Swimming rabbits.

[villebones 4]

Evening all.

Took a nice early morning walk this morning with the pup and terrier, when the terrier pushed a rabbit out of the bushes, the pup got a good run on it and chased it down towards the river. To my amazement the rabbit didnt stop and took a huge leap into the river. We stood at the bank and watched it swim to the otherside. unfortunately the bank was too steep and the rabit couldnt get out so decided to swim back about half way across the river when it saw us waiting and stopped. It just floated in the middle of the river for a couple of minutes until we hid behind a tree. Once it though we had left, it began swimming again and scrambled up the bank and away into a bush.

Anyone else have any experience of rabbits swimming?

 

Later on we were walking down the same field again when the terrier pushed out another rabbit. This time the pup had a better run and got close behind the rabbit, She put in an excellent strike but the rabbit turned and ran towards its set, she got right up behind it again when it made a dive into its set. I though it was gone but the pup turned around and retrieved it live to hand. I was mega impressed at her performance.

Atb

[TOMO 24,880]

YEP seen them swim a few times to get away from dogs, and on the lamp as well, also hares a few years ago when it was legal to course them

[-=Magwitch=- 29]

This one tried it..................

[adamb20 22]

seen my old collie x mongral swim after one and catch it in the river when i was about 10.

[hayesy 0]

Evening all.

Took a nice early morning walk this morning with the pup and terrier, when the terrier pushed a rabbit out of the bushes, the pup got a good run on it and chased it down towards the river. To my amazement the rabbit didnt stop and took a huge leap into the river. We stood at the bank and watched it swim to the otherside. unfortunately the bank was too steep and the rabit couldnt get out so decided to swim back about half way across the river when it saw us waiting and stopped. It just floated in the middle of the river for a couple of minutes until we hid behind a tree. Once it though we had left, it began swimming again and scrambled up the bank and away into a bush.

Anyone else have any experience of rabbits swimming?

 

Later on we were walking down the same field again when the terrier pushed out another rabbit. This time the pup had a better run and got close behind the rabbit, She put in an excellent strike but the rabbit turned and ran towards its set, she got right up behind it again when it made a dive into its set. I though it was gone but the pup turned around and retrieved it live to hand. I was mega impressed at her performance.

Atb

my uncles dog was on a long ear pre pan goin back a few years now and the long ear took to a big lake an started to swim across but the bitch swam in after it an caught it an fetched it back

[Joe 2]

Ferreted a half flooded set along the side of a dyke and a rabbit bolted out of a fully submerged hole. Not a swimming rabbit but was still good to see.

[mossyh07 64]

Never seen rabbits swimmin but see hares doin it regular

[the bullcross man 6]

my dogs first rabbet he caught ran into a river must of thourght it was a life lne but dog got it

[the pikey poacher 1,157]

had 1 dive into a pool 1 night on the lamp but the dog went round the other side and when he got to the other side the old dog was waiting for him bet he thought he had swam away to fredom

[bird 9,594]

Yes seen them do it before, but if they got balls+brains to do that,i would let them go.Its only a feckin rabbit or even a big rabbit,there is always another rabbit.

[charliehunter100 22]

never seen a rabbit do it but once ran a deer in mid dec and it went straight into the river trent and out the other side while my dog just looked on thinking "f**k that"

[nicky25 47]

i have not seen a rabbit swim yet but raced a big roe buck that went over the river.

[wirral countryman 2,110]

whilst ferreting a garden for a retired pest control officer on a large estate 6yrs back we spent 4 or 5 weeks clearing rabbits in his small paddocks,on the edge of which was a large pond,every time we netted up around the edge we missed a hole under the roots of a large willow that was impossible to cover,needless to say each week we missed a rabbit that swam across the pit,never seen it happen before and never seen it since,it became a bit of a standing joke with the owner taking a seat in the garden to watch it swim to cover on the other side,he reckoned it had an aqualung on its back,local farmer's would slow down to take the piss out of us when we were doing their land, with lots of smart remarks about the skindiving rabbit,so,after trying a couple of different things that didn't work,I took my lad with his lurcher to wait on the other bank by the cover it came out in,needless to say the dog picked it out the water easilly,but we still to this day get ribbed about the skindiving rabbit,for those that have never seen it they swim like they run,two legs together in a jerking movement,its wierd but it works,yis,wirralman

[dh90 6]

Ferreted a half flooded set along the side of a dyke and a rabbit bolted out of a fully submerged hole. Not a swimming rabbit but was still good to see.

Same happened to me last year, 2 followed each other out of the only un netted hole.