You've thought about it, I know you have.
You're driving along a sleepy half suburban half country road, admiring the nice big full acre lots, the little pony pastures, the neighborhood gang of free-range chickens, when you spot it: The lesser rocky mountain spot. Or maybe where you live it's the Appalachian woolly tan. The desert dutch. The great northern lop eared marten (favorite food of the other great northern marten). We all know that a domestic rabbit, released into the wild (or semi-wild) will almost certainly suffer a cruel and painful fate, but we've also seen the places where somehow, against the odds, they didn't. And I know some of you, just like me, have wondered just how tough those rabbits are.
So, the obvious question is, could you find out? Given adequate space, time, and supply, do you suppose the very few rabbits who managed to thrive would vary enough from their weaker, deader counterparts to constitute a whole new breed? I'm personally of the mind that this is how breeds happen, that in a perfect world almost every breed represents the very best of one geographic locale. A rabbit that thrives in the wild must be better suited to your particular wild, and if that's the case I think you could end up with a lot of rabbits who thrive on the plants and weather unique to your area. I can think of about a zillion challenges and obstacles along the way, but none of them are total deal breakers. Understand, I'm not talkin' about grabbin' one stray buck in a cat trap and lettin' him have his way with your herd until something happens. I mean real, concerted, separate efforts at figuring out what makes these survivors survive.
What about you guys? Me, I don't think it could possibly be any worse than laying out poison or shooting them. I know a few folks who've suffered real property damage from incredibly persistent feral colonies, so I think it's important to get these critters back off the land, as interesting as they are. Think it's possible? Ever tried it? See any particularly horrifying problems with the concept? I'm all ears! As you can probably tell, I like the idea, but I'm not sold on it and I'm not tryin' it myself, so feel free to blast away with criticism!
You're driving along a sleepy half suburban half country road, admiring the nice big full acre lots, the little pony pastures, the neighborhood gang of free-range chickens, when you spot it: The lesser rocky mountain spot. Or maybe where you live it's the Appalachian woolly tan. The desert dutch. The great northern lop eared marten (favorite food of the other great northern marten). We all know that a domestic rabbit, released into the wild (or semi-wild) will almost certainly suffer a cruel and painful fate, but we've also seen the places where somehow, against the odds, they didn't. And I know some of you, just like me, have wondered just how tough those rabbits are.
So, the obvious question is, could you find out? Given adequate space, time, and supply, do you suppose the very few rabbits who managed to thrive would vary enough from their weaker, deader counterparts to constitute a whole new breed? I'm personally of the mind that this is how breeds happen, that in a perfect world almost every breed represents the very best of one geographic locale. A rabbit that thrives in the wild must be better suited to your particular wild, and if that's the case I think you could end up with a lot of rabbits who thrive on the plants and weather unique to your area. I can think of about a zillion challenges and obstacles along the way, but none of them are total deal breakers. Understand, I'm not talkin' about grabbin' one stray buck in a cat trap and lettin' him have his way with your herd until something happens. I mean real, concerted, separate efforts at figuring out what makes these survivors survive.
What about you guys? Me, I don't think it could possibly be any worse than laying out poison or shooting them. I know a few folks who've suffered real property damage from incredibly persistent feral colonies, so I think it's important to get these critters back off the land, as interesting as they are. Think it's possible? Ever tried it? See any particularly horrifying problems with the concept? I'm all ears! As you can probably tell, I like the idea, but I'm not sold on it and I'm not tryin' it myself, so feel free to blast away with criticism!