Bunnies make themselves at home in city neighborhood
Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down ... West Wayne Street?
Those who live in the city's Island neighborhood barely give a second glance to the exotic pet rabbits that were let loose by their owner about a year ago and left to fend for themselves.
The hare-raising situation turned out fine for the rabbits. They did what rabbits are famous for and populated the Island with their artistically pelted offspring.
The rabbits on Virginia and Negley avenues and West Wayne and West Diamond streets are black and white, plain black or white, tan, orange and gray and brownish black. Most are noticeably larger than the area's native rabbits, and don't carrot all when folks stare at them.
Some will allow a stranger to approach and pet them, while others become the fast and the furriest when a human gets too close.
The ear-resistable mammals don't seem to bother the neighborhood's residents, even when the bunnies decide to sun themselves in the middle of the street.
While one of the population occasionally meets a grim fate under the wheels of a car, most are pretty lucky in the high-traffic streets. After all, they do have four rabbit's feet.“One day, there were about 10 of them in the middle of the road,” said Alysha Zurzola of West Wayne Street. “I beeped my horn and they would not move. I had to get out and shoo them away.”She said the bunnies pose no problem as they hop about, chewing on grass or whatever they can find to sustain themselves.On one occasion, Zurzola's daughter threw a French fry to a rabbit and it chased her down the street in a bid to get more.“I never saw her run that fast,” Zurzola said. “It was cute.”<i>This is an excerpt — read more about the bunnies of the island in the full article in Sunday's Butler Eagle.</i>
