Though Bunnies Gone Wild sounds
like a fun thing, it is actually a serious
problem. Many
people buy bunnies as gift for children, especially at
Easter, and when the childern lose interest of the pet they
let it go into the wild.
How can you tell if a bunny was a domestic one or
not? The obvious
domestic stray is a lop-ear, albino, angora, or spotted
individual.
Smooch and I have seen all of these types at this
park. At the time
the only one I was sure of was the angora, since then I have
done a little more reading. Admittedly finding out
information about the rabbit population in this park is not
easy. In
Vancouver there is the Vancouver Rabbit Rescue and Advocacy
Group but they seem to be mainly focused on the feral rabbit
problems at Queen Elizabeth Park and Jericho
Beach. For
Richmond most I can find is the odd article commenting that
there is a feral rabbit problem, farmers wanting permission
to shoot them (see CBC),
and the rat problem caused by people leaving out food for
feral rabbits (see Richmond
News).
People that abandon lovely pet rabbits in the
wild, believing that they will live off the land are mistaken.
Vancouver Rabbit
Rescue and Advocacy founder Olga Betts: "They multiply so
quickly you can't tell how many have been killed" (The
Vancouver Courier.com). To understand how helpless a
domestic rabbit is when "set free," observe your house
rabbit's behavior. When faced with a strange environment, she
will proceed cautiously from "home base." Frequent retreats
are made, to memorize the route. Why? If danger appears, home
base can be achieved in a flash. A wild rabbit's life would
depend on it.
A domestic rabbit turned loose has no home base,
and little time to find one before dark and predators set in.
A wild rabbit would have a lifetime of familiarity with the
area, plus reflexes and instincts domestic rabbits lack.
Reluctance to leave "home base" is why you can figure most
stray domestics have not willingly left home. (From House
Rabbit Society).
For
more information check out Vancouver Rabbit Rescue and
Advocacy.
That
all being said, we love to come here and see the bunnies. In
the past we have came sat down and had bunnies come right up to our
feet. There were not as many out the night we placed the
cache and they were more timid.
Cache is a 4"x7"x2" camo'd lock n lock that was won as a door
prize at the ABC's of Geocaching event held in Delta. Thanks
for the Cache 1/2 Canadian.