RABBITS, HARES AND PIKAS

THE  FAMOUS  WATERCOLOUR 
 PAINTING  BY  ALBRECHT DUERER

Rabbits and Hares - the big eyes, twitching nose and floppy ears; we just love them. However, they can run riots in the fields and grasslands. If not checked they can be damaging to crops. The farmers don't see them as cute and lovely like we do, especially as Easter bunnies.

Where they have plenty of food like the grassland or field of grains and carrots, they breed so much that it turns into a plague. However, the volcano rabbits barely have enough to eat on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico City and are kept in check by nature. In Sumatra, only a few hares have been seen.

Rabbits and hares belong to the group of Lagomorpha which has two families - Leporidae with 40 species of hares and rabbits and Ochotonidae which has 14 species of rodent-like picas

EUROPEAN HARE

RABBIT

RABBIT'S  ENTRANCE

LAMORPHS

Lamorphs are found all over the world. From the Arctic hare living in the icy tundra, while jack rabbits live in semi-dessert patch and in the tropical forest of Sumatra lives a very elusive hare.

Their soft, furry coat, which also covers their feet for extra traction when running. Hares and rabbits have long ears, are medium-sized and have short tails. Their large eyes can see in twilight and at night. Since nature put them high up on their head it enables them to look around of a wide area and the large ears give them a good detection of any enemy approach. The nose has narrow slits which opens and closes. The two large front incisors grow continuously.. Behind them are a peg-like incisors. The long hindlegs giving an impressive thrust. Therefore they can speed over open ground in great speed up to 80km/h.

LEPORIDS

Leporids are two groups - the rabbits and hares. They are recognized through either burrowing. The hares do dig sometimes but mostly use a hollow in the ground or vegetation. The rabbits digging either a single dead end or a complicated complex with tunnels and chambers.

Their diet consists of grass, herbs and other vegetation. Their digestive system had a large appendix with bacteria which brake down the tough cellulose in plant cell walls. The also eat their droppings to make sure they get all the nutrients in a second time round.

European rabbits live in places with well drained soil, even in wet weather. They live in colonies inside the burrows which are called warrens. When they find good sandy soil they spread out. The warrens can be complex with interconnecting tunnels, nests, side galleries and entrance holes. It can reach 3m deep and the entrance a 15cm wide. It is constantly enlarged and eventually reaches over several fields. The European rabbits marked their territories with rubbing their scent glads, which are under chin,

BREEDING OF RABBITS

A high-ranking doe (female) will compete for the best burrows and therefore, will have more babies. A low-ranking doe will have a less quality burrow and fewer babies (kittens). They mostly give birth in underground nesting chambers.

The saying 'Breeding like rabbits' is not for nothing. A female can give birth to 20 babies a year. These babies are ready to bread after four months. However, they can fall to predators, cold, wet, disease and age. The mate throughout the year. The male like to monopolize a female but the female mates with several male. High-ranking does give birth more than low-ranking ones. While the high-ranking female give birth in nesting chamber; the low-ranking one dig dead-end burrows and close up the entrance between visits. The babies are born blind and naked but get a fury cover within a week.

The female rabbit can resorb embryos that are partly developed. This occurs when food is short or any other disasters.

BREEDING OF HARES

Hares breed throughout the summer. They have two or three litters in one season.  In an open field, they keep themselves low and therefore melt into the background. Sometimes they are feeding in the day but mostly they feed at night. Males tracing the female they adore with their nose down to find an interesting scent. They are aware of approaching the female to soon otherwise it will end in a boxing match. He tries to avoid her blows but sometimes she bites him and runs away. Once he won her over, he stays with her a couple of days and they mate. After that he wanders off and seeks another female. The doe stays in her home and gives birth to the babies. They are born with fur and the eyes open. She moves them to a separate place but meet at a certain time to feed them with milk. The babies keep quite, not to alert foxes or other predators.

Hares and rabbits do not make any noises but the volcano rabbits have several calls. The red rock hare makes shrill cries even when they are not in pain. Almost all of them thump the ground with their hind legs when they get alarmed or aggressive.

AN AUSTRALIAN RABBITER  
IN 1900

The rabbits had been introduced to many areas. Britain had no rabbits. They also introduced them to Australia to have some sport in 1859, with devastating results. They had no predator and it became an epidemic. They tried everything from trapping, shooting and poisoning. In 1950 the virus hit Australia and they almost died out but some developed immunity. However, the wedge-tailed eagle and black-breasted kites became dependent on them. A total wipe-out would cause serious problems,

PIKA

PIKAS' VEGETATION PILE 
TRYING  ON THE ROCKS 
FOR  STORAGE

PIKAS

Pikas are short legged and related to the rabbits. They have smaller, round ears and no tail. They are living in high country of North America and Asia. There are 14 different species. The large-eared pikas of Nepal live in altitude of about 6000m. They live solitary and territorial. Their diet consists of grasses, lichens, mosses and their own droppings to get all the nutrients out. During the winter they do not hibernate but to find food they tunnel in snow and eat tree bark and shrubs. A food store of plants and grasses is set up in the summer. Rock dwelling pikas hide their food under a rock. Pikas live in the Steppe built haystacks in the open. In Mongolia, pikas carry pebbles to put on their haystacks to prevent the wind blowing it away.

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