Are we making things too complicated?

So, when I moved out to the country a few weeks back my mini mobile rabbit colony had to be decommissioned because I needed my truck back!

So, the rabbits were pretty much unceremoniously dumped into the only containment I had at the time: a large dog kennel that had some insulated dog houses in it and a covered area and a tree for cover.

Frank, the Thrianta buck, stayed in his own cage as he had been for the last couple of months. Another Thrianta doe that was due to kindle went into the only other cage I had on hand. The rest, a sr. Rex doe, her Jr. future mate and another Thrianta doe, all got turned loose and have been doing great, even after I introduced a flock of chickens!

I'm trying to sell the Thrianta so she's back into a cage, now because catching her was too tough, but the Rexs get along just fine. They DO dig, but casually, (both doe and buck) and since I'm out there often I just kick dirt back into the holes and place a board from the burn pile over it. The chickens prefer their own food to the rabbit pellets, and give the furry ones a wide berth. The rabbits seem to enjoy occasionally harassing the chickens, but are staying clean and enjoying their freedom. The rabbit/chicken combo is a temporary solution, again, but hey...it's working for the time being. I'm not even that worried about the rabbits digging out, I know they wouldn't go anywhere and they would probably have more options for cover, etc than they do even now. They are tame enough that they will get quite close to me when I come out, checking to see what goodies I have. If I had a net they'd be a breeze to nab.

There's also a semi-feral colony that hangs out around this residence on the road to my house. They are always there, grooming, playing, eating grass, etc. This is on the side of a very busy road in Alaska. Our predators include bears, all kinds of hawks and eagles, ravens, ermine, fox, etc. I think the rabbits know that they do better when they stick close to their people that feed them. They avoid the predators and get fed. I've watched the old man walk out of his house with a loaf of bred and the rabbits come running up to him.

It just has me wondering some time why we have to go and make things so complicated! How can we harness the natural survivability of this amazing animal and make it work in a slightly more controlled and productive way? How can we strike a balance between sheltering and caring for rabbits enough that they survive to a useful age, but keep the population from spinning out of control a la U Vic?

Could a semi-feral population of domestic rabbits work perfectly as long as they were harvested regularly? Could it really be that easy? Just some food for thought.

(I've got plans to build my rabbit tractors tomorrow.)

When I lived out in the country (nearest town population 150 about 5 miles away) we have some neighbors who were several miles down the road that had a large tract of land (like most people in the area). They fenced off a several acre section of the hill behind their house and kept some of their rabbits out there. They also had some in hutches by the house. The rabbits dug some holes and they put out some cover for them and what not. The rabbits created what I guess could be called a warren, basically looked like a praire dog town but with rabbits, complete with artificial hills so the rabbits could be on lookout.
We had coyotes, bears, cougars, foxes, hawks, snakes, weasels and who knows what else. (Also high school students). The rabbits multiplied and they moderated their growth, rotate the bucks, removed old does, etc. They probably had about 20 to fifty rabbits out there at one time.
When they wanted to harvest some of the rabbits were tame enough to catch, others had to be caught with a live trap or chased into temporary corrals. I think they shot a few of the ones that were hard to catch. After the kids graduated from high school they eventually lost interest in the rabbits and harvested them all.
I think it can be done and I know that they used to keep rabbits in a similar setup in the Ancient World and during the Middle Ages.
I'm sure there are issues with the setup. They never had any problems with disease but I can see something bad taking out your whole colony.