Dave-G Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Went out with my grandson yesterday to let him have a play. He hadn't seen my Quad or heard a HMR. I'm not saying he had a go but a 200 yard wabbit disappeared while he was examining the second mildot under - on a bipod :blink: It's the first time I've been out in daylight for oooohhh months really. Took him to a recently acquired arrable permission and spotted a few unusual things. We found three dead infant rabbits, maybe 3" long, immediately outside a rabbit hole. The parent would have had to climb over them to get in or out of the hole. There were no visible signs of injury to any of them. What would that be about? Also spotted oodles of approximately 1" diameter perfectly round holes along a field edge. These were about 3.5" deep. Mice? The edge was alongside a main road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Buck rabbits will kill infants from sired from another buck to ensure his genetic line progresses, it is also possible that the doe will kill her young if she feels extremely threatened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Still borns will also be ejected from the warren, but normally don't lay around too long as just about anything will drag them off. pin I have never heard that theory about buck rabbits killing young, I know it works with lions, but rabbits....? The does can be feeding young and also be pregnant with the next litter. The litter will also potentially have multiple fathers, as research suggests there is no monogamy among rabbits. The small holes were probably mice, or shrews. I have loads of them in my garden, usually with our cat crouched nearby, or the hound energetically digging them up. The hound sniffs so violently with her nose down the hole, that I'm sure she will vacuum a shrew out one day. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 A lot of rabbits die in infancy theres just too many of them for them all to survive , if you open them up sometimes there livers covered in absesses .I reckon where you get loads of rabbits infant deaths are highbut where theres just a few rabbits litter numbers are higher and more survive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted March 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Thanks chaps - similar to what I thought. Any ideas on them holes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 When we used to breed and show our rabbits (given them up to ferret rabbits now ) we used to loose a few youngsters from the same nest to bloat, build up of gases in the gut... may be this could have some thing to do with why you found the dead youngsters??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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