Any Domestic Bunnies gone missing?

Hi, posting here. we have a bunny that has been hanging in our backyard over a week, maybe 2. Its gotten so comfortable it just is in backyard all the time. It allows me to get within 4 ft before it starts to move away, and they is only when I make aggressive moves. If you start to chase it, it just runs around the yard - does not go into the ground cover and shrubs in rear, or run away to another yard.

I know nothing about bunnies,whether they can become rabid, etc. Any thoughts? near Valley/Millburn border, in case someone is missing a bunny...

We often have wild ones in our yard - this year we either have more than normal or there is some reason they are just out and about more.

Looks like the wild rabbits that inhabit our neighborhood.  As others have stated, while it could be someone's escaped pet, it is equally likely that it is a wild rabbit that has become accustomed to being around people.

Bummer, no plans to have him/her become a permanent fixture. thanks for info

You don't like having a bunny in your yard? Can I ask why? They are so cute, and AFAIK don't do any harm. And although I suppose they can get rabies like any other animal, I've never heard of a rabid rabbit attacking a human. Actually, I've never heard of a rabid rabbit.

They are cute as can be, and I don't mind them in my yard at all, but if you're trying to grow food (or anything that appeals to them), they can be a considerable nuisance.  Think Mr. McGregor.  Think 6" of your row of lettuce + all the almost-ripe strawberries disappearing every night.

M'mm. You have a point there, MJC. I have had to learn to simply not grow anything that deer like. I'm not used to having to work around rabbits. In the past, I have done lettuce and tomatoes as container plants on the deck, but even then, the chipmunks got suspiciously fat.

Worst thing with the chipmunks is that they take one bite of a tomato, or half a strawberry and leave the rest.  Good thing they're cute, too.  Unfortunately, they think they own our garage & may have undermined the slab/floor.

I have lettuce and other things they like. So far kept everything on deck, but I really have to plant stuff. They TOTALLY take a bite and leave the rest...I would prefer they eat whole thing...Sorry to all you bunny lovers, I stopped loving them when I tried to grow things. spouse LOVES the bunny, but it is far too comfortable with me, and runs away for spouse....

The one good thing about having cats running loose in the neighborhood is the fact that the bunnies mysteriously disappear.  It's not just vegetables that rabbits snack on, they love hollyhocks and lots of other leafy flowering plants as well.  Fortunately, it's not just songbirds that cats snack on, it looks like they love the delicious bunnies too.

Amazing this bunny is as big or bigger than many cats  so would be abig meal - used to have some stray cats in area but not recently that probably limited bunnies in yard.

I think that because you said "bunny" I assumed at first you were fond of it. The only bunnies I know these days are at Bunny's! It sounds like you've got a "varmint."

When we had pet rabbits, they used to cause us major problems by tunneling under the garage, thereby disrupting the termite treatments. We didn't mow in their corner but they ate all the weeds. For a while I was adept at cornering and catching them, but I'm out of practice.

mjc said:

Worst thing with the chipmunks is that they take one bite of a tomato, or half a strawberry and leave the rest.  Good thing they're cute, too.  Unfortunately, they think they own our garage & may have undermined the slab/floor.

 Try a nice lettuce. They eat that to the ground when the leaves are little and tender.

I used to grow a garden just for the bunnies. It kept both of us happy.

mjc said:

Worst thing with the chipmunks is that they take one bite of a tomato, or half a strawberry and leave the rest. 

 CHIPMUNKS !!!!!!  you think that is the WORST thing about chipmunks???????  (shaking my head and shuddering)

Snort. LOL!

calli, maybe the worst food-related thing?  Biggest nuisance at our place is chewing big holes in a hose (multiple times, despite wrapping it in screen and finally in hardware cloth).  Most serious is the work they're doing under the garage - big piles of dirt/rocks, who knows what they're up to.  I understand that you have more personal concerns. : )  : O

It's a wild rabbit, an Eastern Cottontail. Do NOT feed it Iceberg lettuce, you will kill the rabbit, same goes with any rabbit wild or domestic. It screws up their innards very badly. If you want to feed any rabbit lettuce, the darker the leaf the better for the bunny. Iceberg lettuce is nothing more than a water balloon with virtually no health benefits. The rabbits will fill up on this, thinking they are full, when the extra water gets into their very sensitive digestive tract and softens everything, which is very unhealthy, will lead to very runny stools, and the rabbit has a good chance of dying. 

Wild rabbit inherently know what to eat and what not to eat, for the most part. They enjoy black oil sunflower seeds, which are a must during the winter time, due to the high fat content of the seeds which helps keep them warm. They will eat Wagner's Wild Bird Seed all day long, and that's what we feed them. Indoor (domestic) rabbits have a much more tricky digestive tract, and must be fed a very strict diet, consisting mainly of Timothy Hay. In reality, carrot tops are MUCH better for rabbits than the orange part. Fruits are pretty much right out for domestic except for the VERY occasional treat. ALL rabbits are sugar addicts, and will keep consuming high-sugar foods until they kill themselves. The reasoning behind it is, many thousands of years ago, fruit trees only bore fruit for a short time. The rabbits would only have access to it for a short time, and would not be able to overdo it as the fruits quickly spoiled after they fell from the tree. Domestic rabbits still have this instinctual desire and don't have an off switch like their wild brothers and sisters.

