Rabbits attack Bordeaux grape

Bruno Von der Heyden of the five-century-old Bordeaux Chateau de Malleret has written in a recent blog: “More than 15 per cent of our harvest has been swallowed up by the Bugs Bunny gang.”

A neighbouring vineyard owner said she had caught over 500 of the “grape-munching rabbits” on her land alone. “In some places, there’s nothing left because they started eating the vines in May. Elsewhere, they’ve been eating the grapes and not any old grapes either. They get the mature ones,” said the Merlot grape grower.

This is being hailed as the worst plague of rabbits in recent history, which some have said could cripple this year’s vintage for many winemakers in France’s Bordeaux wine region. Wine makers, especially in the Medoc, are reporting massive losses in their grape crops.

It seems that the climatic conditions over the past year have created a perfect environment for the furry thieves. Apparently a dry summer stopped the spread of a disease that usually thins the rabbit population out, while, at the same time, proving too hot for some of the plants the rabbits usually eat, thereby forcing them to take to the grapes instead.

Local growers have called for culling measures to be taken, including bringing in marksmen to hunt the rabbits down.