732 replies to this topic

[davek]

What's the natural predator of these rabbits? Why not let one loose on university grounds?... It would also help by giving the rabbits excerise, and teaching students something about the real world.

There are a number of raptors (hawks and owls) all over UVic, and they pound the rabbits pretty good, especially the juveniles. They work mostly at dusk and dawn, so there isn't much of an audience. I had a 6:00 - 9:00 PM summer class a few years ago, and there was a hawk in the tree just outside our windows, shredding a kit he had obviously snagged just before class started. Some folks took it pretty hard, and one young lady even left class.

[Holden West]

...shredding a kit he had obviously snagged just before class started. Some folks took it pretty hard, and one young lady even left class.

I'm sure she had the lamb souvlaki at Eugene's the next day without giving it a second thought. Death is OK as long as it happens in a nice factory hundreds of miles away.

[Bingo]

If these rabbits were carrying Bubonic Plague, we wouldn't still be talking about what to do.

[aastra]

They'll always have a place at the university just as our distinctive lamp posts will always have a place downtown...

I guess the difference is that the lamp posts have been downtown for a hundred years whereas the rabbits have been at UVic for maybe 25 years.

Maybe somebody should stick some furry ears on the Johnson Street Bridge.

[Holden West]

The bunny story has been picked up by US website Boingboing:

http://www.boingboin...its-by-the.html

And the witty comments begin:

[...]Anyway, the problem stems from the artificial nature of the moldy (green again...) Victorian lifestyle that is in force there, which is ecologically imbalanced. What they really need is a few packs of wolves.

• Reply
Then when the campus is overrun by wolves, they can bring in Sarah Palin in a helicopter.

[Layne French]

What's the natural predator of these rabbits? Why not let one loose on university grounds?



http://www.telegraph...08.html?image=3


It would also help by giving the rabbits excerise, and teaching students something about the real world.

My university has a decent sized rabbit population as well, although its worth noting we have a decent sized coyote population also. Walking home one night in interrupted one that had just snagged a hare.

[victorian fan]

UVic capturing rabbits, giving them lethal injections
TC JUDITH LAVOIE MAY 14, 2010

The University of Victoria has started killing rabbits around its sports fields, although a plan to manage the rapidly growing population will not be completed until next month.

Read more: http://www.timescolo...l#ixzz0o1GahHzH

[aastra]

My university has a decent sized rabbit population as well, although its worth noting we have a decent sized coyote population also...

Are they imported domestic rabbits that were released (as in Victoria's case) or are they native wild rabbits?

The last thing we would want to do is introduce coyotes (or another predator) to Vancouver Island in an attempt to mitigate the introduced rabbit problem.

[LJ]

Animal-rights activist Roslyn Cassells said the university has lied about its rabbit killings and an international boycott of the university is gaining steam.

“These are healthy, adoptable animals,” she said, calling the cull cruel. “There is no mention of the fate of the nursing baby bunnies of killed mother rabbits. They will be starving to death in their burrows or dying from dehydration.”



I think we should have just given all the protesters (oops sorry, rabbit activist groups) two bunnies each to take home with them.


How can Cassells say they are adoptable, when they started out as pets and then were abandoned. Let her bring all the people who want to adopt them out to UVic and start picking them up.

Oh, and after they have finished culling the rabbits maybe they could get to work on the Canada Geese.

[VicHockeyFan]

I wonder how many people came out to their protest today. I'm not sure why they marched from Centennial Square to the Legislature, I guess that's just the easy route to march.

[Holden West]

“These are healthy, adoptable animals,”

A great example of the arrogance and human-centric thinking of so-called animal lovers. The idea that the life of an animal would be improved by removing it from its familiar environment and putting it alone in a cage to be prodded at by children.

[G-Man]

I was up at UVic yesterday. It seems that each of the old buildings is being worked on. What is going on?

[R0ark]

I was up at UVic yesterday. It seems that each of the old buildings is being worked on. What is going on?

Seismic upgrading and things like sprinklers.

Oh, and to keep this thread on the bunny topic, there are plenty of winged predators at UVic. Eagles, owls and cooper's hawks do their best to put a dent in the numbers, but the bunnies are clever enough to only really come out in the wide open spaces when there are people about to act as scarecrows (or scare-raptors in this case).

