Diatribe: Bunnies Doing Destructive Damage In Denver.

One day last spring I opened the glove box in our car and found that several of the paper napkins I keep there for emergencies had been shredded.  As I removed the odd discovery, I also found some bird seeds.  Our glove box looked like the bottom of a hamster cage!  It was as if a mouse had been working to make the tiny space their home.  We cleaned the mess, thought nothing more about the strange experience and never saw evidence of an intruder in our glove box again.

The same cannot be said for cars parked at the Denver International Airport where furry troublemakers have been doing quite a bit of damage.  Officials claim that rabbits are chewing wires under the hoods of cars.  The bunnies are causing hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in damage.

Approximately one hundred rabbits have been removed from the area each month yet the damage continues.  The persistent presence of rabbits can be attributed to the fact that the airport is surrounded by a prairie and the rabbits look to the vehicles for warmth and food.

“They come to the recently driven cars for warmth, and once they’re there, they find that many of the materials used for coating ignition cables are soy-based, and the rabbits find that quite tasty.” – Wiley Faris, Arapahoe Autotek Repair Center.

Apartment buildings in the area have also had problems with bunnies damaging cars parked in their lots.

The damage the animals cause can be quite serious.  Repair costs can run into the thousands of dollars and are often not covered by insurance.  Airport parking permits specify that they are not responsible for damages which puts the burden on the driver.

Several solutions to the problem are being explored including fencing, perches for hawks and eagles and even coating wires with coyote or fox urine.  Apparently, predator urine is a good deterrent and is available at most professional hunting shops.

Our car has a special “cabin filter” that is installed behind the glove box.  Its function is to purify the air that circulates throughout the car and the manufacturer recommends that it be changed periodically.  When I last had it replaced, the mechanic took great joy in announcing “You must’ve had a squirrel in your car that built a nest.  Your filter was filled with pellets and seeds.”

Ultimately, just like in the parking lot of the Denver Airport, the perpetrators were identified by the pellets they left behind.

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