Rabbit Sitting in Our Yard

[tim mcdonough]

Each morning a rabbit comes to our side yard and sits like a statue for a couple of hours, then leaves. Same exact spot each day. I’m dying to know why.

[ratatoskK]

Is it sitting on its nest?

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by ratatoskK

Is it sitting on its nest?

Rabbits don't make nests on the ground.

[Ike Witt]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

Rabbits don't make nests, or sit on them.

Well then, where do Easter eggs come from?

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by Ike Witt

Well then, where do Easter eggs come from?

Jesus.

[Finagle]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

Rabbits don't make nests on the ground.

Yes, yes they do.

[Mangetout]

I am amazed, and stand corrected.

[Rhythmdvl]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

I am amazed, and stand corrected.

Maybe that's what's happening to the rabbit.

[johnpost]

rabbit nests are well concealed under grass, you can stand right over it and not see it. they build nests in fields of tall grass. they pick a location that is hidden and conceal it further.

rabbits will try to hid from predators, when out in the open by staying still. it is the lawn gnome defense.

[kombatminipig]

It's probably standing there trying to figure out why some dude shows up at the window for two hours at the same time every morning

[Emtar KronJonDerSohn]

He wants you to kill and eat him. I get that vibe.

[Morgenstern]

I have a rabbit that does a similar thing. I have rocks in the back yard, and the rabbit has pushed aside the rocks and made a spot the size of a dinner plate to lay in. He lays there and suns, rolls in the dirt and otherwise enjoys his little dirt spot. The really funny thing is I find him on top of my wild bird feeder eating the bird seed, in the company of the birds.

[zoid]

Originally Posted by Emtar KronJonDerSohn

He wants you to kill and eat him.

I think it's the other way 'round.
He's lying in wait; when your curiosity gets the better of you you'll go in for a closer look and - POW! - you're rabbit chow.

[Emtar KronJonDerSohn]

Could be. Better stock up on holy handgrenades just to be safe.

[tim mcdonough]

I checked, there’s no nest out there. My wife says it might be doing some weird pregnant rabbit thing. I walked around a bit, found what looks like a small burrow dug under my next door neighbor’s house; I’m thinking that might be the nest.

[thelurkinghorror]

Is it sunning itself?

It is my understanding that lots of rabbits build complex burrow systems, but some species (mostly cottontails) just dig shallow burrows, reuse another animal's burrow, or nest in a depression in the ground. Hares (and jackrabbits) do the depression thing, too.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

It's waiting for you to turn your back so it can eat the flowers you just planted.

[Hero From Sector 7G]

I learned the lesson that rabbits make their nests in long grass the hard way: with a lawnmower.

I always bag my grass now.

[Tom Tildrum]

Have you asked him?

[Chessic Sense]

He's probably trying to tell you that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, the world will end.

[Lukeinva]

Originally Posted by tim mcdonough

Each morning a rabbit comes to our side yard and sits like a statue for a couple of hours, then leaves. Same exact spot each day. I’m dying to know why.

Your rabbit has developed a habit. He's a habit rabbit

[simster]

Originally Posted by Lukeinva

Your rabbit has developed a habit. He's a habit rabbit

I came a hare close to making this joke.

[Doubticus]

Do have any Trix cereal in your house? It's been known to attract them.

[KneadToKnow]

Can anyone else see this rabbit?

[Sailboat]

That rabbit's dynamite!

[Dung Beetle]

It's waiting for Kehaar.

[Rhythmdvl]

Originally Posted by Chessic Sense

He's probably trying to tell you that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, the world will end.

Originally Posted by KneadToKnow

Can anyone else see this rabbit?

Meant together or independently, great posts.

[Kimballkid]

Originally Posted by Emtar KronJonDerSohn

He wants you to kill and eat him. I get that vibe.

Be vewy, vewy quiet.

[elbows]

I used to have a rabbit that showed up in my yard (which I loved!), just to sit and stare. Not every day like yours, I'm too impatient to know if he was there for hours.

But one day I came back into the yard, having seen him earlier and he was just lying down stretched out like a dog. Cool.

Maybe he can feel your eyes on him, and it's a defense thing to stay stock still?

[psiekier]

In the spring-time, we play a game early in the morning (usually on the way to school) and late in the evening (if we've been out for the day) where we try to spot as many rabbits as we can on the grass in our neighborhood while traveling to or from our home. I think the record sighting has been nine, but most days we're lucky if we see two or three. I've even pulled the car over to take a picture a few times when I've had the camera on me.

Originally Posted by tim mcdonough

Each morning a rabbit comes to our side yard and sits like a statue for a couple of hours, then leaves. Same exact spot each day. I’m dying to know why.

It could be that he's learned that's a pretty safe spot to observe his surroundings. Perhaps when you're not looking, he nibbles on nearby greenery. At the sound of your approach (yes, he can hear you - what do you think those ears are for?), he's probably sticking his head up and standing extra-still for two reasons: first, to figure out where you are in relation to him, just in case he needs to make a break for it; and second, trying to look as much like a feature of the landscape as possible in the hope that you will ignore him and find more readily-detectable prey.

We have three pet rabbits at home. The larger rabbits (a Flemish Giant and a mutt that looks like a cross between a Flemish and maybe an American Chinchilla) do on occasion flop down and sleep even when people are around. The third rabbit, a Polish, is very nervous. Even though you'd think he should have figured out by now that the giant stalking predator who smells like Daddy brings only food, water, treats, and affection, he nonetheless perks up, runs, and hides in his little house when he hears me coming. It's only in the last six months or so that he'd even eat from his pellet bowl in my presence, and still isn't fond of being hand-fed treats like other two.

