Divided residents of city overrun with rabbits search for solution

A bunny brouhaha has been brewing for some time in Langley in Island County, Washington. Proliferating rabbits have overrun the city. Residents are ready for action. The island community has lost count of the cottontails, but they know damage is on the rise with rabbit holes hurting foundations at the fairgrounds and causing tripping hazards all over.

“It’s got to stop. It’s not cute anymore,” Langley resident Fran Johnson says. She’s tired of them chewing through her garden. Johnson recalled, with a hint of envy, how her father’s generation would have handled the situation: “You put them in a gunnysack and throw them off the dock. That’s not going to go over too good with too many people,” she said.
Langley residents are split on how to deal with the reproducing rabbits, who are digging up yards and even a middle-school football field. Some residents are feeding and sheltering the rabbits. Others support eradicating them, perhaps calling on raptors to kill the furry intruders. One resident, so frustrated by the bunnies, shot at them with an air-powered gun, which led to a criminal charge.

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At a Langley community meeting on Tuesday, residents talked over their options. It is said they found common ground and could be nearing a rabbit resolution. The city is working to get an accurate count on their rabbit problem as they continue to search for a solution that will be a good fit for the whole community.