Residents seeing bunny boon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/01/2011 (5494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’ve seen more rabbits than usual bounding across your lawn or hiding motionless beneath your shrubs, you’re not alone.

“It seems to me we’ve been getting more people and calls about rabbits than we did last year or the previous year,” said a local exterminator, Poulin’s store manager Duncan Falconer.

“Everybody’s got their pet theory. I think the moist year we had is probably good for just about all the animals out there. I think there’s just more food for everybody.”

There’s not much that can be done in winter, with the exception of catching and releasing them elsewhere using a live trap, said Falconer.

Other deterrents, like spraying blood meal on plants so rabbits don’t eat them, don’t work well in freezing conditions, he said.

Neither the province nor the city track rabbit reports or numbers. A provincial spokesman said occasional calls about problem bunnies get referred to private exterminators.

Concerned homeowners can try putting mothballs or cayenne pepper under the deck to convince the rabbits to move along, he said.

Another anticipated animal problem doesn’t seem to be raising much concern. An announcement in late December about a few cases of canine distemper in raccoons seen along the Seine River in south Winnipeg prompted just two calls, the spokesman said.

The raccoons reportedly acted in a disoriented or lethargic manner, with crusted eyes, excess nasal mucus and shallow or laboured breathing. Infected raccoons can spread the disease to other animals if they come into contact, especially members of the dog family. Humans are not at risk.

Pet owners are advised to make sure their dogs have a distemper vaccination and to keep them away from wildlife.

 

— Staff