The point of my story is that little rabbits - I'm guessing the one you're describing probably falls into that category - seem to be extraordinarily focused on self-preservation. They run, they hide, they stand perfectly still; whatever it takes to make sure the sharp-toothed carnivores of the world don't gobble them. Only big domestic rabbits used to the presence of people have that bred out of them.

[Filbert]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

I am amazed, and stand corrected.

The species of rabbit found in the UK does not nest out in the open- UK hares, on the other hand, do.

Maybe it's just a decoy rabbit- have you checked if other rabbits are thieving stuff out of your house while you're watching?

[Antigen]

Originally Posted by Kimballkid

Be vewy, vewy quiet.

No, it's duck season.

[steveo1]

Has anyone considered the possiblity that this could be a schizophrenic rabbit? (A quazy wabbit.) He's probably standing still like that because he's experiencing internal stimuli, you know, hearing voices. But then, rabbits don't talk, which begs the question: What do schizophrenic rabbits hear in their heads? I'm not sure they make any sound at all. I don't even think they have voice boxes! This is getting freaking existential. Why don't you just shoot the damn thing. He'd be hard to miss.

[Sudden Kestrel]

Rabbits can't sit still for that long around my house or they become ex-rabbits.

[Clark K]

Originally Posted by Chessic Sense

He's probably trying to tell you that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, the world will end.

Sorry, but I don't get it. Can you explain for the dim-witted among us?

[thelurkinghorror]

Originally Posted by Clark K

Sorry, but I don't get it. Can you explain for the dim-witted among us?

Donnie Darko. The other post has a dose of Harvey.

[Whammo72]

Whatever you do, do NOT stick a shotgun barrel down it hole!

[psiekier]

Originally Posted by steveo1

What do schizophrenic rabbits hear in their heads? I'm not sure they make any sound at all. I don't even think they have voice boxes!

Be glad you've never heard a rabbit scream. It's very unnerving - high-pitched, like you might imagine coming from a little girl.

When my wife and I lived in a small apartment in uptown Dallas, I heard this terrible screech one morning as I was drying my hair. Turns out our Flemish Giant didn't appreciate the sound of both the hair drier and the microwave going at the same time. I thought maybe we had set off a smoke alarm or something, but it didn't take long to figure out where the sound was coming from.

We had pretty much rabbit-proofed the apartment by blocking off convenient access paths and wrapping electrical cords in vinyl tubing. Despite our countermeasures, Emily sneaked behind the couch where I couldn't see her and nibbled into the DSL line. That was the second time I heard a rabbit scream.

Instead of learning her lesson, though, she proceeded to find a different section of the wire and resumed nibbling; luckily, I found her and pulled her out before she could hurt herself again.

[zoid]

Originally Posted by psiekier

Be glad you've never heard a rabbit scream. It's very unnerving - high-pitched, like you might imagine coming from a little girl.

Yeah, it's not pleasant. A childhood friend of the family lived in the boonies and their kids raised rabbits for food. We were camping in their woods on night and decided to make a fire and have rabbit for dinner. Hearing those suckers scream made eating them difficult. The other kids were used to it but I’m a suburban kid – for me meat came plastic wrapped from the grocery store.

[Zebra]

Originally Posted by psiekier

Be glad you've never heard a rabbit scream.

I bet you still wake up in the dark to the awful screaming of the rabbits.

[Dallas Jones]

Originally Posted by zoid

We were camping in their woods on night and decided to make a fire and have rabbit for dinner. Hearing those suckers scream made eating them difficult.

You were supposed to kill the rabbits before you ate them, no wonder they were hard to eat.

[zoid]

Well that explains all the kicking and squirming.

[RedSwinglineOne]

Originally Posted by zoid

He's lying in wait; when your curiosity gets the better of you you'll go in for a closer look and - POW! - you're rabbit chow.

You stare at him, and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side, from the other two rabbits you didn't even know were there. ... The point is … you are alive when they start to eat you.

[Sunspace]

Originally Posted by RedSwinglineOne

You stare at him, and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side, from the other two rabbits you didn't even know were there. ... The point is … you are alive when they start to eat you.

I see you have experience with The Evil That Fluffs.

[furryman]

Originally Posted by KneadToKnow

Can anyone else see this rabbit?

[Freud] Zo, Tell me about your rabbits, George. [/Freud]

[salinqmind]

Oh, good, I can wedge in my one and only wild rabbit story. We had a rabbit dig a depression for a nest on our front lawn, she had babies and sat out on the lawn stock still at night (and very pretty she looked under the full moon). One night I was derping around and heard the rabbit scream (never heard a rabbit scream before, but I KNEW it was 'my' rabbit), and looked outside and there was a black cat on our lawn. I chased that sucker all the way up the street and kept an eye out for him for several nights, but he didn't come back, the baby rabbits grew up to be big rabbits, and so it went, the end.

[The Tao's Revenge]

Rabbits are kind of small which makes them lose heat quicker than us, and while endothermic, they probably still like to warm up in the sun. Cats do.

[VunderBob]

Get The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch...

[psiekier]

Originally Posted by tim mcdonough

Each morning a rabbit comes to our side yard and sits like a statue for a couple of hours, then leaves. Same exact spot each day.

Last night there was a big nibbler in our front yard.

[madrabbitwoman]

squeeeeeeeeeeee