Rabbits, rabbits, everywhere!

As I left my driveway this morning and headed down the dirt road to get to Route 4 in Sharon, I had to stop several times to avoid hitting the rabbits that seemed to be coming from every corner of the yard. This has been going on for quite a while now, and I know it is not unique to my yard as I have been getting a lot of questions about rabbits lately.I sometimess see a rabbit ahead of me on the lawn near some shrubbery, frozen, not moving an inch. It appears that it is looking away from me, given the direction its head is pointing. However, since its eyes are quite far to the side of its head, it sees me perfectly well — a nice trick to keep an eye (literally) on a predator without the predator knowing they are doing so. As I get closer, “flight mode” snaps into action and the rabbit is off and running. Rabbits normally move slowly, in short hops or jumps, but when frightened they can achieve speeds up to 18 miles per hour over a short distance. They often zigzag, to confuse a pursuing predator — which sometimes means running in front of a car and then back again, confusing the driver as well!So the question is, why so many rabbits? It could be a variety of factors: readily available food, ample habitat, lack of predators. I don’t think these are the causal factors though. I think this past winter’s warm and snowless weather is the reason. Rabbits reproduce a lot. As a result, they are an important part of the food chain and are prey items for a wide variety of animals. Rabbits can have as many as four litters of eight babies each during a typical spring and summer. Do the math! If the winter is mild, as it was last year, they can have their first litter early, for a potential total of five litters per season. Add the fact that young rabbits can reproduce in the same season they are born, and you have, well, a lot of rabbits!According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the rabbit can be considered a buffer prey species, meaning if rabbit numbers are high, predators will concentrate on them, thus reducing the pressure on other prey species. This makes life hard for a rabbit. Only 15 percent of the young survive their first year and only one in 100 rabbits makes it past 3 years old; hence their strategy to maintain healthy populations: Have lots of babies.So, at least for now, fence off your garden, watch where you’re driving and enjoy the show.Scott Heth is the director of Audubon Sharon and can be reached at sheth@audubon.org, (subject line: Nature Notes).

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