By CASEY NEILL
A PLAGUE of rabbits has brought an influx of foxes to a Keysborough school site.
But a solution to a five-year battle against the bunnies could finally be on its way.
Land at 402 Corrigan Road is home to the Resurrection primary school and church, Keysborough Learning Centre (KLC), occasional childcare centre Freedom Club and units for the elderly – plus hundreds of rabbits.
Resurrection Primary principal Steve Bellesini first noticed one or two in the school grounds about five years ago.
“We found that they were mainly coming from an easement that runs alongside the school,” he said.
He contacted Melbourne Water, which manages the easement, and they shared the cost – about $1500 – to bait the bunnies.
“It didn’t make much difference,” Mr Bellesini said.
The school then spent $2200 to bring in a pest exterminator.
“But within a month or two the rabbits were back to their full force,” he said.
Mr Bellesini said the rabbits dug holes in the playground, creating a hazard for children and teachers, and the school held regular working bees to fill in their burrows.
“And they’re going underneath the asphalt and the asphalt’s been collapsing,” he said.
“The feeling is that the reason why the rabbits are coming in is the development along Cheltenham Road.
“That’s pushing the rabbits out of their natural environment.
“I would easily see 100 rabbits in the yard in front of me at 8am.”
KLC general manager Neil Cooper heard rumours the plague had started from two pets escaping from a nearby home.
“They look cute and the kids all thought they were wonderful,” he said.
“Then they started to breed.
“Of an evening you can see them streaming across the oval.”
Mr Cooper said the rabbits had chewed through a telephone line and a data cable.
“And if you’ve got lots of rabbits you’re going to get foxes,” he said.
“We come across dismembered bits of rabbit. You start to worry about kids or elderly that may be at risk.
“You disturb a rabbit and they’ll hop away. You disturb a fox and they might bite.”
Freedom Club co-ordinator Karen Kruiskamp said staff had seen a fox on their site during the day, and it seemed they had reduced rabbit numbers over the Christmas break.
“Everywhere you looked there was a rabbit,” she said.
“It got to the point where they weren’t even scared of you.”
City of Greater Dandenong last week contacted Melbourne Water for help to control the plague.
“We went and investigated. We determined they were coming from the Melbourne Water drains,” Cr Roz Blades said.
Melbourne Water maintenance team leader David Leggo told the Journal they had met with the council and school to discuss how to address the problem.
“We have proposed a joint management program and are looking into the best approach in terms of timing and control methods near a school,” he said.
“While investigations show that most of the burrows are on school property, this is a shared problem and we all have a responsibility to work out a solution.
“Given our previous experience with rabbit control in other locations, we will take the lead role in managing the eradication program, with costs shared by all parties.”
