I live in a very rural area so I have got all kinds of wildlife in my back yard, rabbits, all kinds of birds, squirrls, skunks and occasionally deer. This morning I was at the kitchen window looking out and from the left side of my vision I see a rabbit come tearing across the yard and ram a dove and just send it sprallling. The bird regained its composure, rose and flew to another part of the yard and the rabbit sat where he had butted the dove and looked around as if trying to find anything else to ram.
My question is…Is this normal behavior for bunny rabbits? Should I post a sign saying, “Beware of brutal bunny”? This was not a jack rabbit. While it had a tan tint, it had smaller ears, and chubby body. I cannot tell you if it was a buck or a doe.
Squirrels at my place will leap at crows if the crow is eating something the squirrel would like. They don’t ram into them (the crows here are bigger than the squirrels) but it’s enough to startle the crow and get it to fly away in a hurry. Maybe the rabbit was hoping the bird would drop something and was looking around to find it?
In any event, no one who has read Watership Down can believe that bunnies are just peace-loving, happy-go-lucky critters.
I used to have a pet female bunny who became more ill-tempered and aggressive when she was mentstruating. A bunny expert has since informed me that I would have had fewer behavior problems with her if I’d had her fixed.
FWIW, my house rabbit used to headbutt things she didn’t like, especially the baby gate that separated her from my bed and computer desk. When I moved in with my husband and his cats, she would rush and growl (yes, really, bunnies can growl; it sounds kind of like Marge Simpson disapproving of something) at the cat food bowls when we set them on the floor, scattering the cats, just to make sure there was nothing she wanted in the bowls. There never was. Mind you Bunny weighed about six pounds, and the cats were 10 and 14 pounds respectively.
Long story short: Some bunnies are naturally aggressive. We think of them as timid, but many of them aren’t.
Follow. But. Follow only if ye be men of valour, for the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived. Bones of full fifty men lie strewn about its lair. So, brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.
Rabies would be highly unusual in wild lagomorphs. Of course, so is a bunny charging a dove. Was the bunny nesting? Apparently rabbits usually just drop some pellets to mark territory, but can become quite upset. http://language.rabbitspeak.com/rabbittalk.html
Is this thread related to the PMS/menstrual cramps thread?
In any case, to be on the safe side, TV time, kill it next time you see it.
Fu Inle! Is it really you?! ::shriek:: Uh, I mean…er…you’re looking good!
I’ve seen your username around a lot but I never made the Watership Down connection before.
Also, do rabbits menstruate? I thought they went through estrus?
I’ve seen your username around a lot but I never made the Watership Down connection before.