Silly Wabbit

[Grumulkin]

I found this rabbit behind my barn today. I took this photo with my cell phone from about a foot away and all the rabbit did was stay VERY still. I could have put a box over it or probably even picked it up by the ears.

A few years ago, I saw a rabbit out my office window hunkered down similarly in the grass. I took my cat and threw her on to the rabbit. Both the cat and the rabbit were surprised. Rabbits must think that if they don't move they're invisible.

 

[MCgunner]

Might have tularemia. It makes 'em very lethargic.

 

[Grumulkin]

I guess that's possible but I think tularemia is more of a Western U.S.A. thing; I've never heard of it around here. It's more likely it's delusional; thinking if it doesn't move it won't be seen.

 

[Sunray]

"...Rabbits must think that if they don't move they're invisible..." Um, that's pretty much true. Bugs having a nap? Had one sit and watch me come to about 6 feet before he/she/it scampered a few feet and stopped then continued watching me walk past. No hunting of 'em means they have no fear of people
Cat get even with you later? Cats only think the stuff they do is funny. Not the cruel stuff you do to them.
"... think tularemia is more of a Western U.S.A. thing..." Nope.
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10370_12150_12220-27293--,00.html

 

[Grumulkin]

Map of 2014 Tularemia Cases

Well, at least there were none reported in Ohio in 2014.

The rabbit I tossed the cat at had been in the same place for a day or two. I presume it was up and around at night. I think they just find a place for the winter where there is some food and maybe proximity to a dwelling cuts down on the chance a coyote will get them.

 

[j1]

J1

I do not think that rabbits think too much at all and most of that is about nice tasty grass and other rabbits.

 

[oldillini]

Rabbits can and will remain very still. I have often hunted them without use of dogs and have literally stepped on them before they moved. First rabbit I ever killed was with a BB gun at ten feet. That was just 50+ years ago.

 

[CraigC]

Rabbits must think that if they don't move they're invisible.

Everything has its defenses. Holding perfectly still is one of them.

 

[Milt1]

That rabbit was waiting for you to make a mistake and then jump you and kill you!

 

[illinoisburt]

That rabbit was waiting for you to make a mistake and then jump you and kill you!

A little Monty Python me thinks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCI18qAoKq4

 

[jeepnik]

Threw your cat on the rabbit? You're lucky you didn't end up with an injured cat.

 

[buck460XVR]

Rabbits must think that if they don't move they're invisible

While they are really hares and not rabbits, anyone that has ever hunted snowshoes knows their first line of defense is staying still and blending in. Many times, they are invisible. Cottontails do the same. When I was young and didn't have a rabbit dog, my favorite way to hunt them was on the first sunny day after a fresh snowfall and they would come out of their burrows and sun themselves. They would sit perfectly still, thinking you were going to walk right by them. The secret was to not stop walking until you were ready to shoot and then to aim at the eye. My dog now is a GWP. She will not run rabbits, but she will point them. Amazing how many times she will take a point on a rabbit and they have a stare off, only a few feet apart, until I come along and flush it.

 

[Bobson]

Rabbits must think that if they don't move they're invisible.

Old school hunting technique, if you don't have dogs, is to walk 3-5 feet, then stop for 5-10 seconds, then walk 3-5 feet, and stop for 5-10 seconds, etc.

While you're still moving, they'll just as soon remain hunkered down and let you walk on past. They know that once they move, they're much easier to spot. As long as you're still moving in any direction except right toward them, their instincts tell them you haven't seen them, and they won't budge.

Read all this in a little orange book about rabbit hunting that was published in the early 1900s. My BIL and I tried the method in the Arizona desert a couple years back, and we walked away with half a dozen rabbits after just a few hours. Maybe not any record, but it worked well enough for us.