Underground world of the rabbit
As the rising sun breathes life into a new morning, below ground a warren of fleetfooted rabbits are beginning to stir
dawn breaks on a sunny day in mid spring over a bank pockmarked with deep holes. In the bushes, the birds start to sing, but all is quiet on the ground. A single rabbit pokes its nose out of one of the holes and sniffs the air, as if testing whether it is safe to emerge. A few seconds later, he lifts up his head and looks around, checking that there are no predators nearby. Once he is sure all is well, he propels himself out of the warren with powerful hind legs and begins to feed. This is the signal for other rabbits to emerge, and soon the whole area around the warren is alive with activity. Some stand almost upright, their ears pricked and noses twitching, alert for any danger. Others feed, nibbling the short grass with their long front teeth. After a while, some begin to play, romping around like carefree children. This is a scene that has been re-enacted across the British countryside for 2,000 years. Introduced first by the Romans, then re-introduced by the Normans for food and fur, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has shaped the landscape and ecosystems extensively.
Thanks to this longevity, and a total British population estimated at 38 million individuals, it is now regarded as a native species in all but name.
Attributes and appearance
The European rabbit is, like its close relative the hare, a member of the Leporidae family of mammals. These are characterised by their long ears; short tails and powerful, elongated hind legs. Weighing between 2½-4½lbs (1.2-2kg), adult rabbits are between 12-16in (30-40cm) long. There is little, if any, difference between male and female in size or appearance. The fur is short and grey, becoming paler on the belly, but colour and shade can vary considerably. Close-ups often reveal subtleties such as a brownish or reddish tinge. Some populations, especially those on isolated islands including Lundy, off the north Devon coast, are more or less black. Domesticated rabbits can come in many different colours, including white. When these escape and interbreed with their wild cousins, other varieties of pattern appear. Its distinctively long ears enable the rabbit to detect any approaching predators. They can pick up sounds over considerable distances, up to 1½-2 miles. The ears can rotate through 270 degrees, as well as moving independently to help detect and monitor sounds. The ears also assist in regulating the rabbit’s temperature. Their large surface area contains a network of blood vessels which swell when the rabbit is hot, allowing excess heat to be dissipated. They contract when it is cool, retaining warmth. A rabbit’s sense of smell is good, helped by special folds inside their nostrils that magnify and enhance scents from outside. Their large eyes on each side of the head give a sphere of vision of almost 360 degrees.
Life above and below ground
Rabbits are not fussy in their choice of habitat, so long as there is soil where they can dig their burrows. They can be found in woodland,
farmland, grassland and meadows, upland and moorland, large rural gardens, park and especially near the coast, on cliffs and sand dunes. They feed almost entirely on grasses, cereals and the new shoots of other plants; in winter, they will also gnaw at the bark of saplings. Social animals, they live in organised colonies known as warrens. These consist of a network of interconnected burrows, where the rabbits sleep and breed. The home range is restricted, often less than 2.5 acres, sometimes much smaller. They are highly sedentary animals, rarely venturing more than 165ft (50m) from the entrance to their burrow. This helps them escape from predators such as foxes, stoats, weasels and birds of prey, by making a quick dash for safety. A sharp squeal alerts other rabbits to the danger. Burrows are made by digging with their front paws into sand or soft soil. The entrance is usually between 4-20in (10-50cm) across. These are generally situated on a slope so the rabbit can dig into the earth at an angle rather than straight
“They changed shape in a queer way when they moved; one minute they were long and thin and the next minute fat and bunchy” Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
down. The maximum depth of each burrow is approximately 10ft (3m). Burrows are easy to find, not least because of the excavated soil just outside the entrance. Rabbits also make ‘runs’ to and from their burrows, where the vegetation is shorter than elsewhere. Male rabbits, or bucks, and females, does, have a strict hierarchy, in which the strongest get the best burrows, usually near the middle of the warren. They also mate more often. A warren may contain several discreet groups of a dozen rabbits each, half male and half female. Males mark their territories by their physical presence along the boundaries, and by depositing urine and faeces. While this helps reduce conflicts, squabbles between rivals may occur. If this happens, they use their paws to box at each other.
Cycle of breeding
Dominant males will normally mate with several females in the group. Each female then makes a ‘nest’ inside the burrow, using moss, grasses and soft fur plucked from her belly. Gestation is approximately a month, after which she gives birth to a litter ranging between three and seven young. Rabbits are altricial, which means the young, known as kits or kittens, are born naked, blind and helpless. They open their eyes approximately 10 days after birth. Growing fast on their mother’s milk, they are fully weaned after three weeks.
The phrase, ‘breeding like rabbits’ is firmly based on fact. Does can become pregnant soon after giving birth and some may give birth to eight litters in a single year, though they usually have fewer kits altogether, perhaps 20 in all. Female kits are also ready to breed when they reach just four months old. This means that in favourable conditions, rabbit populations can grow very rapidly.
The rabbits’ rise and fall
When the Romans left, rabbits disappeared from Britain until the Norman Conquest. Again, as the Romans had, the Normans kept their rabbits in captivity or in enclosed areas also known as warrens. However, over time, many animals inevitably escaped and went feral. By the 14th century, small wild populations were starting to be established, but numbers remained relatively low until the 1750s. At that time, changes to farming methods led to the widespread control of predators by shooting and trapping. The removal of their enemies allowed rabbit populations to boom, and during the rest of the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, they spread throughout Britain. They reached virtually all offshore islands, either by accident or because they were deliberately released there as a convenient food source. By the start of the 20th century, the UK population was thought to have reached 100 million. Then, in the early 1950s, the disease myxomatosis struck. This viral infection was easily transmitted from one rabbit to another. Animals develop skin tumours and often blindness, dying within a week or two. The disease had a devastating effect on the UK’s rabbit population. Within little more than a decade, an estimated 99 per cent of all Britain’s rabbits had succumbed. Numbers fell below one million. Eventually, some developed a resistance to the disease, and numbers have gradually risen again. The rabbit is here to stay.