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: