Trapping efforts in the Banff townsite to avoid a potential rabbit population explosion as seen in neighbouring Canmore have led to the live capture of one rabbit so far.
What is believed to be a pet rabbit was caught in a live trap in the 400 block of Muskrat Street on Sept. 14 immediately following a report of rabbits in that area.
Officials say they don’t know the rabbit’s origins, but it did not belong to the one resident known to have pet rabbits in that area. They noted the rabbit was incredibly tame when handled, though.
“The trap was set up immediately following that report and the rabbit was captured within an hour,” said Steve Michel, human-wildlife conflict specialist for Banff National Park.
“We’re basically able to rapidly deploy traps in conjunction with the Town of Banff when we receive any reports. We’re certainly optimistic we can resolve this problem very quickly.”
The captured grey rabbit has been handed over to Earthanimal Humane Education and Rescue Society (EARS), which neuters rabbits and puts them in sanctuaries.
There has been a spate of rabbit sightings in the 200, 300 and 400 blocks of Muskrat Street and Beaver Street since mid-August, though there is no estimate on how many rabbits are on the loose.
Officials say they believe the rabbits in Banff are escaped pets, not feral rabbits that have made the 25 kilometre journey from Canmore where that municipality is fighting to get rid of an estimated 2,000 rabbits.
‘The likelihood of feral rabbits making it from Canmore to Banff is very unlikely, just because of the abundance of predators we have in the ecosystem between Banff and Canmore,” Michel said.
“I’m not saying it’s impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but the likelihood is low. There’s lots of birds of prey and lots of coyotes and other wildlife that would take advantage of easy prey.”
The most likely scenario is the pet rabbits have escaped or been released.
“There’s no question that’s happened in other locations… either escaping or people releasing them thinking they’re doing something good for the rabbits when, in fact, they’re making a very serious mistake,” Michel said.
The Town of Banff put out a live trap with the permission of private property owners last Thursday (Sept. 20) because of a rabbit sighting in a neighbourhood on the north side of the bridge.
They would not disclose the location, other than to say it was on the north side of the Bow River and south of Caribou Street. The trap is checked every morning and evening and the property owners keep a close eye on it as well.
“It’s been four or five days with no luck,” said Tony Clark, the Town of Banff’s Bylaw supervisor. “There’s been no reported sightings since last week, so possibly natural predation has occurred or it’s just shy of the trap.”
Clark said he believes the lone rabbit caught Sept. 14 is a pet rabbit because it was very tame when he handled it.
“When it came time to transfer the rabbit to the people connected with EARS, I was able to handle it easily without any panic on the rabbit’s part at all,” he said.
“I am not familiar with how a wild rabbit is when you pick it up, but as someone who had pet rabbits when I was child, they seem to be the same. I have to think for the moment it’s someone’s pet because of the way it was very calm.”
The Town of Banff’s Animal Services Bylaw limits the number of rabbits to no more than four on any residential property, and they must be kept in clean and sanitary pens.
Under the bylaw, if complaints arise from keeping rabbits or damage is done to another person’s property, council has the power to direct the owners to “restrain, dispose of or destroy” the rabbits.
Rabbit owners could also face a fine of $100 for having their pets at large and pay an extra $35 fee to get them released from the holding area in the compound.
Clark said the Town of Banff’s current Animal Services Bylaw does not require pet rabbits to be licensed, unlike dogs and cats.
“Something like that could be considered, but I would want to do a lot more research and see if other places are doing it and what are the successes and non-successes,” he said. “Licensing of any sort of animal can be very helpful in case they get out.”
In neighbouring Canmore, the feral rabbit population is said to be around 2,000. The population has boomed since the 1980s when it’s believed a few pet rabbits escaped or were released.
The Town of Canmore hired a contractor to begin trapping feral rabbits last winter, catching 189 rabbits in 56 days of trapping before stopping in the spring. Trapping is expected to resume this fall.
Banff residents are asked to immediately report any sightings of rabbits at large to 403-762-1218, or by filling out an action request on the Town’s website at www.banff.ca
“We’re always encouraging people, if they see any sightings of rabbits, to please call us so we can keep on top of this,” Clark said.
