Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

When I was in junior high, I had a pet rabbit for a while. I named it Sunshine, but for the life of me couldn’t tell you why, nor could I tell you its gender. Sunshine was the first pet I had all to myself.

In the Spring of 2011, one little baby rabbit sought shelter under the evergreen in our front yard. The neighbors reported finding a litter of newborn rabbits in their yard less than ten days prior and we all happily presumed this lonesome little creature was from that batch.

As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. Just like a rabbit in the hat at the magic show.

Since that Spring, we have noticed a proliferation of rabbits in the neighborhood. The dogs chase them, and try as they might, our pooches are outrun, out crafted, and out of breath. I sometimes wonder if that little fella under the tree is one of the many who now romp through the neighborhood.

In Canmore, Alberta, a nifty picturesque town of about 12,000 whose borders kiss those of Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park, they are literally being over-run by an exploding rabbit population, to the point of issuing a RFP (Request for Proposal) for a rabbit cull with an apparent budget of $50,000. (Yes, the math is correct. That is $25 per fluffy)

According to Canmore officials, it is estimated that 2000 feral rabbits freely roam the town and they need an Elmer Fudd-style solution to ensure public safety. They have somehow determined that this burgeoning problem was likely incubated innocently enough with the release or escape of someone’s pet rabbit(s), and rabbits being rabbits, well, you get the idea. Further, they claim, these rabbits invite predators to the town.

I generally disagree with culls as a form of population control. To me, they are an admission of our failures as the top species. It is we humans whose encroachment on migration routes has gone too far and our tinkering with Mother Nature always ends up vilifying they prey. And as we further disturb the balance of nature, we continue to accumulate devastating and deadly consequences on those species who are able to partially adapt despite our best/worst of intentions.

Canmore’s issue is with rabbits. Communities throughout Alberta and British Columbia wrestle with deer populations, wolves, coyotes, groundhogs, and everything in between. While locally the Canmore rabbit cull debate may be as steamed as the low fat lattes poured in its many coffeehouses, it would appear that opposition to its planned final solution outside of the region has been anything but.

What appears to be missing from these equations is, why has there not been more meaningful incremental solutions implemented before these ‘pest issues’ become the embarrassing and emotionally divisional hotbeds of controversy and no-win ultimatums for communities such as Canmore?