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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2018
Police probe mysterious string of Tolovana bunny deaths
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
Police are investigating what
is causing what appears to
be a recent string of bunny
deaths in Tolovana.
Maggie Kitson, a Tolo-
vana resident, noticed a
bunny carcass near her front
porch on Saturday. After liv-
ing in the area for more than
14 years, she had seen her fair
share of deceased rabbits, but
usually they are tucked away
in the bushes or carried off
with the predator that hunted
it, she said.
Rarely did she see a dead
bunny without any claw or
teeth marks laying out in the
open.
“I thought, ‘that was
odd,’” Kitson said.
Over the next few days,
Kitson found two more car-
casses within the same block
of her house. She began to
fear that they were being poi-
soned, knowing that many
people do not like the rab-
bits and could be using pes-
ticides or other poisons as a
bunny deterrent, she said. She
posted a photo on Facebook
to warn people in the area to
keep pets indoors just in case.
After finding two more the
next day, Kitson decided to
call the police.
“For me, it’s not about the
Photos by Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Bunnies eat carrots on Maggie Kitson’s lawn.
bunnies. It’s about the poison,
getting into our water, harm-
ing the animals,” she said.
Tensions about the bal-
looning Cannon Beach rab-
bit population are running
high. Over the past few
weeks, some Tolovana neigh-
bors have asked the city to do
more to control the animals,
which they say are cover-
ing their lawns in pellets and
destroying their gardens.
The pro-bunny faction
is growing in its own right,
with more than 4,900 peo-
ple around the country sign-
ing a petition on Change.org
asking the City Council to
“not kill the Cannon Beach
Bunnies.” The council has
researched options to handle
the population, but thus far
has chosen not to get in the
business of pest control.
“The hatred I just don’t
get. If they are coming on
your property and causing
a problem ... Well, there are
things you can do to prevent
that,” Kitson said. “And so
what? They are a joy to have
around.”
As of Thursday, what is
killing the bunnies is unclear,
Police Chief Jason Schermer-
horn said. Officers collected
the carcasses and brought
them to Seaside Pet Clinic,
where an initial autopsy was
unable to determine a cause
of death. There was no blunt
trauma or obvious hemor-
rhaging that would indicate
poisoning.
Maggie Kitson points to where she found one of the dead
bunnies in Tolovana. Police are investigating.
Disease or natural causes
could also be the cause, he
said.
“One other thing that is
a possibility is that these
deceased bunnies were found
in the morning before the
coldest night of the year,”
Schermerhorn said. “Dis-
ease — if that is the case —
spreads faster during colder
(temperatures).”
Aside from discharging
a firearm within city lim-
its, property owners gener-
ally have the right to trap or
otherwise dispose of bun-
nies in their own yards. But
putting out poison that can
be accessible and harmful to
other animals or pets could
be potentially classified as
animal abuse under the city’s
municipal code, Schermer-
horn said.
“Bunnies aren’t protected,
so our main concern is find-
ing out if anything could
harm people’s pets or chil-
dren,” Schermerhorn said.
Offices close for Veterans Day PROTESTING THE AG’S FIRING
The Daily Astorian
In observance of Veterans
Day, all federal, state, county
and city offices and services,
including Astoria, Warren-
ton, Gearhart, Seaside and
Cannon Beach city halls, are
closed on Monday. All U.S.
post offices are closed, and
there is no mail delivery.
Astoria, Jewell, Knappa,
Warrenton/Hammond, Sea-
side (including Cannon
Beach and Gearhart schools)
and Ocean Beach School
District schools and Clat-
sop Community College are
closed.
The Astoria Library, Sea-
side Library, Warrenton
Library and all Timberland
libraries in Washington state,
including Ilwaco, Ocean
Park and Naselle, are closed.
The Port of Astoria offices
and services are closed.
Garbage
collection
through Recology Western
Oregon (covering Astoria,
Seaside, Gearhart and Can-
non Beach), city of Warren-
ton garbage collection, and
Peninsula Sanitation (cover-
ing the Long Beach, Wash-
ington, Peninsula) are not
affected by the holiday.
Recology Western Oregon’s
transfer station and Penin-
sula Sanitation’s transfer sta-
tion are open.
The Sunset Pool in Sea-
side is open. The Astoria
Aquatic Center is open.
The Clatsop County Her-
itage Museum is closed.
The Oregon Film Museum
and Flavel House are open
from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
and the Carriage House is
open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Uppertown Firefight-
ers’ Museum is closed. Lil’
Sprouts is open from 7:30
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fort Clat-
sop is open from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. The Columbia River
Maritime Museum is open
from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The
Seaside Museum is open
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunset Empire Transpor-
tation (“The Bus”) is running.
