Some mornings she'll pester me for pellets to the point of pulling my pant leg. Other days like today she'll sneak into the neighbor's yard and graze without coming for pellets. Guess she gets tired of eating the same thing every day. :roll:
I got a pet doe that I let free range in the backyard.
- Thread starter a7736100
- Start date
Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:
macksmom98
Well-known member
Too risky for me too!
ButtonsPalace
Well-known member
I saw something earlier on Facebook where a lady has a colony of rabbits living in her back yard that started from two rabbits that escaped their cages over two years ago. I almost though for a moment about breeding and then turning loose a few does, but then I remembered we have a Jack Russel who would absolutely love to eat all of them. So that's out of the question. No yard bunnies for me ( I almost typed bard yunnies.)
One doe...For now.
They are pretty amazing at finding other rabbits to breed with.
They are pretty amazing at finding other rabbits to breed with.
In Nanaimo, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, there is a significant feral rabbit population. I know someone who thought she would take vegetable trimmings to a spot she had seen rabbits. Within minutes there were thirty or so gone-wild bunnies around her, begging for treats.
ButtonsPalace
Well-known member
Are you talking little cotton tail bunnies? Or something more like the island of bunnies in Japan? Because I'd love for my back yard to be just like that island lol
Irulan Corrino
Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2012
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
ButtonsPalace":2y217nqi said:
There's a video of that island with bunnies in Japan. Very cute !
ButtonsPalace":3ka3vyuj said:
The rabbits I was talking about are domestic rabbits that were dumped or escaped and managed to survive and breed. They can be a real problem in some places.
I have a Californian doe that got away from me. I was getting ready to cull her because she was a vicious biter and we had some nicer second generation does to replace her. When she got away, I gave a few feeble attempts to recapture her and then said, "Goodbye, coyote lunch!" 3 days later, she was in our yard again, looking pretty tired. She found a place to live near the hutch cages and started chewing pellets (bunny berries, not feed pellets) under the hutch. Then, she started cleaning up the feed pellets that had fallen to the ground due to careless eating or careless pouring into feeders (this will help keep mice down). Her movement is easy to track because her vegetation-fed droppings are dark black compared to the grainy brown of pellet-fed rabbits.
After a few more days, she started to lean out, look spry, and move FAST. I live in the open prairie, so we are alive with foxes, coyotes, large birds of prey, and since it's pheasant season, hunting dogs. She has evaded them all. I'm so surprised by her resilience, especially during our recent cold snap that went to -26degF. She looks healthier than my wintering cage rabbits with the exception of fur quality.
Most interesting of all is that she is now super nice. If i have a carrot peel or apple core or some other treat for her, she will eat it out of left hand while I pet her with my right. I'm starting to consider that, when land is available, a large colony setting might be superior to my cage and hutch system. I need to dig up some old colony threads and read further about this. :idea:
After a few more days, she started to lean out, look spry, and move FAST. I live in the open prairie, so we are alive with foxes, coyotes, large birds of prey, and since it's pheasant season, hunting dogs. She has evaded them all. I'm so surprised by her resilience, especially during our recent cold snap that went to -26degF. She looks healthier than my wintering cage rabbits with the exception of fur quality.
Most interesting of all is that she is now super nice. If i have a carrot peel or apple core or some other treat for her, she will eat it out of left hand while I pet her with my right. I'm starting to consider that, when land is available, a large colony setting might be superior to my cage and hutch system. I need to dig up some old colony threads and read further about this. :idea:
The little black FA doe that I picked up before I got my two newest angoras was apparently raised as a free range rabbit, or so the breeder told me. I was actually happy to hear it since the two angoras I got before her from a show breeder were culled for health reasons. They had NO immune system what so ever.
The little black doe is as healthy as a horse and I'm sure she has an iron immune system if she was raised free range. The only difference I've noticed is that she is a bit smaller than some of the other rabbits I'd gotten from the same lines in the past and she DOES NOT like to be groomed. She's slowly getting used to it, but luckily she doesn't bite. It's just the rabbit equivalent of a litte girl stomping her feet and scowling at you. Still not fun to deal with, but less laundry in comparison to the new kit's way of protesting grooming by peeing on me.
The little black doe is as healthy as a horse and I'm sure she has an iron immune system if she was raised free range. The only difference I've noticed is that she is a bit smaller than some of the other rabbits I'd gotten from the same lines in the past and she DOES NOT like to be groomed. She's slowly getting used to it, but luckily she doesn't bite. It's just the rabbit equivalent of a litte girl stomping her feet and scowling at you.
Still not fun to deal with, but less laundry in comparison to the new kit's way of protesting grooming by peeing on me.
