips.

"They came over the fence. On Easter Sunday, they did that to me," said Patricia Smith, 73, who spent $80 on what she thought was a rabbit-proof fortification. "I hate them."

In the mid-1980s, somebody released several pairs of domesticated rabbits near the centre of Canmore, Alta. Today, the town's Centennial Park is home to an estimated 1,000 fuzzy bunnies.

The town and province are waging a jurisdictional war over how to deal with the situation, so the rabbits have chewed and nibbled with impunity. But now gardeners are fed up.

Three members of the local Communities in Bloom chapter, a Canada-wide beautification program, recently resigned. They said they are outraged at the town's failure to deal with the growing rabbit population.

The town says rabbit control is a provincial responsibility, but the province says it only deals with wildlife conflicts and considers the rabbits domesticated animals that escaped.

Residents say the rabbits are cunning enough to stick to the centre of town to avoid predators such as coyotes on the outskirts.

"Sometimes I can look out my window and see 10 or 15 rabbits," said Brenda Martin, who lives near the bunny park and has fenced her gardens and her deck to keep the rabbits from nesting.

"You can't begin to count them, and right now there are babies," added Smith.

In addition to eating flowers, the rabbits dig in lawns, munch on bushes and burrow in gardens. Smith said she gave up on vegetables after rabbits ate all her carrots.

The rabbits pose a dilemma for the town, which has a reputation for being wildlife-friendly.

"I've had letters from Grade 6 students worried that we were going to kill the rabbits," said Mayor Ron Casey. "People want you to take (the rabbits) somewhere, but that's not feasible.