Wild rabbits: how to help our big-footed friends
Native to Spain, sadly wild rabbits were first introduced to England for food and fur. Today, thankfully, they are a familiar part of the countryside, where they can often be seen running free like hares.
Rabbits and hares are related, but they are quite different. Hares are much taller, with longer legs and ears that often have distinctive black markings. Rabbits, meanwhile, live in underground burrows and warrens.
For information about caring for domestic rabbits, see our post on happy healthy rabbits.
Rabbits live in warrens
Rabbits live in groups in underground warrens, where they can shelter from predators and raise their young.
Female rabbits can produce a litter of around three to seven babies each month during the breeding season. That means rabbit populations can increase very quickly!
Wild rabbits have many natural predators
Rabbit numbers are naturally controlled by predators and other factors. Foxes are important predators of rabbits, as well as many other small mammals.
Contrary to the common misconception, foxes don’t primarily live on rubbish from household bins. Wild prey such as rabbits and rats forms an important part of their natural diet.
Wild rabbits are generally grey-brown and have their characteristic fluffy white tails. They are mostly active around dawn and dusk and are particularly good at disappearing into vegetation or their burrows when danger approaches.
Why do rabbits thump the ground?
A rabbit’s powerful hind-leg thump is an important warning signal.
When a rabbit detects something it considers dangerous, such as a predator or sudden disturbance, it may stamp its hind feet against the ground. Other rabbits nearby can hear or feel the vibration and take cover.
Rabbits also constantly gnaw because their teeth continue growing throughout their lives. Chewing helps keep their teeth worn down.
What habitat do wild rabbits need?
Rabbits need a mixture of two things that might initially seem contradictory: open areas for feeding and immediate shelter nearby.
In the wild, this might mean short grass or clover where rabbits can graze, with brambles, hedges, scrub or tussocky grass close by for protection.
They need relatively dry ground for burrows. Wet or flooded soil can cause burrows to collapse and may expose young rabbits to cold damp conditions.
When are rabbits most active?
Wild rabbits are crepuscular, meaning they are mainly active around dawn and dusk. So, seeing rabbits out on a verge, field edge or garden during the evening is perfectly normal.
However, a rabbit sitting exposed in the middle of the day can sometimes be a sign that something is wrong. Heat stress, fear, injury or illness can cause a rabbit to freeze rather than run away.
Young rabbits, known as kits, often remain hidden in shallow nests or grass cover. They can look surprisingly still, which doesn’t necessarily mean they have been abandoned.
Avoid repeatedly checking the area. Frequent visits can leave human scent and create additional disturbance around the nest.
If you are concerned that a rabbit is injured or orphaned, contact a local wildlife rescue.
Reducing everyday hazards for wild rabbits
There are several simple things we can do to make gardens and outdoor spaces safer for wild rabbits and other wildlife.
- Keep dogs on leads near known rabbit warrens, particularly around dawn and dusk. Even a seemingly friendly chase can cause a rabbit serious stress or potentially kill it through shock or injury.
- Take care when mowing long grass. Sweep through areas of longer grass before mowing and avoid using strimmers where wildlife could be hiding. Use garden shears instead.
- Leave some wild areas. Bramble patches, hedges and areas of longer grass provide valuable cover for rabbits and other wildlife.
- Avoid garden netting. Loose netting can trap rabbits, hedgehogs, birds and other animals.
- Make ponds wildlife-friendly. Ponds should have gently sloping sides or another safe way for animals to escape if they fall in.
- Secure water containers. Make sure water butts and containers are covered, so that wildlife cannot become trapped inside.
Help wild rabbits with myxomatosis
Sadly the infectious disease myxomatosis was introduced to stop the spread of wild rabbits, but it can spread to domestic rabbits, and is an awful disease.
If you find a wild rabbit with lumps on the head and body and swelling around the lips, nose, eyes and ears (and back end) with runny eyes and pus, cover it with a towel and place in a carrier, a local vet can put it to sleep, at no cost to you.
Humanely deter wild rabbits eating crops
Grazers is a Cumbria company that makes a nontoxic calcium product that makes grass unpalatable to rabbits and other creatures.
Obviously not for pet rabbits, but it’s a humane deterrent instead of shooting them, which some golf courses and farmers do, to avoid damage to crops or grass.
Just apply as instructed, and rabbits and other creatures should move to other areas. The product was created after seeing extensive rabbit damage stop after applying, which was followed by agricultural and horticultural trials.
Or you could do what no-dig gardener Charles Dowding does, and just accept that you’ll end up sharing some food with your big-footed friends:
Rabbits have discovered our home in the past three weeks. They are surprisingly tame and disinclined to be shooed away. One came up and waved through the window, while we were eating supper.
