When animals become pesky, governments go
hunting Daniel Tencer August 10, 2004 A rash of groundhog poisonings in Andrew Haydon Park is not the work of malicious vandals -- it's city-mandated policy, says Alex Cullen, councillor for Bay Ward. Mr. Cullen yesterday sent a letter to resident Catherine Gardner, after Ms. Gardner alerted the authorities to the fact that the groundhog burrows at the park had been filled in, with no sign of the critters anywhere. "I am sorry to have to tell you that the city's rodent control program does include groundhogs in city parks, for health and safety reasons," Mr. Cullen wrote in the letter. "Groundhogs are rodents, and they will bite." "It's not unique to Andrew Haydon Park," Mr. Cullen told the Citizen yesterday. When we get an infestation, an exterminator is hired, who puts gas into the burrow which humanely kills the groundhogs, and then the holes are filled in. This is not a new policy; it's been around for a long time." Mr. Cullen said the number of groundhogs affected was "around a dozen" and not 20 or more, as had been reported earlier, adding that the cull was a one-time thing. Mr. Cullen said that the city's National Capital Equestrian Park, also in his ward, had a much more "pro-active" policy towards groundhog control. The councillor explained that safety, "as well as trying to protect the park assets" were the primary reasons for the city's policy. "People mistake them for domesticated animals, try to pet them and get bit," he said. "And they destroy the terrain" because of "the holes they make." "I'm appalled," said a visibly shaken Ms. Gardner yesterday. She said she did not agree with Mr. Cullen's explanation for the groundhog cull. "We didn't look at them as pets," she said, referring to the Andrew Haydon Park regulars who developed an affinity for groundhogs. "We looked at it as people interacting with nature. They're not harmful to people on a regular basis. When you go near any groundhog it runs away from you. Most people are actually quite surprised to see people feeding groundhogs (at the park)." She added that damage to the park from groundhog burrows was not severe. Most holes the groundhogs created were in an area of the park not frequently used by visitors, and many of them were hidden between rocks, Ms. Gardner said. Ms. Gardner said that killing the groundhogs is not the only solution to a park infestation. "Because they are quite friendly -- some of the park staff have seen us feeding them -- it's not impossible to catch these guys with a net," Ms. Gardner said. But Mr. Cullen said that provincial regulations prevented this practice from happening. "We cannot live-trap and transport them," he said. "The MNR (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) policies forbid this. You have to locate them within a kilometre, and that doesn't work in many places." For his part, Mr. Cullen lamented the fact that he was the one to bring this news to Andrew Haydon Park's groundhog lovers. "I'm stuck with being the messenger (of this bad news)," he said. "It's not a happy situation to be in." Ms. Gardner said she expects the Andrew Haydon groundhog cull "will become a bigger issue." She said that numerous individuals "bombarded" park staff with questions about the groundhog disappearance, after the Citizen first reported Sunday. © The Ottawa Citizen 2004 To reply to this story, please send your emails to: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com
Kelly Roesler August 8, 2004
An Ottawa woman claims at least 20 friendly groundhogs have vanished from Andrew Haydon Park in recent weeks, and fears the animals are being systematically poisoned. Catherine Gardner, a regular park visitor, says she has discovered broken glass and poison in some of the groundhog holes in the park. She believes someone may be killing the animals to keep them from rummaging through garbage. "What happened?" she asks. "Were they poisoned? Did they die a long horrible death?" Ms. Gardner says she has tried to contact police and city bylaw officers regarding the situation at Andrew Haydon Park, but has yet to receive a response. Jacques Bouchard, a spokesman for the City of Ottawa, says the city will be investigating the matter this week. When the groundhogs went missing, Ms. Gardner teamed up with friends and searched the park looking for them, to no avail. "They're like the park mascots," she says "People are really missing them." Surprisingly sociable, the groundhogs were among the main attractions for regular visitors to the park. They loved to play, look for food such as peanuts, carrots or lettuce, and even enjoyed being petted. "They would come right to you," says John Fouillard, 74, whose favourite pastime is to sit on one of the park's benches and feed the groundhogs. "One time, this baby one climbed right into my pockets." Mr. Fouillard also wants the city to look into what has happened to the groundhogs. Ms. Gardner hopes any investigation will ultimately discover what happened to the groundhogs, and who was responsible for their disappearance. "What saddens me is the kind of suffering these animals go through," she said. "If this action was taken because some people don't like animals, then they should be going elsewhere. "Andrew Haydon Park is well known as a place where both young and old interact with the animals." "If it was poisoning, or something like that," he says, "well, it wasn't very nice." The park has been a different place without the usual abundance of the playful animals, he says, and many people have stopped coming. "It gave so much pleasure to kids and old people to just sit and feed them. Now, they're just gone." © The Ottawa Citizen 2004 To reply to this story, please send your emails to: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com
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