Project manager Antti Rautiainen of the City of Helsinki, the capital's "rabbit terminator", has suggested new methods to cull the ever-expanding population of wild bunnies in the city and environs.
In an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, Rautiainen discussed an idea of using ferrets, the domestic mammals of the type Mustela putorius furo, to chase wild rabbits away from tunnels where they are hiding in the winter, in order that the creatures could then be trapped.
Ferrets are known to have been used for rabbit hunting for example in Southern and Central Europe.
Rautiainen has been engaged in the rabbit extermination campaign for the past couple of months. In the course of that period, the rabbit population has been reduced by some 400 individuals.
The wild rabbit population has proved to be a nuisance ever since the pet animals - which are not indigenous to Finland - escaped or were abandoned.
We have had a number of earlier articles about the struggle of the city's gardeners to get to grips with the problem, and one hero in the fight has been the eagle owl and honorary Olympic Stadium resident Bubi, who likes to dine on the rabbits.
Unfortunately Bubi's efforts are not enough.
