A neighbourhood dispute about feral bunnies is taking a group of Edmontonians down the rabbit hole.
Residents in Keheewin are fighting a scourge of feral bunnies who are eating up their garden plants, and they’re unhappy about neighbours who are putting food out for the animals.
Tension escalated to violence when someone recently fired a pellet gun into a garden that’s especially popular with the wascally wabbits, leaving holes and dents in the home.
Edward and Marguerite Redshaw say they’re shaken after someone shot a pellet gun into their garden, leaving holes and dents in their home. (Zoe Todd/CBC)
Marguerite Redshaw lives on the property with her husband Edward, and said she was standing next to a window when the glass cracked. The two have grandchildren and great-grandchildren who often play in the garden.
“I don’t really care about the house,” she said. “But I do care that someone is so cruel and thoughtless.
“This is a situation that is really out of control,” Edward added.
He’s already found two bloodied carcasses on his property, and said one neighbour threatened to kill stray bunnies with a baseball bat. Undeterred, he continues to feed the animals twice daily.
His wife said she has also received threats from neighbours, as well as demands to pay for damage to their gardens.
But the bunnies don’t belong to the Redshaws. They said they don’t know even where the animals go at night.
“‘I’m not breeding any rabbits, they’re breeding themselves,” Marguerite said. “I hope people stop pointing their finger at us, we’re just being kind.”
“I’m not breeding any rabbits, they’re breeding themselves,” says Marguerite Redshaw, a resident entangled in a dispute about feral bunnies. (Zoe Todd/CBC)
Feral bunnies first appeared in the neighbourhood two years ago, several residents said, after a family released their pets into the wild before moving away. Their population hasn’t stopped growing since.
Snow melted on several barren gardens this year.
Elena Dlusskaya said she tried planting tulips four times, but bunnies dug up every bulb.
Some neighbours have built fences around their gardens, but Dlusskaya said she wants the city to step in before the bunny population grows out of control.
“All I have is bare soil in my front yard,” she said. “You need to do something, and you need to do something really quick before … the numbers go high too much.
“You need to stop it right now.”