I've visited UVic a couple of times... my grandma used to live down the road from UVic, and I've also attended a workshop there. I have fond memories of the bunnies. (How could I not? They're cute little bunnies!)
A friend of mine just returned from a conference there, and remarked on the bunnies (since I'm Canadian, he wanted to report to me that he had just returned from Canada). His comment was something like "the number of bunnies there is like the number of squirrels here"... and folks, we have a *lot* of squirrels here. And no, he's not kidding about the bunnies.
He wanted to know the story behind the bunnies, and no one there could give him a straight answer. (I think it's one of those things that's so common that no one knows the answer... like here, and why we're called "tar heels"... there are several versions of that story.)
I think the version I heard is that they're escaped/released lab bunnies. There's so many of them that the university has considered culling them, but that usually starts protests. I think I may have also heard that locals who no longer want their pet bunnies have also been contributing to the UVic population.
I tried googling the UVic bunnies, but couldn't find the real story... although I did find a fun statistics test question that uses them. ;)
Do any of you know the real UVic bunny story?
4 comments:
That is AWESOME about the bunnies. I never knew it but found their website, on the right side, they have fact and myth. http://www.uvic.ca/assets/MM_EE8UNN13S.html
I LOVE bunnies and we see them often runnigng across the road. i always squeal "BUNNY" My boyfriend thinks it's so cute that I get all giggly when i see a bunny.
Thanks Trish! That's a great link. I've forwarded it to my friend too. :)
I went to UVic ten years ago, and there were no bunnies, but I have been back and there are, in fact, tons of them. And no, they are definitely not escaped lab animals, like the website says. But they are very tame. You can drive or walk around campus and just see them sitting around on the lawns ... :)
Oh, and hi, I like your site, I stop by now and then. :)
Hi Jeannie! Nice to meet you. :)
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