Blackberries, Bunnies, and Owls. An Urban Ecology Fantasyland in Vancouver’s Jericho Beach Park

Previously published on July 23, 2021 on my old blog

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Photo of the Barred Owls in Jericho by Kha Nguyen

There’s a surreal, magical natural area in Vancouver’s Jericho Beach that deserves a thread. Cute bunnies that hop up and eat from your hand. Tame owls that will allow you get almost close enough to touch. Delicious Blackberries everywhere. Straight out of Disney Fairy Tale.

The rabbit population has become well known tourist attraction and the owls are just starting to become one – more and more birders coming in the evenings to get photos. It’s also a promised land for blackberries, people bringing buckets to fill up.

It’s great example of the complex relationships of urban ecology. The rabbits are European rabbits – abandoned domesticated pets – – and are considered an incredibly invasive species (especially in Australia). Their survival at Jericho appears to be tied with the blackberries.

The blackberries are, of course, the invasive Himalayan Blackberry. Tasty, but branches are covered in large thorns, if you try and remove it…it’s likely gonna make you bleed. Which means it provides a nice, undisturbed habitat for rabbits.

This is a big point of contention between animal rights advocates and city parks/park stewardship. Animal rights want to keep the blackberry, so rabbits can survive. Parks wants to remove blackberry because it takes over and is invasive. More info.

A stalemate seems to have now been reached where blackberry is allowed to remain in a section of the park. A scrub land, where rabbits can thrive. Unfortunately it also acts as a base that it can use to constantly invade the rest of the forest and stop it from regrowing.

(It’s a touchy subject: animal rights activism for invasive species. At what point are you hurting more animals then protecting them? Orgs have approached it well though. eg: Vancouver Rabbit Rescue & Advocacy and The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

Like blackberry, other non-native fruit and nut plants have begun to invade Jericho (likely seeds coming from street trees and gardens) such as English Oak, Walnuts, European Hawthorn…etc. Which has started to support a large rodent population (squirrels and mice).

All these rodents and bunnies have attracted a family of Barred Owls. Native to Vancouver, but still pretty rare to see. I’ve witnessed these owls hunting at all times of the day and being completely undisturbed by people – and dogs! – standing just a few feet from them.

Once I was doing some invasive species removal in a meadow with Jericho Stewardship Group – mostly Bindweed – and an owl landed right on a small alder in the middle of our group. Multiple times we watched it swoop down to catch a mouse right below the tree!

The owl appeared to be using us to help it hunt! As we moved around the meadow we would scare mice, who would make a run for it, only to reveal their location to the owl. Incredible.

(Which reminds me of another fascinating experience in the park -> In the spring as you walk across the open field, sparrows will dart around people like they are pylons. They are catching insects who leap (or are kicked) into the air to avoid your feet!)

Two invasive species that have created a habitat for a rare, native one! I know barred owls typically aren’t that comfortable around humans, which has reduced their habitat, but bird populations have been known to rebound once they get used to humans (eg pleated woodpecker)

To finish here, it’s worth mentioning an important human role in this network of relationships. Removing invasive plants in the park often seems Sisyphean because they keep growing back. However, it seems to have added an important balance to park.

Removing blackberry ensures it doesn’t completely take over displacing other plants and the ultimately the rabbits/owl habitat. A lot of the invasive species removal at Jericho is due to one person. A 90 year old forest spirit, John Coope.

I couldn’t help but think of John as a Sisyphus when I first met him. Forever pushing the ball up the hill only to have it roll back down. Clearing blackberry from the exact same spot every year. But it’s likely because of him I got to watch that barred owl hunt. Wow.