Starving rabbits bring chaos to Upper Wharfedale visitor centre (From Craven Herald)

Starving rabbits bring chaos to Upper Wharfedale visitor centre

9:40am Saturday 6th February 2010

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The bitter winter has led to a plague of starving rabbits eating their way through the gardens of an Upper Wharfedale visitor attraction.

And the weather may also have put a colony of red squirrels at risk.

Few human visitors went to Kilnsey Park when snow and ice made access to the Dales tricky.

But rabbits made a daily battle charge on the park to munch their way through the ornamental landscape.

Owner Vanessa Roberts told the Herald: “We have suffered a plague of rabbits coming down from the fell desperate for food.

“They have decimated our water gardens and the garden area surrounding the restaurant and eaten the bark off any shrubs or plants they could find.

“There is no cure for the many plants affected by this so I am also looking at the additional cost of replacing them.

“So many people visit us to see the water gardens so it is hugely disappointing.”

As the milder weather edges in, the rabbits will retreat to the fells and the gardens will be restored to their former glory.

But there is a question mark over how well the park’s family of red squirrels has survived during their winter hibernation.

“The Kilnsey Park red squirrels have been very quiet during the extreme cold and there is a fear that they may not all have survived,” said Mrs Roberts.

“Thankfully we replaced all the red squirrel boxes during the autumn and filled them with very warm bedding so they should have been very snug, but the temperatures were extreme.

“We will have to wait until the weather picks up before we see how many red squirrels have survived.”

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