The Daily Astorian news-
paper will be printed and
delivered as usual.
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
54
35
40
Partly cloudy
57
42
Mostly sunny
TUESDAY
59
41
Mostly sunny
58
47
Partly sunny
Mostly cloudy
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Demonstrators wave flags and signs.
The Daily Astorian
ALMANAC
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
40/54
Astoria through Thursday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 55°/31°
Normal high/low ........................... 55°/41°
Record high ............................ 71° in 2016
Record low ............................. 29° in 1977
Precipitation
Thursday .......................................... 0.00"
Month to date ................................... 1.76"
Normal month to date ....................... 2.56"
Year to date .................................... 48.49"
Normal year to date ........................ 48.78"
Tillamook
39/54
Salem
37/55
Newport
42/54
Nov 15
Last
Nov 22
New
Nov 29
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
8:37 a.m.
9:22 p.m.
Low
2.6 ft.
-0.4 ft.
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Hi
64
51
36
46
29
42
60
17
85
42
35
67
84
52
86
51
71
53
49
53
39
48
71
48
54
DUII
• At 11:25 p.m. Thursday,
Neil Alan Christensen, 59, was
arrested by Astoria police on
the 35350 block of U.S. High-
way 101 Business and charged
with driving under the influ-
Baker
22/45
Ontario
25/54
Burns
13/45
ence of intoxicants. His blood
alcohol content was 0.14
percent.
• At 7:09 p.m. Thurs-
day, Lance Sullivan, 69, was
arrested by Seaside police on
South King Street and Avenue
J and charged with DUII.
• At 2:41 p.m. Thurs-
day, Ashley Nicole Haney,
28, was arrested by Warren-
ton police on the New Youngs
Bay Bridge and charged with
DUII.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Klamath Falls
17/53
MONDAY
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Lakeview
16/50
Ashland
31/58
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
47
56
65
56
52
53
59
55
57
59
Today
Lo
22
22
45
33
42
17
28
38
42
41
W
pc
pc
s
pc
c
s
s
pc
pc
pc
Hi
45
47
61
53
53
53
56
53
54
56
Sat.
Lo W
16 pc
19 s
43 s
25 s
39 s
14 s
26 s
34 s
39 s
37 s
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
49
52
53
58
56
53
40
56
54
50
Today
Lo
35
30
40
36
37
41
23
32
39
24
W
c
pc
pc
s
pc
c
c
pc
pc
r
Hi
50
47
54
54
55
54
39
52
52
52
Sat.
Lo
31
27
36
29
30
38
23
28
34
23
W
s
pc
s
s
s
s
pc
s
s
pc
TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Lo
36
46
19
26
11
25
44
11
72
19
12
43
51
27
73
29
50
44
20
42
18
30
44
41
39
La Grande
28/45
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Tonight's Sky: Orion and friends emerging above
the eastern night sky before midnight.
High
7.9 ft.
9.0 ft.
ON THE RECORD
Roseburg
36/54
Brookings
47/64
Dec 6
John Day
30/46
Bend
22/47
Medford
28/56
UNDER THE SKY
Time
3:07 a.m.
2:20 p.m.
Prineville
21/50
Lebanon
33/53
Eugene
33/53
Sunset tonight ........................... 4:50 p.m.
Sunrise Saturday ........................ 7:09 a.m. Coos Bay
Moonrise today ........................... 9:05 a.m. 40/56
Moonset today ........................... 6:36 p.m.
Full
Pendleton
30/47
The Dalles
34/55
Portland
40/54
SUN AND MOON
First
Demonstrators gathered Thursday at 16th Street and Marine Drive in Astoria in response to Pres-
ident Donald Trump’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
REGIONAL WEATHER
W
sh
r
sn
s
sn
sn
pc
sn
pc
c
s
s
s
pc
s
c
r
r
s
r
sn
s
s
r
r
Hi
51
49
33
56
33
39
62
23
82
36
38
67
79
44
87
43
60
47
48
45
38
49
67
50
47
Sat.
Lo
35
33
26
24
24
25
44
15
70
22
29
44
52
29
74
25
51
34
35
32
27
28
47
37
32
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
s
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
c
sh
pc
pc
s
s
s
t
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
s
s
pc
pc
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
OBITUARY POLICY
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and, for veterans, a flag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the
business day prior.
Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Death notices and
upcoming services will be published at no charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m.
the day of publication.
Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at www.dailyastorian.com/forms/
obits, by email at ewilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via the funeral home or in person at
The Daily Astorian office, 949 Exchange St. in Astoria. For more information, call 503-325-
3211, ext. 257.
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