My Rabbit bike lane & mascot rabbit

[shootingstar]

well, I would like to christen our city's first downtown separated bike lane, Rabbit Lane:

This sweetie bunny, I've encountered when out for a walk on evening of snow blizzard @-31 C degrees. I think it's a pet rabbit that's been lost/abandoned. Our area/parks also have large wild rabbits that one can see hopping along by another bike path

But this one is right by the bike lane. Poor thing, was cold and stared at me mutely on that evening. It didn't bother to run away from under the evergreen tree on a lawn. I have since seen this bunny on 2 different evenings later...by the bike lane. In the past 2 days, the night winter temp. have plunged to -40C degrees with wind chill.

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!

http://cyclewriteblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/cropped-bunny.jpg

[thekarens]

Someone needs to take that poor bunny to the spca.

[shootingstar]

A good reason that people should never release or lose their pet.. most likely this bunny will not be caught for spca. This creature is running around..in downtown where there busy roads. There are parks nearby.

[PamNY]

There are rabbit rescue organizations. I don't know how feasible it is to trap a domestic rabbit, but can't hurt to ask, especially since you're seeing this one in the same area.

[Eden]

It may not be domestic… (though it not running away may indicate it is), but rather the descendant of previously released domestic rabbits… there was a whole big colony of them over in Bellevue for a while until they were relocated for construction. They were most definitely wild, but looked like pet bunnies because most of their parents were. I've also seen probable domestic and part domestic bunnies living in the colony by the bike path a little south of here too.

[shootingstar]

I've seen also such domesticated looking bunnies, Eden when we were out cycling in the CAnadian rockies on a bike path in a ski resort town. This was in the summer. Maybe because prairies and foothills expose such creatures since there are simply less trees and bushes for them to hide.

Anyway, 1 wild rabbit type in our area looks like this (see below), which I saw from 7 ft. away when I took this photo ...in a different part as I was cycling home from work. I have visions that these rabbits aren't bad kickers. They have huge hind legs. Wild rabbits are part of the local natural lore...it's in some local artwork.

I know on Vancouver Island, they've had to do a rabbit cull because of problems. In our area ...there are occasional coyote wandering around in the parks. Then 100 km. north, begins bear (moose, big-horned sheep, elk, etc.) country, etc.

http://cyclewriteblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/bigrabbit.jpg

[smilingcat]

The white rabbit looks pretty fat. maybe it has a burrow nearby so its not wondering off too far from it. So even if the temp goes down to -41C (burrr that's around -42F), if it has a dry well padded burrow (underground), it will be able to get out of the extreme cold. Hare I don't think makes burrows so it'll have a tougher time.

Pretty cute.

[shootingstar]

http://srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/WildSpecies/Mammals/RabbitsRodents/

It appears if the white one is not domesticated, it may be a snowshoe hare which is actually common.

The other one, brown with big ears is the white tailed jackrabbit. This latter we definitely see this wild type quite often --at night/dusk/sunset.

[nuliajuk]

Jackrabbits actually do change to white in the winter in northern climates, their other name is Varying Hare. Snowshoe hares are much less common in areas as far south as Calgary, but they can show up.
I lived in a condo apartment on Heritage Drive for many years that was frequently visited by jackrabbits. They became quite used to people and wouldn't run away until you were almost next to them. It wasn't uncommon to see groups of three or four hopping around the neighbourhood, and when I bought a duplex a few blocks away, they did a surprisingly good job of pruning the rose bushes out front. The tea rose, in particular, would bloom much better after an early spring nosh by the local hares. I always felt sorry for them during Chinooks, the grass would be brown but they'd still be pure white. Or we'd get a late snow fall after they'd already started going brown again.
Even if it is a feral domestic, the cold won't bother it and it should find enough to eat. It's main danger is from coyotes, weasels, and loose dogs. I had pet rabbits outside in hutches growing up, and they were fine all winter. We gave them a box with lots of straw to bed down in and extra food for calories.

[shootingstar]

Until I moved to Alberta from Vancouver (and before, Ontario), I had never seen wild rabbits this often before in the local parks.

It'll be interesting to see if there will be less, when more highrise condo buildings get built..and yea, near the river where it flooded big time this summer. In celebration of rabbits...and that snow white owl (which darn I couldn't take a photo, but there was a real white owl in a tree by the MUP one fall evening this year.. by the river.), here is the art work beside the MUP:

http://cyclewriteblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/tree-of-life.jpg

[shootingstar]

Thx for the info, nuliajak.

My early wishes to everyone here for great holidays with good memories this year. Every year, it grows increasingly wistful and special to me. So be warm like the bunny here. :)