Bunny Behavior

[stemnyj]

So, my house bunny does some things that are certainly cute and that certainly appear to be affection... but I'm studying to become a psychologist, and I've always been interested in animal psychology and what makes animals do the things they do.

I know a LOT about dog psychology, and a little about cat psychology, but they are both predatory animals, and I'm a little lost when it comes to my little prey animal Bun-Bun :lol:

The number one adorable and sweet thing he does:

Hops circles around my feet, sometimes doing figure-8's between them. The first time he did it, I swear my heart melted! My fiance was scratching his back lightly, and as she did, he was hopping in little circles and figure 8's. Then he started doing it when I let him out of his cage... he'd hop around and play for a while, then when he noticed I was standing still somewhere, he'd come hop figure 8's around my legs. Last night was the sweetest little incident of that... me and my fiance got in a little spat, and when I left the room feeling defeated and depressed, he raced me down the hallway, and he usually doesn't run all that fast so I stopped to see what he was doing. When I stopped, he hopped circles around my feet 5 times, then ambled on back into the living room.

So, what does this mean in bunny language, besides "Hey, I like you!"? What does it mean when a bunny does this to another bunny?

What I mean is.. for instance, say a cat leaves a dead bird on your doorstep for you. Lots of people would say "Aww, he's leaving you a gift, that means he loves you!" But the source of the behavior sheds more light on it. Mother cats bring dead animals to their kittens who have not learned to hunt yet. A pet cat who brings a dead animal to your feet is saying "Here, I've noticed you don't know how to hunt, so I took the liberty of catching something for you." And, knowing cats, it's probably followed by a "You better enjoy it. Now give me a treat and entertain me with that feathery thing."

A simpler example would be dogs rolling over onto their backs for a pet. Yeah, it means "pet me here too", but on a deeper level, it means "I trust you enough to expose the most vulnerable part of my body to you". Or, depending on the circumstance, it could also mean "I'm submitting to you, Alpha."

So, any ideas? And any other information about what bunny behavior means?

 

[Ivory]

My bucks do that too. I can't say I know what it means but I always thought it was something to do with them leaving their scent on me.

 

[Sinnfox]

I know rubbing their chins on you is claiming you..marking you as theirs...I actually think the running in circles thing is an invitation to play. I have a little of little ones that are freshly weaned and if one is awake and bored it will hop around the others (sometimes on them) in an effort to wake them up and get them to play. I figure if it likes you enough to invite you to play it must like you a lot Pretty much it is saying hey look at me the cute bunny, play with me.

 

[Miss M]

You should like this website a lot: http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

 

[stemnyj]

Oh wow, thanks Miss M!

From that website:

" Rabbits like dancing in pairs and solo (more about the latter later). You may receive an invitation to pair dance, as evidenced by your rabbit running in circles around you. This means the rabbit is basically crazy about you, and terribly happy to see you, and is a very common enthusiastic greeting. A polite response is to wait patiently for a circle or three, and then do some dancing yourself, with a little spinning, walking back and forth in front of the rabbit, or circling around it. As described later, a few hops or head-flicks are also acceptable. Note that some rabbits don't like being circled by a graceless hulk, and will get nervous, in which case you should probably just accept the dance as a gift. Dances should be concluded by offering a little grooming to your partner."

 

[MamaSheepdog]

He wuvs you. :lovers: