Wildlife biologist skeptical of trapping rabbits in Regina

A wildlife biologist says the City of Regina’s plan to reduce its rabbit population through trapping is likely going to backfire.

According to John Polson, who also volunteers with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Saskatchewan (WRSOS), coyote culls have been attempted in Saskatoon but those only resulted in populations rebounding in even more prolific numbers.

He predicts the same will happen with rabbits.

“As long as you keep pressure all the time, you might succeed but if you just do it for a short time and then stop, what happens is because there’s more spaces, more food, more of the young survive and the population is just as likely to increase rather than decrease,” Polson said. “It does the exact opposite of what you expect.”

In response to resident and developer concerns, Regina is in the second year of a pilot program to trap and put down rabbits — a last resort, it says, to protect trees in its Harbour Landing neighbourhood after trying other deterrents like wrapping them.

Rabbits feed on grasses and herbaceous plants but once there’s snow on the ground, bark as well.

(Photo Courtesy of Global Regina)

Erin Pippin, another volunteer from the WRSOS, helps out with animal rescues and called the city’s program “cruel” because of what the rabbits will do to try and escape the traps.

“They will throw themselves against the sides of the cages, they’ll end up hurting their faces, cutting their faces up, they will actually end up killing themselves,” Pippin said.

“When they can’t move around, being stuck in those cages, they can’t generate heat which is why we were saying they will freeze to death.”

The city has said traps will be checked twice per day.

People in Saskatoon do not see rabbits as much of a nuisance, Polson said.

To protect its trees, he said the city makes it the responsibility of contractors to protect them.

“That’s by far the simplest system. You protect them until they’re old enough that the bark is too thick that nothing wants to eat it,” Polson said. “You wrap the trees with mesh or piping.”

White-tailed jackrabbits are found across the southern prairies and when it comes to nature, Polson said people need to learn to live with it.

“You are invading their habitat,” he said. “It’s pretty unreasonable to expect that you can live and not be impacted in some way by some of the wildlife species that were there a long time before you were.”