I picked up a copy of BBC Wildlife today. It features an article by Dr Diana Bell on the territorial behaviour of wild rabbits. Bell has studied a colony of (European) wild rabbits at the University of East Anglia for the past 23 years.

The European Rabbit is the same species as our domestic pets, so understanding their behaviour can provide a helpful incite into the behaviour of our pet bunnies.

For example, Bell describes how male rabbits:

patrol their territory boundaries, scent-marking them with urine and secretions from their chin and anal glands to ensure that their neighbours respect these borders.

Behaviour which I’m sure is very familar to those who have lived with an unneutered buck.

Another interesting part is the social structure within the warren. The males and the females each have a social heirachy (pecking order) which they may fight to maintain. This provides a potential explanation for male-female (neutered) pairs are the most successful match in pet rabbits. Two or more of the same sex rabbits would naturally form a heirachy and if they don’t agree who’s boss that’s when fights can occur.

Flight’s were suspended at Milan’s Linate Airport while 200 volunteers, police and officials rounded up 40 hares for relocation to a wildlife reserve. The Hare population had exploded this year causing danger to flights.

It’s great to see relocation being pursued as a first option instead of the more common ‘shoot anything in the way’ approach.

Change your bookmarks, Rabbits Only Forum has moved to: http://www.rabbitsonline.net and changed to Rabbits Online.

The way rabbits breed you wouldn’t think a new litter of kits would be anything to write home about, but Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbits had scientists excited today when they descovered the first wild-born litters of this heavily endangered species.

What’s a Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit you may ask? Don’t worry I hadn’t heard of them either. A little research and it turns out pygmy is not an exageration; at 375-500g they are half the size of the Netherland Dwarf (the smallest domestic breed).

For more information on the breeding program (and some very cute pictures) visit: Washington State University.

Phonelines have always been a favourite chew toy for bunnies but Humprey, the house bunny, took things a step further when he pulled the cord to an emergency monitoring service.

Operators from a telephone monitoring service connected to the house told Bromley Police they could hear a woman crying and whimpering down the line … They [police officers] demolished both the door and frame and a large part of the surrounding wall and hallway.
Once inside, both officers were confronted by a large brown lop-eared Dutch rabbit hopping around the front room and whimpering.

Read the complete story here.

The moral of the story: never under estimate the amount of damage a house rabbit can cause!