A Picture from wikipedia :

I went and saw the Secret of Kells last night at Cinecenta and on the way my brother pointed out a large, old war-wounded male he had long since before dubbed "Old Tom". Both his ears are split and he's lost an eye, most likely from one or more encounters with winged predators. My brother has seen a few successful grab and kills, and Tom must have been lucky enough to wriggle out of somethings talons once or twice.

We also walked past the stinking algae infested waters of the ill conceived pond behind the library. If you want to see a good example of the rabbit infestation, just go there. There are several big warrens and countless holes dug into the ground that makes it all looks like some sort of miniature WW1 trench complex. All it needs is a bit of barbed wire and the look would be complete.

[davek]

“These are healthy, adoptable animals,” she said, calling the cull cruel. “There is no mention of the fate of the nursing baby bunnies of killed mother rabbits. They will be starving to death in their burrows or dying from dehydration.”

I wonder what kind of death she imagines they face otherwise? Ultimately, every UVic bunny is going to die ugly, either from starvation, dehydration,disease, or predation.

[Holden West]

I think some people take Watership Down too seriously. It ain't a documentary.

[victorian fan]

These are healthy, adoptable animals

They're wildlife and definitely not adoptable.

[aastra]

If released domestic rabbits go on to breed in the wild for a short time, are they still domestic rabbits or do they become some sort of half wild/half domestic critter?

Can Domestic Rabbits Survive in the Wild?

Sometimes pet or meat rabbits that have escaped or are released into the wild survive for a time, and occasionally feral rabbit warrens are established. However, in general, domestic rabbits are ill-equipped for life in the wild. Most likely, they will die from starvation or exposure, or become an easy meal for predators. Expecting a domestic rabbit to have the instincts to survive in the wild is comparable to expecting a golden retriever to be able to to live like a wolf. O. cuniculus is not native to North America or Australia, and feral populations pose a danger to indigenous plants and wildlife.

Read more at Suite101: Domestic vs. Wild Rabbits: The Difference Between Cottontails and Pet Bunnies http://quadrupeds.su...s#ixzz0oDMizYcF

If the rabbit is not particularly afraid of you, he is domestic. Cottontails, even if raised in captivity, have a natural fear of humans when mature.

http://www.metropets.../cottontail.php


The situation on Vancouver Island gets more muddled because in addition to introduced domestic European rabbits there are also introduced wild Eastern Cottontails. Are there any Cottontails at UVic or Vic General Hospital? I think they must all be European rabbits, right?

Check this out:

The European Rabbit has escaped or has been introduced into several places in southwestern B.C., Vancouver Island, and some other islands. While this species has become well established and very abundant on San Juan Island and other islands in the San Juan Archipelago in Washington state (Stevens and Weisbrod 1981), it has not done nearly so well in the southern Gulf Islands. Although Nagorsen (1990) says that populations are established on Sidney, James, and Triangle islands, an extensive search by the author and interviews with workers on Sidney Island failed to find any recent sightings, and it appears that the species is no longer present there. Nagorsen (1990) also states that small localized populations may exist on Vancouver Island and the mainland.

http://www.ilmb.gov....hacoml20-01.htm

So if I'm reading that correctly, even as late as 1990 the experts believed "small localized populations may exist on Vancouver Island...". Things changed dramatically at UVic and Vic General Hospital in a very short time. I think I already mentioned how I once encountered a rabbit at UVic in the early 1990s and thought it was quite a big deal.

[Holden West]

^It can't really be argued that UVic is the "wild" as there are fewer predators and abundant people food to munch on. I consider wild as anything near or beyond the CRD border. In that case, yes, Flopsie's days are numbered.

[Baro]

Saw lots of Uvic-style bunnies up at Royal Roads, in fact I'd say they were even more aggressively friendly. Ran up to me like a dog and put its paws on my foot. I reached down and pet it and it was totally fine.

[victorian fan]

The province regards feral rabbits as wildlife, which means they cannot be moved more than one kilometre and cannot be adopted out to private homes.