A horde of wild bunnies have left one city in Washington hopping mad.
Hundreds of bunnies are running wild around Langley, on Whidbey Island. They're burrowing holes in school football fields, destroying the foundations of buildings and posing health risks to people and their pets, according to local officials.
"There is feces everywhere and there are some illnesses that can be carried and transmitted," Brian Miller, facilities director for the South Whidbey School District, told NBC affiliate KING 5.
The bunnies are even digging up a middle school football field that the district just spent $80,000 to restore.
"Every day there are new holes, and the ones we've filled in are dug out, again," Miller said.
The fuzzy scourge is believed to be the progeny of European hares that escaped from the Island County Fairgrounds decades ago, according to the station.
But the bunnies have found a safe haven in the city of Langley, where some residents feed them and there are buildings under which they can burrow, away from natural predators.
"Everybody is saying we've never seen it like this before," Miller said.
A community meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7 to address the city's rabbit problem.
Langley is considering everything from relocating the creatures to releasing raptors to control the population, according to KING 5, and the school district is now considering $60,000 in protective fencing.
"They are cute, but they have an impact on our community," Miller said.
