A black bunny eats some grass near Tolovana Park.
Continued from Page 8
Photos by Alyssa Evans
Bunny Hill is off W. Siuslaw Street.
Pro-bunny merch, sold at Surfcrest Market & Pizza.
A bunny eats grass on Bunny Hill.
notoriety locally, as residents have com-
plained about the bunnies damaging gar-
dens, peeing on lawns and leaving rabbit
pellets behind.
In 2018, the situation gained attention
across the U.S. That same year, a string of
bunny deaths was investigated by police
and a “Save the Cannon Beach bunnies”
petition was started online. The Cannon
Beach City Council made it illegal to feed
wild animals in 2019.
Ortega’s interest in the project began
about five years ago after noticing the bun-
nies, hearing other people talk about them
and seeing local news coverage about the
bunnies. She planned to put it together in
2020 but held off another year because of
the coronavirus pandemic.
“Everyone was always talking about
Bunny Hill but there was no official des-
ignation of it being a public historical site.
It feels like the site does have history to it
because it’s been existing for a long time,
there’s been bunnies here for 20 years since
they were released,” Ortega said. “Regard-
less of your political affiliation, you can still
acknowledge it as a historical site.”
The film was shown by the Cannon
Beach Arts Association.
“I’m just really interested in using art to
bring people together socially and to use it
as a tool to learn something outside of our-
selves … to maybe have a conversation
they weren’t really expecting to be invited
into or to have with other people around,”
Ortega said.
During the first half of the film, the
words “bunny” and “bunnies” aren’t said as
people describe their thoughts on the ani-
mals. Some comments are supportive of the
bunnies, while others talk about wanting to
remove the bunnies from Tolovana. Ortega
said she didn’t include the words during the
first half of the film “so that people would
maybe think about other issues in society.”
“(It’s) inviting people to be able to also
reflect on asking themselves if the bunnies
have a voice too, through all of these peo-
ple sharing their opinions and then reflect-
ing on these great systemic issues,” Ortega
said.
One of the common issues brought up in
the film is localism, as many people talked
about being a local resident. The comments
made Ortega think about how long it takes
for animals and plants to not be considered
invasive after being introduced to a new
area, she said.
Bunny Hill
A couple dozen people attended the
grand opening of Bunny Hill in April. The
hill, which is located at the end of W. Siu-
slaw Street next to Tolovana Inn, is view-
able to anyone and is a block over from
Tolovana Beach State Recreation Site.
The day of the event was rainy, which
resulted in some people not being able to
attend, Ortega said. A large “grand open-
ing” banner marked the occasion, plus a
ribbon cutting ceremony that Ortega led.
During the event, people were also able to
share their opinions on the bunnies.
“Many people still showed up, which is
really great. It was cool to see people really
invested,” Ortega said.
The quiet hill features a large bush
which bunnies hang out under and around.
The bunnies can also be seen eating grass
and resting along the hill, closer to the inn.
Next up for Ortega is working on finish-
ing her degree program. She is also work-
ing on another project featuring tufted
puffins.
THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2021 // 9