myuserid Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 This may be a stupid question, but why do 99% of rabbits jump in the air when shot See: Is it a reflex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadeye ive Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 Because they don't want to die ........Seriously though a half grown fella shot in the brain can still carry on running on it's side for up to a minute or more before lying still even though it's dead just Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 I guess that like with damaged,de oxygenated human brains there are all kind of chaotic activity in the recently splatted animal brain that sends out the last few signals to the body.I expect the death throes of a fit strong mammal to be greater than those of an old sick frail person.Only guessing though.That and the fact their reflexes are much more able to operate despite the taking out of the nervous control.Need a vet really to answer properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 I think it's down to adrenaline myself. Rabbits are a bit **** at staying alive. If they forget to eat they can die, they will eat things poisonous to them and really their only defence is run away. Problems there too, since they can simply die of fright due to having very weak hearts, if that doesn't get them they can simply break their own spines by kicking too hard. The one thing that they have is the ability to run away, driven by adrenaline. Younger ones are daft as we all know but have more adrenaline to make up for it. I think this is why the younger ones will kick much longer, even when smacked in the napper with a 17grn bullet doing 2000fps+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 In "Ye Good Olde Days" when miscreants were sent to the gallows many of them danced a jig after a long drop and a short stop, same with old buggs bunnie too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 A more simply answer is it really really hurts and they get very upset when we shoot them in the head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 A more simply answer is it really really hurts and they get very upset when we shoot them in the head made me laugh you plonker cattle used to do the same after you used a captive bolt on them in the slaughter house, they mood, binked, kicked and allsorts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vole Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 Lets just call it the Breakdance of Death and have done with it.Admit the ones I shoot with 12g get shoved over before they can jump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 I shot a fox which did a jump up high landed on its side stone dead.... 3 of us watched it in amazement.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffolk shooter Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 I shot a fox which did a jump up high landed on its side stone dead.... 3 of us watched it in amazement.... Friday last week, FB111 shot a running fox at 133 yards, we all saw it get hit, it ran, stumbled, leaped and then landed on its head trying to do that weird breakdance windmilly thing before dropping absoultely stone dead. I go with adrenaline, animals instinct is to survive at all costs regardless, their pain thresholds are miles higher than us wimpy humans and so it doesn't register in the animals brain. SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynirvana Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 From what ive been taught if a rabbit jumps in the air its a definate kill. its something to do with there natural reaction to kick when in trouble, un fortunately when they got a head full of lead theres little point in kicking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeboy Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 The jumping and kicking is just the motor nerves firing caused by the sudden massive brain damage. Adrenalin will/can only play a part if the rabbit was alerted to your presence before you shoot it. A nervous rabbit ready to run will be full of adrenaline. A rabbit blissfully unaware of its impending doom will not have adrenaline coursing around its system. Leeboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codling99 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 ive had rabbits jump 2 ft in air just by switching lamp on them,most of it is just shock.head or body shots ,or a total miss ,will make them jump.basically they s*it themselves at any thing dodgy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 it is strange the way they do jump, yet shoot them in the engine room with the HMR they go straight down no kicking no nothing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadeye ive Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 it is strange the way they do jump, yet shoot them in the engine room with the HMR they go straight down no kicking no nothing hydraulic shock ,couple that with the fact the a HMR fragmenting in the boiler room does so much damage .I have had runners though with the HMR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnybasher07 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 yeh the same with rats blow there heads off from 15 yds (with a .22 airgun(just incase you think am shooting rats with a .17 HMR )) and still manage to "try" and run for the nearest hole with their back legs in full pelt but there front legs are disabled (quite funny actually) GM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 hydraulic shock ,couple that with the fact the a HMR fragmenting in the boiler room does so much damage .I have had runners though with the HMR I can echo that perfectly. Long before I had my own .17 the first shot I ever saw with one was by a local gamekeeper, guessed at 120 yds, paced with good paces to 137yds. It, from knowing what they sound like now, was hit and hit hard. Vanished from vision. Bino's out and nothing to be seen. I took SS's dog and had a look, took us both about 5 minutes to find it about 23 paces from where it was hit (massive blood spot in the grass) at right angles to the shot. Becky found it and looked surprised to see it where she did, she locks on to them and normally runs right up to where they fall. It's front legs were only attached to its back legs by the skin of it's back. How it moved that far I will never know. Since having my own I have seen this and worse. I am convinced it's to do with the speed of the bullet. Makes no sense, but they don't seem to register for a few seconds or so it seems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 I'm finding it the same with squirrels - clear shot in the head but they leap in the air and often disappear into the bushes. Has happened three times to me recently at a range of 15 yards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soreshoulder Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 if i was shot in the head would i run about and jump??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICH ACK Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 i think they're just really good actors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 if i was shot in the head would i run about and jump??? yes the same principles apply depending on the size of the round used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted October 10, 2007 Report Share Posted October 10, 2007 This may be a stupid question, but why do 99% of rabbits jump in the air when shot See: Is it a reflex Well wouldn't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madcowz Posted October 11, 2007 Report Share Posted October 11, 2007 As said before, a reflex action. Rabbits run, pigeons fly away. I once shot a pigeon with a .22 air rifle and it flew out of the tree and was off across the field when it closed it's wings and fell out of the sky. Plucking it later and I noticed it was a heart shot. Pellet went right through the heart. /Mad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myuserid Posted October 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 As said before, a reflex action. Rabbits run, pigeons fly away. I once shot a pigeon with a .22 air rifle and it flew out of the tree and was off across the field when it closed it's wings and fell out of the sky. Plucking it later and I noticed it was a heart shot. Pellet went right through the heart. /Mad Just because it was shot in the heart doesn't mean its dead (the brain still functions, so it will fly away). I was watching a ballistics program on sky the other day, they said the police go for head shots as this kills instantly and there is no way the victim can shoot back. If they shoot in the heart they can still fire back for up to 20 seconds after their heart has been punctured. Its only when the brain is starved of oxygen do they die. So I suppose it all depend on where the rabbit it shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogfox Posted October 18, 2007 Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 ill give an example of how a rabbit may be more clever than it would seem we were out one day in some local permission doing a spot of wabbiting! we shoot rabbits for the Fota wildlife park in cork, we supply the food for the "big" cats!. we spotted a new set of about 5 or 6 holes and set up on a higher bank and waited for the hun to show! after about three had appeared we decided to take them then the little browning buckmark .22 had had its barrel shortened to just 10.1/2 inches and was fitted with an 8 baffle silencer made by the owner! (works a treat) bang bang two down one more i lined up this time as i ws given the privelage of a shot, i lined up on the ******* head squeezed he jumped about four foot into the air and somehow managed to kick himself about a metre and a half down the hole he was shot just above the eye! whether they have an inner longing for home that strives in their last few second i dont know or.....it just could have been coincidence its not the first time its happened!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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