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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2018)
10A • September 21, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com RABBIT RUN Cannon Beach resident Kelly Fitzpatrick inspects damage done by rabbits to her property. PHOTOS BY COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN Rabbits gather near a resident’s garden in Cannon Beach. never-ending frustration. In- stead of a bunny here or there, neighbors are seeing 10 to 20 at once on their properties. In- stead of grass and flower gar- dens, front lawns are covered in a thick layer of rabbit pellets and burrow holes. “When it was like eight bunnies, it was still cute. It was fine. But this?” Fitzpat- rick said. “It’s gotten to the point where we can’t maintain our yard. There’s a point you have to ask are there too many bunnies?” After years of backyard complaining, one of the neigh- bors, Merrie Postlewait, ap- proached the City Council this month on behalf of the neigh- borhood, asking for some kind of intervention. “This is a man-made prob- lem, that men have the respon- sibility to eliminate,” Postle- wait wrote in a letter. “Health and safety issues, property damage issues, economic is- sues and property owners rights are being disregarded and ignored.” Bunnies are a sensitive subject in Cannon Beach By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette B roaching the topic of bunnies in Cannon Beach is kind of like asking someone about their politics. “Some you’re just scared to ask,” Sandy Fitzpatrick said. Anyone who has spent time around Tolovana State Park has likely seen dozens of brown, black and white rab- bits speckling the lawn around Mo’s Restaurant and Tolo- vana Inn. They’ve become celebrities of sorts — often referred to as “the Tolovana bunnies” — inspiring fan pag- es on Facebook and even a campaign to name them as the city’s official critter. But for neighbors like Fitzpatrick, what was once a cute novelty has become a Origin story The bunny infestation can be traced back to the 1980s, when a few bunnies given to a local family either escaped or were released, according to the Cannon Beach His- tory Center and Museum. Bunnies did what they do best, and soon the north end of town was home to dozens of the fluffy critters. Another family wanted to join in the fun, according to the muse- um, and decided to release their own bunnies in the 1990s. But in the past five years or so, the colony has moved to Tolovana, which neigh- bors credit to the fact the area has fewer predators. The free range, and the ten- dency of some neighbors and guests from surrounding ho- tels to feed them, has led to a rabbit invasion. High levels of acidic rab- bit urine and feces forced Postlewait to reseed her grass twice in two years, costing about $3,800. “It has just gotten to pro- portions that are unaccept- able,” Postlewait said. For many neighbors, like Michael Orth, the amount of manure, which can carry a va- riety of diseases, is primarily a health concern. “Lots of us like to have our grandchildren play in the yard,” Orth said. “But they are young. If they accidentally in- gest it? There’s a lot of poten- tial health issues.” With the neighborhood sit- ting on the oceanfront, residents often find beachgoers chasing the bunnies into their yards, thinking they are on public properties. Dogs do the same, though the bunnies usually don’t survive those encounters. Residents have tried just about everything: Pouring fox pee and chili powder on plants. Fencing. Live trapping and re- location. But nothing has made a dent. “It’s just not realistic. There are so many, I could be out there every day and not make a Alaina Giguiere Owner/Principal Broker c: 503.440.3202 f: 877.812.1126 e: alainagiguiere@mac.com #1 in sales 2016 and 2017 Coastal Advantage CoastalAdvantage.com Marty Giguiere Owner/Broker c: 503.440.7676 o: 503.436.1777 e: mr007@pacifier.com 1868 PACIFIC difference,” Postlewait said. “I don’t believe the satisfactory solution is homeowners to trap rabbits. I think it’s the respon- sibility of the city to help out somehow.” ‘Critter of Cannon Beach’ While the overzealous bunny population has been a long-standing reality, the city has chosen not to get involved in pest control. Wildlife feeding bans have been introduced in the past, but none have come to frui- tion. “If you go into a neighbor- hood, you’re going to find 50 percent want them and 50 per- cent will not,” City Manager Bruce St. Denis said. At the Tolovana Inn, the bunnies have become a tourist attraction. “The guests love it. Some request certain rooms to be closer to ‘Bunny Hill,’ which is what we call the place where they hang out,” said Michael Soprano, the group sales coor- dinator for the hotel. Also solidly in the pro-bun- ny camp sits Melodie Chen- evert, another neighbor in Tolovana and champion of the campaign to make the bunnies the official critter. Her love for them started with her grand- daughter, who was delight- ed by them hopping around her yard. After a particularly rough winter two years ago, Chenevert started to feed the bunnies carrots and brocco- li, and has enjoyed keeping them around her property ever since. Their constant presence in town makes them not only a novelty, but a community pil- lar, she said. “I’m a live-and-let-live person,” Chenevert said. “They were released here. It’s not their fault they are run- ning through Cannon Beach. They’re a part of the commu- nity now.” Chenevert admits the bunnies also do a number on her lawn and plants. “But to me, it’s the price you pay to have a cute neigh- bor that doesn’t hurt anyone,” she said. Egrane Brown Susan Tone Broker c: 503.440.1648 e: egranebrown@gmail.com Broker c: 503.354.4072 e: susantone@nehalemtel.net Maryann Sinkler Andrea Mace Hilary Herman Shelley Parker Broker c. 503.440.9280 e: maryanns@remax.net Broker c. 503-440-4024 e: Andrea.k.mace@remax.net Broker c: 503-791-4718 e: HilaryHerman@hotmail.com Broker c: 503-739-1977 e: Shelley.Parker@mail.com Cheryl Johnson Abbas Atwi Broker c: 503-739-1977 e: Cheryl.Johnson@remax.net Broker c: 503-310-8464 e: Abbas.atwi@remax.net 2 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU! /REMAXCoastalAdvantage Fitzpatrick said she has to wrap certain plants on her prop- erty in wire to protect them from rabbits. 219 N. 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