{"id":15757,"date":"2022-04-13T13:17:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T11:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2022-04-13T13:31:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T11:31:10","slug":"understanding-rabbit-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding rabbit behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Steve Harris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 13 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Rabbits often live in large colonies containing a number of social groups.<\/span>Each of these consists of up to three bucks (males) and five does (females), and has its own territory.<\/p>\n

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There is a dominance hierarchy among males and females, and both sexes are very aggressive towards lower-ranking members.<\/p>\n

Looking at a rabbit\u2019s ears<\/h2>\n
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Both ears forward is the default position for rabbits, indicating no tension or aggression. \u00a9 Federico Gemma<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A rabbit\u2019s ears are the best indicators of its disposition.<\/p>\n

Erect and facing forward shows that the animal is not feeling aggressive; turning them outwards indicates increasing tension, while turned backwards means it\u2019s annoyed.<\/p>\n

If the rabbit lays its ears flat and crouches, then it\u2019s preparing to attack. One ear up and the other down is a sign of indecision.<\/p>\n

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Ears turned slightly back suggests that the rabbit is growing tense. \u00a9 Federico Gemma<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A rabbit that turns its back is indicating that the encounter is over, and one that walks away is being dismissive.<\/p>\n

Other behaviour to look out for is an animal flicking its back feet, which shows irritation, while thumping its back legs during an encounter means that it is angry.<\/p>\n

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A rabbit with its ears laid flat on its back while crouched is prepared to fight. \u00a9 Federico Gemma<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Do rabbits have dominant individuals?<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re watching a group of rabbits, you should be able to tell which is the dominant male \u2013 he\u2019s the one who is constantly patrolling his territory.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also notice that subordinates tend to move away when he approaches.<\/p>\n

Dominant males from adjacent social groups within one colony maintain their territories by parallel running along the boundary and scraping the ground.<\/p>\n

They also mark sticks and other conspicuous objects with the gland under their chin.<\/p>\n

Males may squirt urine on challengers but more usually attack them, kicking at the belly with their powerful hind legs, scratching with their front paws and biting.<\/p>\n

Will female rabbits fight each other?<\/h2>\n

Females also fight each other over access to breeding sites.<\/p>\n

They are also very aggressive towards youngsters, particularly juvenile females.<\/p>\n

Main image: Two wild baby bunny rabbits during late spring. \u00a9 Fiona McAllister Photography\/Getty<\/em><\/p>\n

All illustrations by\u00a0Federico Gemma.<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Steve Harris Published: Wednesday, 13 April 2022 at 12:00 am Rabbits often live in large colonies containing a number of social groups.Each of these consists of up to three bucks (males) and five does (females), and has its own territory. There is a dominance hierarchy among males and females, and both sexes are very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":15758,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour.jpg",480,321,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour.jpg",480,321,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour.jpg",480,321,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour.jpg",480,321,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/04\/understanding-rabbit-behaviour.jpg",480,321,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Steve Harris Published: Wednesday, 13 April 2022 at 12:00 am Rabbits often live in large colonies containing a number of social groups.Each of these consists of up to three bucks (males) and five does (females), and has its own territory. There is a dominance hierarchy among males and females, and both sexes are very…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/15757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}