A bit about Rabbits

Rabbits are furry-coated and short-tailed mammals. They have long ears and long back legs for running and jumping. Rabbits are herbivores with long front teeth for gnawing. Some make burrows or tunnels in the ground. Rabbits are smaller and have shorter ears than their hare relatives. A hare (pronounced hair) also has long, strong back legs. Unlike rabbits, their young are born with their eyes open and they live above ground. Rabbits and hares are common names, often applied interchangeably, for small, furry mammals with long ears and legs, and short tails. In zoological classification, rabbits are distinguished by the helplessness of their offspring. Young rabbits are born naked with their eyes closed. With the exception of North America's cottontail, rabbits live in underground burrow colonies. The cottontail builds its simple nest on the surface, usually in grass or brush, and rarely lives in social groups. Hares are generally larger and have longer ears with characteristic black markings. The skulls of rabbits and hares are also different. Both rabbits and hares are distributed throughout the world and possess some common traits. They are often mistaken for each other. Various species and subspecies of rabbits and hares are found in brushy woods, plains and grasslands, mountains, deserts, around rivers and wetlands, and even in the Arctic tundra and snow. Both breed prolifically, bearing four to eight litters each year. A litter generally has three to eight young. They have a gestation period of about a month, are sexually mature in about six months, and live in the wild for about six years. Domestic rabbits may live to be over ten years old. Although rabbits and hares are valued as game by hunters both for their food and fur, they are also are pests to farmers and gardeners. They can destroy crops and trees. rabbits are sociable animals and live in colonies in burrow systems known as warrens. A warren is dug to a depth of 3 metres, may cover a large area and has many entrances. The inside is a maze of interconnecting tunnels, living quarters and nesting chambers Usually there is a dominant doe within the colony and she will fight other does for the best nest site. Dominant bucks run up and down the boundary lines of their territories, marking as they go; they may do this by depositing droppings on top of an anthill, scratching out shallow scrapes in the ground, or rubbing the ground with the chin to mark the place with scent from glands. Dominant rabbits are the most successful at breeding. Subordinate rabbits do not establish a territory and they mix happily with other subordinates. They are, however, driven off if they venture into the territory of a dominant rabbit. they are mainly nocturnal, emerging from their burrows at dawn and dusk, although on warm, sunny days, or in undisturbed places, they may be out during broad daylight. Feeding takes place close to the warren, so the vegetation around it is kept short by grazing. The rabbit, having many enemies, is always on the alert for danger. If a rabbit spots danger, it will warn others by thumping with a hind foot. A flash of white from under its tail as it runs for a burrow also acts as an alarm signal. The rabbit's prominent eyes are set so that it can see over a wide area. Most of the day is spent underground, resting and passing soft, almost black droppings; these they then eat so that more nourishment can be extracted from them. The rabbits then produce hard, pellet-like droppings above ground, usually in a special 'latrine'. Rabbits keep themselves clean by washing regularly and grooming, using their teeth, tongue and claws. Breeding; "breed like rabbits" is a common expression and rabbits are indeed prolific breeders! In one year, a doe can produce more than 20 offspring and many of these will breed themselves when only 4 months old. Spring and summer are the main reproductive periods, but breeding can start in January. The babies (kits) are born in special nests made by the doe which is in a dead end burrow, often separate from the main warren. The doe makes a nest from grass or straw and lines it with fur plucked from her chest. After a gestation period (time between mating and birth) of 28 - 31 days, a litter of 3 - 8 babies is born. At birth they are blind, deaf, hairless and hardly able to move for their first week. Their mother visits them for only a few minutes every 24 hours to suckle them and then she seals off the nesting chamber with soil. By the eighth day, the young are covered with fur and two days later their eyes open. By the sixteenth day, they have ventured out of the burrow and started to eat solid food. They are weaned and independent at 30 days. Their mother will already have mated and be expecting another litter. This prolific breeding is normally balanced by many deaths caused by predators, road traffic, shooting and trapping. Apart from man, rabbits' predators include foxes, badgers, stoats, weasels, buzzards and cats.