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. Hemlock, Cannon Beach 503.436.1777
430 Laneda, Manzanita 503.368.1777
Member of 2 MLS Systems Each office is independently owned & operated
All brokers listed are licensed in the State of Oregon
187 W MADISON
188 FERNWOOD
2675 SUNSET BLVD
571 ANTLER
Cannon Beach • $3,495,000
Cannon Beach • $1,485,000
Cannon Beach • $999,000
Seaside • $995,000
Cannon Beach • $869,900
4040 S HEMLOCK
724 N PROM
187 SUSITNA
123 S HEMLOCK #201
140 E JEFFERSON
LI NE
ST W
IN
G
OCEAN FRONT!
SALE
PENDING
Cannon Beach • $719,000
Seaside • $698,000
124 W ORFORD
164 E DAWES
Cannon Beach • $695,000
Cannon Beach • $649,000
Cannon Beach • $645,000
3579 S HEMLOCK
36124 HWY 26
Cannon Beach • $569,000
Seaside • $549,000
216 E MONROE
4877 DRUMMOND DR
SCAN
HERE
to go
to our
website
SALE
PENDING
Cannon Beach • $624,999
Cannon Beach • $619,000
33264 NEACOXIE
32103 BUENA VISTA DR
773 AVE ‘A’
IG P
B O
SH
SALE
PENDING
Arch Cape • $524,900
Gearhart • $499,000
Cannon Beach • $495,000
Gearhart • $474,900
4039 S PACIFIC
164 ELLIOT WAY
191 E MONROE
3142 HWY 101
1320 CASCARA
Gearhart • $354,900
Cannon Beach • $349,900
LI NE
ST W
IN
G
Surf Pines • $549,000
NEW
PRICE
Cannon Beach • $415,000
Cannon Beach • $399,999
Cannon Beach • $395,000
“Real Estate standards for those with ‘Higher’ Expectations.
above the crowd!”