Ok, enough of that. We have a TON of Cottontails running around all the time. The main reason is that there aren't ANY stray or outdoor cats (also known as pets of convenience). If we had ANY of these things strolling through the neighborhood, there wouldn't be ANY rabbits, and a majority of the brightly colored songbirds that thrive around here, would be dead. Enjoy the bunny running around, they really are quite friendly. Do NOT touch it though, doing so 'breaks the wild" in the creature. you don't have to worry about rabies either. You will see bunnies out during the day this time of year, as they are all frisky and are busy 'creating families'. Late summer into fall they will come out later and later, and eventually you will only see them at night.

I hope this info helps. Here's a shot from a couple years back. You will find three of the cuties hanging out. They LOVE CLOVER!

MWAAHAAAHAAAA!

calliope said:

 CHIPMUNKS !!!!!!  you think that is the WORST thing about chipmunks???????  (shaking my head and shuddering)

Eastern Cottontails do not burrow. They will form a 'scrape' on top of the ground, perhaps an inch deep. The female then removes the fur from her dewlap and covers the ground inside the 'scrape', when she is close to birthing time. If you find an Eastern Cottontail living underground, that means they took over an abandoned woodchuck hole.

SouthernBaron said:

When we had pet rabbits, they used to cause us major problems by tunneling under the garage, thereby disrupting the termite treatments. We didn't mow in their corner but they ate all the weeds. For a while I was adept at cornering and catching them, but I'm out of practice.

the one BAD thing about having cats running loose is that they use the raised beds as a litter box. Nothing like getting the beds cleaned up and the soil turned over, nice and ready to plant (but not yet fenced in)......and then going out the next morning to find the cats have dug, pooped, and patted it in. YUCK.

FC_ said:

The one good thing about having cats running loose in the neighborhood is the fact that the bunnies mysteriously disappear.  It's not just vegetables that rabbits snack on, they love hollyhocks and lots of other leafy flowering plants as well.  Fortunately, it's not just songbirds that cats snack on, it looks like they love the delicious bunnies too.

calli, what is going on with chipmunks at your house?

beppolina said:

the one BAD thing about having cats running loose is that they use the raised beds as a litter box. Nothing like getting the beds cleaned up and the soil turned over, nice and ready to plant (but not yet fenced in)......and then going out the next morning to find the cats have dug, pooped, and patted it in. YUCK.

Umm, Bep, that is far from the worst. The worst I have had, well, I live in New Providence, but grew up for decades in Maplewood/South Orange. I was used to TONS of songbirds, and MANY critters, who loved our backyard. ONE idiot lady's "pet of convenience", that she would let loose every morning, thinking it was 'cute'. Well, that Piece of Sh*t RENDED well over a dozen songbirds, including Goldfinches, Grosbeaks, Catbirds, Nuthatches, Titmice, shall I go on? Best part was, I fed the songbirds on a very regular basis, and her little outdoor assassin took full advantage of it. I gathered up the carcasses her little Hellbeast left, put hem into a box, and walked it down to her house. She was mortified when I handed her the box of dead songbirds, and screamed at me that her cat would NEVER do something like that. Well, that's when it became MY moment, when I showed her the 2 vids I had snapped showing her Hellbeast pouncing on a Cardinal, slapping it around, and then ripping off its head. The next clip showed the same with a Dove. She had nothing left to say. I shot her a look that would send chills down Chuck Norris' spine, turned around, and walked away. The Pet of Convenience was never seen in MY yard again. That's the little "truth" for those that have outdoor cats never want to discuss. ALL other Pets have to be "kept", except cats. I grew up with indoor cats...I repeat INDOOR cats. Outdoor cats kill, which is why Maplewood/South Orange is lacking in about a dozen different songbirds that ARE indigenous to the area. All that is left, for the most part is Grackles, Blue Jays, Sparrows, Pigeons, Starlings and Cowbirds, for the most part, a.k.a. scavengers. I hear of very rare sightings of bunnies in the same area, consider yourself blessed, as it hasn't been rendered by the usual Racoons, Opossums, or the lovely occasional Coyote...Feral or "outdoor" cats have a LOT to do with this. Those that tell you different, probably have their own "Pet of Convenience" that rips apart the cool critters of the neighborhood, and then playfully trots back to is house and eats the food the owner has for it. Pleasant, huh? NOT! 

Strange how different it is only 15 minutes away, but with no stray (outdoor) cats. Here's a good shot after the idiot's cat didn't return, GOLDFINCHES!!!

FC_ said:

The one good thing about having cats running loose in the neighborhood is the fact that the bunnies mysteriously disappear.  It's not just vegetables that rabbits snack on, they love hollyhocks and lots of other leafy flowering plants as well.  Fortunately, it's not just songbirds that cats snack on, it looks like they love the delicious bunnies too.

 

I just fainted----you are an evil man, Deffie! Evil.

DEFCON_Creator said:

Eastern Cottontails do not burrow.

 Good to know--what we had were the offspring of one given to us by someone as a pet, and not what we see around here. Ours definitely burrowed on their own, and incredibly fast.

happyheart, a few years ago , Gracie chased a chipmunk into the house,where my 2 cats started to stalk him, he ran around my feet in circles, and I saw him lose his tiny mind. Then he ran under my jeans and up my leg.  I wrote a thread about it titled: "A little song, a little dance, a little chipmunk in my pants."

That story was awesome! 

It really was. One of the funniest MOL threads in ages. The only ones I can recall that can compete were Consonant Guy's "bat in the house" thread and campbell's infamous Ambien thread.

A chipmunk ran right up my animal-averse husband's leg when we were hiking in one of the national parks many years ago -- either Bryce or Zion. Still gives him the willies whenever we recall the incident...