Moro Ferret wrote:
I am confused, though. I thought the HRS was all about bringing bunnies inside -- they say on their website that bunnies living outside in hutches don't live as long due to the elements and predators getting/harassing them. Even if the space is bigger, isn't that still a big threat? What about raccoon roundworms and other illness/parasites? Do the buns live outside, or come in for the night? What about poisonous plants/mushrooms growing in the enclosure?
This isn't the HRS, which is all about bringing bunnies inside where humans can enjoy them and keep them safe. Unfortunately, the HRS can only house a small percentage of the homeless rabbits in the world and they rarely deal with feral or meat rabbits. This option is a step up from loose in the park or life in a tiny cage or hutch while awaiting the butcher.
The UVic bunnies had some major parasite and nutrition issues. Both can be solved with care. The young bunnies were picked off constantly by hawks, but rabbits in the Rabbitats won't be breeding. The 20% first year survival rate in the wild mostly applies to the babies.
Outdoor savvy rabbits -- or more the case, rabbits that get to choose their food and not just eat what they're given or have access to rarely to be choosy -- will not eat poisonous plants. (They also have a high tolerance to plants considered poisonous). This shouldn't be much of an issue, but I would still watch for and remove mushrooms and bad vegetation, good call on that one.
And raccoon roundworm is a very serious concern and is taken into consideration when designing the rabbitats. Raccoons are pretty specific in their toilet areas, they are easily identified if you know what to look for, and she need to be avoided or very very thoroughly cleaned.
As many 'safe' rabbits are tortured as house pets by well meaning caregivers. The two things that matter the most to the rabbits instinctively are overhead cover (if not underground burrows) and traction. Wire cages with no 'panic room' boxes or at least a cover over part of the tops and sides is as unnatural to a bunny as a human living in a glass house. And the linoleum or corroplast flooring is like a human living on a skating rink. Of course they adapt to an extent (as would we), but it goes against every natural instinct the poor rabbit has. So there's no one-size-fits-all 'house bunnies are better off than yard bunnies'.
Rabbits locked in hutches (a particular HRS no-no) are more prone to predator attacks than rabbits loose in the yard and will instinctively feel far more threatened. They're caged meat, attracting raccoons, weasels, etc.. A yard rabbit that has been allowed to build its natural escape routes or has routes built for them is far less likely to succumb to adrenaline poisoning (which rabbits are prone to). In all cases a secure, solid fence is essential to block line of sight predators as is lots of ground cover for attacks from the air.
Its also not much different from saying you can't send your kid to school because he might get hit by a bus. Lock him in his bedroom, he'll be perfectly safe there. Suicidal, but safe. And you can't compare rabbits to infants. They're a lot smarter that people seem to realize, and they possess some impressive survival skills. Rabbits are not designed by nature to be safe. Everything eats rabbits.
That said, Rabbitats aren't really the best option for house rabbits (especially the many who are taken away from their families too young and grow up very dependent). But in many cases, rabbits are better off 95% safe in a well-designed predator-savvy yard than 100% dead in an overcrowded shelter, meat breeder facility or a loose in a park that's nothing but a coyote smörgåsbord. It's all about choices and options.
The 'Rabbitats' model will be happy with 95% safe. The ones pictured are historically 99.4% safe. (Two dwarfs for some reason didn't hide from a Barred Owl when there was an owl infestation in Maine, those have been the only casualties in six years).
But people wanting to let their house rabbits out in the yard can certainly make the area as safe as the house. You just have to know what you're doing.
PS: I vividly remember when I first joined this board's predecessor, the loss of three rabbits to predators that week. One board favorite was killed by a neighborhood dog that rushed past the rabbit owner as she was opening the door to her house -- the dog had seen the rabbit in the window. And another lost her bunny to a neighbor's dog who rushed in and knocked over its wire run while the owner was supervising the play time. Yet another person had a very secure hutch that thwarted a raccoon attack, but the rabbit died from fear. There is no such thing as 100% safe.
sas :bunnydance:
