Rabbits are one of the main pests we have in our plant nursery. They seem to be able to sniff out the tastiest plants. Sometimes I have wondered why rabbits like some plants more than others, and it turns out they have similar tastebuds to humans. How do I know? Coprosmas and Kakabeaks are their favourite plants, and if an inquisitive nurseryman happened one day to nibble on a Coprosma or Kakabeak leaf, they may have discovered that a fresh Coprosma or Kakabeak tastes remarkably like a freshly picked sweet pea from the vegetable garden. Cabbage trees are another favourite, and how do you think cabbage trees got their name?

This year was looking like a big year for bunnies. Our grass carpark at times resembled a scene from Watership Down, with a few different generations hurriedly nibbling on the broadleaf plants in our freshly mown lawn, always with an ear and eye out for anything resembling a threat.

It seems that rabbits have developed some pretty good survival skills over many years. We find that they are not too bothered by people on foot, motorbikes or cars, and we can get pretty close to them, but, if the person on foot has anything stick like in their hands then they suddenly keep 80m away, or in other words, about the maximum distance that an average person with middle aged eyesight and a slightly wobbly arm can focus on through gun sights, and still have a vague chance of hitting the target. 

This year we had an ultra cute black rabbit hoping around the Sculpture Trail gardens. We decided we are always going to have rabbits of one form or another in the gardens, so, if we do have rabbits, we might as well have interesting ones. So, the hard word was put on our teenage pest control officer, and black rabbits became a protected species, and were no longer a target when he was playing the role of the scary ‘Man with a long stick’.

Natural selection and rabbits ability to breed soon showed, and before long several families of black rabbits were playing on the lawns, and in the process they were learning that if you are a black rabbit, men with sticks are not a threat. The evolution of the Kaipara Coast black bunny breed was working to perfection. As it turned out, the teenage ‘Man with a Stick’ was good at lining up grey bunnies in his sights, and after several months we soon we had a predominance of cute black bunnies.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and all our rabbits in the last few weeks have succumbed to the Rabbit Calicivirus (RHDV), which is an introduced disease that every few years goes through the rabbit population, and radically reduces the number of rabbits. Our black rabbits have all gone, but at least our Coprosmas, Kakabeaks and Cabbage trees are safe.

On Easter Sunday every year we invite another type of rabbit into the gardens when we run our annual Easter Egg Hunt.  This is a very popular event for all ages, and particularly for the younger generation. Bookings are essential, and the good news is that the Easter Bunny is in great health, and is looking forward to dishing out Easter eggs to enthusiastic hunters.