A white rabbit question with a bet on!

Fireclaws bunnbutts · Dec 25, 2015

Please don't release domestic rabbits into the wild. There are just way too many predators and domestic rabbits are often just too trusting. Especially WHITE rabbits. There's a reason you don't see albino animals in the wild with the exception of one that gets lucky enough to survive and even then, it's usually shunned by the others of it's species, because they stand out.

Florida whites are big rabbits and so would be slower than, say, a dutch or a netherland, they wouldn't be able to hide from predators and most likely wouldn't last a week in the wild. And even then, there's no guarantee that if a predator did get them, they'd be killed quickly. a fox or coyote, sure, but what about a dog? Dogs don't kill things quickly, it would be a slow, terrifying and very painful death.

ETA: that when I was a kid, the gated community near where I lived had a *huge* feral domestic rabbit problem, someone either released or lost some pet rabbits and since this was in the city and there were no predators except the occasional cat, the rabbits not only survived, but thrived and in less than 4 years, there were over 400 rabbits all over the place, they dug up under peoples houses and ruined foundations, grazed some areas down to the dirt and even caused a few accidents from people swerving to avoid them in the road.

Eventually, the people of the community got up some money and hired about a dozen rabbit hunters and their beagles to kill the rabbits

Some people were nice enough to collect nests of babies and humanely trap some of the rabbits and rehome them, but most were killed.

Rabbits were banned in that area and to this day, it's illegal to own anything smaller than a cat in that gated community.

GBov · Dec 26, 2015

I must admit to being a bit hurt that anyone would think I would simply turn loose my buns with no provisions taken for their safety and well being.

First, I have had colony setups before and what I was talking about is just a colony on a larger scale. Open to the sky yes but well fenced and dug in. Hawks are easy to deter - my dog is very good at that but is rabbit and poultry safe so has free range of the property - and, having had rabbits in a colony set up in the heat rabbits spend most of their time underground where its cool, coming up in the evening to feed. Owls might get a few but I doubt it, flashy disks hung up and the dog (he hates birds that fly :lol: ) should keep most of those away as well.

Feed adn water provided by me as yes, I do know how much rabbits eat and even just three will strip an area pretty darned quick. Even though FWs are the smallest of the meat rabbits and from what I have found with them they can stay fat on air :roll: they would eventually run out of forage.

But having said all that, I will most likely not bother doing it anyway, its alot of work for a very small gain. With litters every month, we have plenty of rabbit meat and hides, I was mainly just interested in the genetic question.

What about Rex? Would they always stay Rex coated in a wild setting? :lol:

alforddm · Dec 26, 2015

Rex fur was originally found in a wild rabbit, so yes, excluding a very very rare reverse mutation they would stay rex.

Zass · Dec 26, 2015

They would more or less revert in Europe if there are wild rabbits in the area, or anywhere in the US that has a feral european rabbit population to breed with.

The dominant wild type genes have to come from somewhere though.

The dominant and recessive traits still play out exactly the same in the wild as in a domestic colony.
We just see less of the domestic colors in feral colonies because they tend to get picked off by predators.

Rex is recessive to strait coats, and recessive traits are unlikely to persist in wild populations UNLESS it's a gene that helps them survive or reproduce somehow. With favorable conditions recessive genes can spread throughout a wild population.

Anytime there is a closed gene pool of entirely recessive traits, barring mutation, they will not vary.
All blues would stay blue (unless they are carrying even more recessive genes like rew) all selfs would stay self, Wool would stay wool (but probably wouldn't survive long).

I consider all the pretty colors and shapes we breed in the domestic ones as rabbit survival traits for our specific environment. We humans mirror the actions of predators, and prey on animals that just don't have the "right genetics to survive." Instead of eating the slowest or easiest to see, we eat the ones that are not docile enough, or the ones that have the wrong shape or color...etc.

Our "breeds" are just lines of rabbits that have been heavily selected towards certain traits.

Here is what a feral population of domestic rabbits looks like after breeding in the wild for many generations. Mostly dominant wild colors, but there are still some domestic-looking traits that re-surface or persist. (I see fawn, chinchilla, maybe dilute, magpie harli, and dutch markings mixed in there.)
That is because the genes have no idea if they are wild or not. so the dominant and recessive patterns still operate with the same familiar probability.

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/ ... rt-bunnies

Had they all been rew to start, they would have all stayed that way until a new mutation occurred, or new genes were introduced.

Deer Heart · Dec 26, 2015

My objection was that the moment it's so large you can't cover it, is the moment it becomes an all you can eat buffet to any passing predator. :/
I'm saying this from experience and as your neighbor very slightly more north of you. As someone with several very protective dogs, including a trained LGD (at the time). They will die and they will die horribly. Hopefully you wont ever see the results and they simply just "go missing". It's a good idea on paper, but that's the only place the idea is good on. I have never seen it result in anything but tragedy and struggle to find a single case online that worked longer than a very short period of time, mostly anecdotal remarks that it worked for some great grandmother whom can't be asked details anymore. (Note: Wildlife wasn't as heavily pressured to live alongside humans and dogs had massive amounts of acreage to roam before ever seeing another farm back then, the conditions are very different nowadays)

At no point did I feel that you wouldn't provide food or water for your rabbits, they will destroy anything that grows regardless. They will also become extremely flighty no matter how often they see you and are cared for by you. You would be hard pressed collecting any resulting offspring (if they live long enough to procreate). There's a huge difference between raising a colony (even on ground) to raising rabbits in a fenced area. Many predators, including dogs, can scale surprisingly tall fencing. Roaming dogs are most likely to know how to escape a good fence/pen or they wouldn't be roaming. There's also a reason the wild rabbits who are in our area don't dig dens, first true Florida rain and a great deal of your kits will drown in their holes if your does dug their tunnel too long (in my experience, they tend to do exactly that if given enough room.)

It wouldn't be fair to your rabbits, especially for just a genetic experiment where you already have your answer. If they somehow all started turning brown, then we'd simply learn that there's a non REW in your area with access to your herd.