Chicago's bunny brigades

Chicago Tribune ^ | 7/27/07 | Colleen Mastony

[Huntress]

Along a gritty stretch of Harrison Street just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway, cars and trucks zoom past in a whoosh of hot air and and blowing dust. Horns blare, sirens scream and every few minutes a city bus rumbles past, belching exhaust. In the background, the skyline rises like a mountain range of glass and steel.

This is the urban jungle -- teeming with crowds, booming to a cacophony of sound, alive in a whirl of motion. But look closely. There -- along the sidewalk -- an Eastern cottontail rabbit hops down the cracked concrete. It perks its ears for a moment -- alert to someone watching. Then it bounds into the scraggly bushes along the edge of a low-slung brick building, its white fuzzy tail disappearing into the brush.

It might seem an improbable sighting. A near miracle that such a creature could survive such an inhospitable environment. But survive it has, so much so that in recent years the urban rabbit has become as ubiquitous as the pigeons toddling around Daley Plaza or the squirrels that scurry through the trees in Lincoln Park.

[Huntress]

Today, the cottontail is the new urbanite, tramping along our avenues like a bucktoothed hipster, lolling on the grass in Daley Bicentennial Park after an all-you-can-eat picnic.

The reporter should submit this line to the Bulwer- Lytton contest.

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

[Clam Digger]

She writes like a verbose 7th grade girl in love with her English teacher.

[CaptRon]

Chicago. Bunnies. Thought this might about Playboy.

What a disappointment.

[1rudeboy]

This is a miracle. I wonder if the acres of open space that constitute the UIC campus immediately to the southwest played a role? /s

[MrB]

The big brown eyes, the stately, alert ears, the twitching of a cute little button nose...

a faint crack is heard over the traffic and the bunny flips over dead.

[1rudeboy]

Sadly, those bunnies were last seen years ago in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin before heading to points unknown.

[Squawk 8888]

The rabbit of Caerbannog

---

[clop clop clop]

[whinny whinny]

GALAHAD:

They're nervous, sire.

ARTHUR:

Then we'd best leave them here and carry on on foot. Dis-mount!

TIM:

Behold the cave of Caerbannog!

ARTHUR:

Right! Keep me covered.

GALAHAD:

What with?

ARTHUR:

W-- just keep me covered.

TIM:

Too late!

[dramatic chord]

ARTHUR:

What?

TIM:

There he is!

ARTHUR:

Where?

TIM:

There!

ARTHUR:

What, behind the rabbit?

TIM:

It is the rabbit.

[taxcontrol]

... followed by the aromatic smell of stew.

[Huntress]

There, there. Maybe this will help.

[CaptRon]

I appreciate your attempt to help, but all I get is a red x!

[Darksheare]

[Huntress]

My pic turned into a red X, so here’s the link:

http://www.explayboybunnies.com/photoalbums/hughhefner/hh18.jpg

[Huntress]

Link at post 12.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

The bunnies are slowly taking over the Chicago metro area in the last couple of years. I live in a northern suburb on one acre. They have destroyed my floral landscaping - echinacea, liatris, daylily are amongst their favorites. They're probably eaten $100-200 worth of perennials. So, in lieu of waiting for a coyote to randomly find our property, I instead just took up a new career as a Rabbit Hunter :-).

[CaptRon]

Like I said, I appreciate your attempt to help...

[CaptRon]

Sorry, I thought you posted the big rabbit!

[toast]

In our area the recent explosion in the urban rabbit population was followed by more urban hawks, eagles, and owls.

[domenad]

The rabbit hop hops
Straight into rush hour traffic
Oops! Now it's roadkill

I haiku of death inspired by the Chicago Tribune. Thank you.

[Darksheare]

Heh heh heh.
I’d prefer the ex-bunnies hopping around, but such is life.

[CaptRon]

Still, that’s one helluva rabbit...

[Darksheare]

Oh yeah, I think I prefer having the relatively small Eastern Cottontails here instead.
I’d hate to see what would happen if Flemish Giants were native and that size.

[wayne_b24]

surprised it took that long.

jimmah cahta, line 1...

[Chi-townChief]

More food for the international street dogs.

[TChris]

This sort of thing is strong evidence against much of the envirowackos' hand-wringing about destroying animal habitat.

The fact is, many animals can adapt marvelously to a wide range of habitat.

[ClaireSolt]

My father battled rabits with a pellet gun. Then I sent him a clipping from Organic Gardening that suggested contacting the circus when it is ion town and obtaining some lion dung to spread as a deterrent.

[RonF]

I live out in the SW Chicago suburbs near a forest preserve. I have few problems with rabbits. I have a cat and a cat door that allows it to go in and out as it pleases. Every spring I hear a couple of screams from dying baby rabbits.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I don’t remember any bunnies when I was at UIC. Just rats.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

a faint crack is heard over the traffic and the bunny flips over dead.

That's odd. When I sighted at the bunnies on my property (and hit them), they jumped about 5 ft. almost every time before falling over ;-).