- Which of the photos above shows a rabbit?
True or false?
2. Wild rabbits are born in underground burrows.
3. Newborn rabbits are well-developed, fully covered in fur, with open eyes and capable of coordinated movements.
4. Mother rabbit feeds her young twice per day.
5. Rabbit’s teeth grow their whole life.
6. Rabbits are rodents.
7. Seeds are the most important part of the wild rabbit diet.
8. When confronted by predators rabbits rely on outrunning them in the open.
9. Wild rabbits live in stable territorial social groups.
10. Rabbits eat their own poop.
Answers:
1. The right photo shows the European rabbit and the left one the European hare. 2. True. 3. False. Newborn rabbits are poorly developed (altricial) – almost naked, with closed eyes and poor coordination. 4. False. Rabbits feed their young once a day, or more precisely once a night. 5. True. 6. False. Rabbits belong to lagomorphs, a group closely related to rodents. 7. False. Rabbits eat mainly grass and herbs/weeds. 8. False. When scared rabbits seek refuge in dense cover or their underground burrows. 9. True. 10. Partly true. They eat special, nutrient-rich faecal pellets (cecotropes) which are formed after the food passes through their digestive tract for the first time. But they don’t eat the faeces formed after the second passage through the digestive system.