Editor:
We have lived in Canmore for many years and for the first 20 years we managed to keep the feral rabbits out of our backyard. It was not without a great effort on our part. We have a 16-inch wire fence surrounding our property and up until now we have been successful in keeping them out. Our backyard is full of perennials and bedding plants in the summer, so it is quite the attractant to the feral rabbits.
With so many feral rabbits on the loose, they are now digging under our fence. I counted one mamma and six babies in our backyard Sunday (Oct. 30). It is not just about our yard – our playgrounds are overrun and feral rabbit feces can be seen everywhere including the sidewalks. It makes us reluctant to take our grandchildren to the park.
A number of years ago we gave our permission for the Town of Canmore to set traps in our backyard. The last few years this service has not been offered to my knowledge.
This, of course, is only a Band-Aid solution to the problem.
Unless a full-fledged feral rabbit removal program is initiated, the problem will never go away. The University of Victoria experienced a huge feral rabbit problem many years ago and they have successfully eliminated their feral rabbits.
I don’t know what their solution was, but perhaps the Town of Canmore could investigate their method and try a little harder.
Marlene & David Ffoulkes-Jones,
Canmore
