“Nature, free as the air we breathe, more precious than gold”
SANBI Biodiversity for Life
BENONI BUNNY PARK
There is an imbalance of nature at the Benoni Bunny Park and this needs
to be restored urgently. The perimeter roads all have healthy grass verges. The Bunny Park is a dust pool without a blade of grass, only Verbena Rigida growth?
Yes, there are
challenges with bunnies eating grass but not to the extent that it disappears altogether. The bunnies need to be provided with
sufficient alternative sources of nutrients to enable grass to be planted and
for the local and touring community to enjoy this facility to its fullest. Children love bunnies and this is a wonderful
Benoni attraction lacking eco-friendly grass turf management and care.
The benefits families, young children and community gain from a visit to a 'Bunny Park' for a 'free' outdoor experience far out way the cost and effort of correct maintenance! The City of Ekurhuleni Metro outdoor facility serves everyone and could become one of the jewels of the 'Benoni Council Customer Care Areas' !
The City of Ekurhuleni needs to avoid destroying all green lungs in Benoni, including the Benoni Country Club grounds which have been in excellent condition for 110 years and for many years at absolutely no cost or effort to the City of Ekurhuleni. The grounds of the Benoni Country Club have been maintained and cared for at cost ONLY to members fees. The major benefit is a wonderful green City of Ekurhuleni lung and a huge benefit to community, a healthy lifestyle and a pass time for young and old sporting aspirants and future South African golfing greats.
RABBITS
Wild
rabbits spend their entire lives on an area of 10 acres or less. A yard may
have one or more wild rabbit families living, eating, urinating and generally
causing a nuisance on lawn areas. Rabbits destroy lawns in several different
ways, relying on grass for most of their needs.
HUNGER
Lush, green grass provides a perfect grazing source for
rabbits. Rabbits require around 2,200 kilocalories of food per kilogram, or 2.2
pounds, of weight per day during their formative and adult years and, according
to Dr. JoAnne Murray, director of Taught Postgraduate Programmes at the
University of Edinburgh, there are about four calories in an ounce of standard
turf grass. That’s a lot of grass to go
through, especially when there are multiple rabbits grazing on the same lawn. Between flowers, vegetables, woody matter and yard
grass, rabbits can decimate an area and completely kill off a yard of outdoor
grass if hungry enough. Rabbits rely on grass for most of their needs.
While rabbits like
variety in their diet, they will eat grass exclusively if other feedstuff is
unavailable.
SHELTER
Rabbits
rely on grass and weeds for shelter. They create dens called forms in which
they sleep and hide their young. These
shelters also protect rabbits from inclement weather and predation by other
animals. By creating these forms,
rabbits bend the grass out of position and sometimes break the blades.
Additionally, they may import grass from other spots in the yard and mat down
or thatch the grass into a desirable form. All of this damages outdoor grass sources.
URINE
Rabbit
urine, like dog urine or cat urine, scalds grass. Rabbits can produce up to six litters a year
of young, with five to six babies per litter, all in your yard. Assuming two adult rabbits and 30 young
rabbits in a year on a 10-acre area, the amount of urine produced is
astounding, and rabbits are creatures of habit when it comes to their hygiene
routines. When rabbits urinate on the
same spot over and over again, the grass in that area loses nutrients and dies
back, leaving bald patches and bare spots.
VERBENA RIGIDA - HARDY GARDEN
VERBENA - SPREAD THROUGOUT THE BENONI BUNNY PARK - IS THERE A TURF GROWER WHO WOULD LIKE TO GRASS THE REMAINDER OF THE BENONI BUNNY PARK?
