Bunny battle goes ballistic at UVic campus

Feral rabbits have been the bane of the University of Victoria for years, but now the problem is moving off campus.

No one knows when the first rabbit appeared on campus, but an estimated 1,500 of them currently call it home.

The university has come under pressure to cull the animals by angry neighbours but how that might be accomplished is fuelling a raging debate.

Proponents of the doomsday approach have taken a shine to something called the Rodenator.

The device, according to its U.S. manufacturer, "delivers a precisely measured mixture of propane and oxygen into the tunnel or burrow of invasive pests. This mixture is then detonated by the operator, causing an instantaneous underground shock wave of concussive force that eliminates the pests and in some (species specific) cases collapses some of the existing tunnel structure thus preventing immediate reinfestation."

Not surprisingly, animal rights advocates are not wild about that option, and university officials have said they plan to try non-lethal approaches first.

Local veterinarian Nick Shaw has offered to perform vasectomies on the rabbits, but he says even that won't solve all of the bunny problems.  

"I don't think what we do is going to have an impact on the population of rabbits at UVic. By controlling the population, we would stop that geographic expansion of the rabbit population that's there."

But before any course of action is chosen, Shaw has to get approval from wildlife authorities and the university. He says he's in the midst of the paperwork now and hopes to begin the experiment next month.