Do you see more Rats or Rabbits?

I swear I see more rabbits than rats.  I see rabbits living in bushes on traffic islands and in smallish green corners of parking lots. The thinnest most obscure strips of green will have a rabbit. This seems 'newish' to me, as in more rabbits in the last couple years.  I know this is highly anecdotal, still.  Rats will eat baby rabbits right? So how are rabbit population numbers going up?

I do wonder when a urban 'Watership Down' moment will occur and the rats and the rabbits will square up and settle it in strange pitched battles.

Alas H/

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Permalink Reply by S on June 3, 2013 at 4:54am

It depends, if the golf course already has rabbits then things might go bad.  Wild rabbits can be really aggressive in the wild and they can end up killing or severely injuring one another when fighting over territory or dominance.

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

Before I clicked on the link I thought you were going to bring cats. ;-)  I think the golf course is a better place for the bunnies.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

I can fix that for you. I have 3 in my yard right now. I've been catching them and releasing them at the lake. I could drop them off at your place too. Just let me know.

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/she-had-the-weight-of-the?...

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

In Wicker Park, I have never seen a rabbit but the rats are always evident no matter what the City does.  We also don't seem to have many stray cats.  

Permalink Reply by Liz on June 3, 2013 at 5:04am

the Lincoln park coyote will take care of some of them....

S said:

It depends, if the golf course already has rabbits then things might go bad.  Wild rabbits can be really aggressive in the wild and they can end up killing or severely injuring one another when fighting over territory or dominance.

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

Before I clicked on the link I thought you were going to bring cats. ;-)  I think the golf course is a better place for the bunnies.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

I can fix that for you. I have 3 in my yard right now. I've been catching them and releasing them at the lake. I could drop them off at your place too. Just let me know.

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/she-had-the-weight-of-the?...

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

In Wicker Park, I have never seen a rabbit but the rats are always evident no matter what the City does.  We also don't seem to have many stray cats.  

Permalink Reply by Davo on June 3, 2013 at 5:20am

I have the same problem with my jack russell shietsu. Any type of rodent he sees he will try and bolt for it. We joke that he is trying to be like that guy from INXS. Some how he makes choking sounds even though his harness isn't around his neck.

Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

And I have two west highland terriers.  Westies are bred to be "ratters", and mine are true to their heritage.  Actually, they will go after anything in the rodent family, including squirrels.

Jeremy said:

We used to see a ton of rats out with the dog in lakeview/Lincoln park. Now thankfully it's way more rabbits in Lincoln square. Especially in temps like this.
Permalink Reply by Haddon on June 3, 2013 at 5:47am

So I guess a "photos of wildlife" thread would be in order. Counts more if the Animal and owners Bike are in the photo??   First person to get their bike and a coyote in a photo wins a big prize. 

H/

Permalink Reply by Rich S on June 3, 2013 at 5:50am

Or we can just keep this one going.  

Haddon said:

So I guess a "photos of wildlife" thread would be in order. Counts more if the Animal and owners Bike are in the photo??   First person to get their bike and a coyote in a photo wins a big prize. 

H/

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on June 4, 2013 at 8:21am

Rabbits are in the parks, and Rats are in the alleys, I see more rats in the summer though.

Permalink Reply by C Wright on June 4, 2013 at 9:26am

We see both, but rabbits much more consistently.  There is a stretch of unpaved land under the brown line between Schiller and North and we see rabbits there every night after the sun has set. In fact, we even see them quite often in daylight. 

We've never caught one though, because there's a fence there.  So we always have to just bark and bang on the fence. 

Last night we gave 100% effort and got really close, like within 20 feet, but it got away.  One day we'll catch one.  Maybe tonight, which is why we'll give 100% effort.

Permalink Reply by Lewis on June 4, 2013 at 10:43am

Around Rockwell and Iowa there's an apparently stable population of black squirrels. I guess these occur elsewhere around town, but I don't know anywhere where they're as common.

Hyde Park east of the Metra tracks seems to have an inexplicably entrenched raccoon population.

Permalink Reply by John C. Wilson on June 4, 2013 at 2:39pm

Here in the bucolic pastoral wilds of Evanston bunnies are coyote food. Bunnies stay near home, coyotes range around. When a neglected herd of bunnies gets numerous the coyotes come around and clean them out. The bunnies repopulate quickly.

I've seen both my cats facing off with coyotes at less than ten feet several times. Gotta presume they see each other often when I'm not around to shoo off the coyote. Between a bristling cat, a chattering squirrel, and a nice fat bunny I think the coyote has an easy time picking what's for dinner.

Cats will go through a nest of young bunnies for sport. Adult rabbits are safe from most cats. Cats are crazy enough there's a cat somewhere who'd give it a go. I've had two cats injured picking fights with squirrels.

If you want a picture with bike and coyote I'd suggest the Evanston lakefront anywhere south of the university around dusk. If someone is nearby walking a dog you'll see no coyotes. As soon as the dogs are out of sight the coyotes are there. You'll want a camera that's good for low light and a zoom. Early in the morning is good too.

Permalink Reply by Pippy Duchamp on June 4, 2013 at 4:38pm

Bunnies all over the place in Lincoln Square! And its also Dog City around here, but I suspect they are all too over-fed. Also, it seems the bunnies live in front of things, like under hedges in front of buildings, whereas rats stick to the alleys. You see the bunnies coming out in the grassy areas and the rats coming and going from under dumpsters and cars. We don't seem to have a lot of outdoor cats and one reason, I think is because we have Western Ave, and Lawrence, and Lincoln all converging- very dangerous for the small animals! But I have noticed what appears to be an increase in both bunnies and rat sightings. 

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on June 5, 2013 at 4:44am

I see lots of squirrels and some rabbits along the lake, and more rats a block or so inland.  There is a coyote living by the lake at Loyola.  I've seen it in Berger Park a few times after dark and this morning it was lounging in the grass at the south end of the campus.

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