Your Vancouver Sun
UVic battles bunnies
Rob Shaw, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, August 29, 2006

VICTORIA - University of Victoria staff are taking a final stand against the floppy-eared scoundrels that stalk their demoralized gardeners and ravage one of Canada's best collections of rhododendrons.

Groundskeepers are building a $10,000 fence around the Finnerty Gardens and its famous collection of more than 500 types of rhododendrons. They hope to have 853 metres of black fencing and entrance gates installed by the end of the month.

"The damage just got so bad we've got to sort of take steps to keep them out," said Tony James, the UVic grounds manager. The marauding rabbits on campus may look cute, but they are also a menace.

Groundskeepers are scrambling to prepare the school for an influx of 19,000 students on Sept. 6. It is the busiest time of year, but staff find their fancy landscaping jobs ruined. "They are pretty well digging alongside you," said James, who after 31 years is approaching the tail end of his gardening career.