pregnant rabbits

[dytkos 17,536]

Ferreting yesterday caught 7 rabbits, 3 with young inside them in various stages of growth.

[COMPO 54]

This thread is in a similar vein!

 

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/index...=41053&st=0

[hairyface 211]

must admit i got one on the lamp this week with young inside

[dytkos 17,536]

This thread is in a similar vein!

 

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/index...=41053&st=0

 

Thanks Compo. Cheers, D.

[champ 1]

I caught 18 on the weekend and every doe had young and the mate i was ferreting with reckons hes seen young rabbits about. Its a shame must be global warming

[ferreting1888 7]

RENNY U REALY ARE A WANKER

[frost 4]

We were out on sunday and got 38 bunnies and there were 5 pregnant one's and one of these was ready to drop them anytime

Ferreting yesterday caught 7 rabbits, 3 with young inside them in various stages of growth.

[comanche 2,799]

I caught 18 on the weekend and every doe had young and the mate i was ferreting with reckons hes seen young rabbits about. Its a shame must be global warming

Nowt to do with Global Warming .Bunnies breeding condition depends on light stimulation not temperature.Once we get past the longest night (21/22 Dec)the daylight increases.Laying snow can also effect the breeding cycle by effectivly increasing the light levels by reflection on bright clear nights.Round here we expect to see a few scuttlers around the end of Dec/New years day.These've been born about the begining of December ,hence concieved begining of November .In other words the babies you see after Christmas are late litters not early ones.... A s to the embryos found in Winter -caught rabbits;remember not every rabbit pregnancy is successful.The doe can reabsorbe(up to about 16/18 days into pregnancy I think...don't quote me without checkin) her embryos if conditions such as bad weather,lack of food look likely to affect survival.It's Natures way of gambling .If Spring turns out mild there will be early litters.If it turns bad nothing is lost as the doe will reabsorbe the nutrients from her unborn young which at least ensures her own survival. Clever eh? Apparently rabbit embryo was a favorite dish of the Medieval monks --Very Catholic in their interpretation of the dietry laws reguarding the difference tween fish and flesh and baby buns counted as fish all the time they floated inside mummy bunny. Hm ,does this mean that the monks were wa*kers? Probably .I expect their idea of celibacy was pretty "catholic " too!

Edited January 31, 2008 by comanche

[Hob&Jill 258]

RENNY U REALY ARE A WANKER

 

 

[dytkos 17,536]

I caught 18 on the weekend and every doe had young and the mate i was ferreting with reckons hes seen young rabbits about. Its a shame must be global warming

Nowt to do with Global Warming .Bunnies breeding condition depends on light stimulation not temperature.Once we get past the longest night (21/22 Dec)the daylight increases.Laying snow can also effect the breeding cycle by effectivly increasing the light levels by reflection on bright clear nights.Round here we expect to see a few scuttlers around the end of Dec/New years day.These've been born about the begining of December ,hence concieved begining of November .In other words the babies you see after Christmas are late litters not early ones.... A s to the embryos found in Winter -caught rabbits;remember not every rabbit pregnancy is successful.The doe can reabsorbe(up to about 16/18 days into pregnancy I think...don't quote me without checkin) her embryos if conditions such as bad weather,lack of food look likely to affect survival.It's Natures way of gambling .If Spring turns out mild there will be early litters.If it turns bad nothing is lost as the doe will reabsorbe the nutrients from her unborn young which at least ensures her own survival. Clever eh? Apparently rabbit embryo was a favorite dish of the Medieval monks --Very Catholic in their interpretation of the dietry laws reguarding the difference tween fish and flesh and baby buns counted as fish all the time they floated inside mummy bunny. Hm ,does this mean that the monks were wa*kers? Probably .I expect their idea of celibacy was pretty "catholic " too!

 

Thanks Comanche, I knew some but not all of that. Very informative post.

Cheers, D.

[comanche 2,799]

Thanks Comanche, I knew some but not all of that. Very informative post.

Cheers, D.

Thanks D. I'm not sure that winter young and embryos are that new anyway.I've been ferreting since the early 1970's and recall them .I keep a Game Book(a grand title for a scruffy collection of notes describing my forays with the ferrets and encounters with three inch perch!) and make notes of things like the weather and numbers and size of rabbits caught....I think the thing to remember is that the rabbit as a species,despite being here 900years, has yet to find a balenced enviromental niche in this country and probably never will.It has taken them 50years to recover from the first myxomatosis epidemics and develop a degree of immunity.Like any aggressively invasive species it is still constantly adapting to climate ,predatory impact and food supply.Bad weather,overcrowding and lack of food may bring on chills,stress,coccidiosis,myxy etc but that daylight stimulated urge to procreate means that potential replacements are available as long as some of the dominant breeding stock survive.Mild Springs and Winters might increase the SURVIVALrate of young rabbits of course.Usually it is the parched,mid to tail end of Summer that sees breeding slow down and rabbit populations at their highest ,hungryest and most stressed.Then come the damp nights of Autumn and disease strikes.Cool summers ,like our last, might increase green food supply and possibly increase the numbers of mid-Summer litters.These young would be maturing and entering breeding condition from the New year onwards.Basicly I think the bunny population is still erupting after the knock-back of myxomatosis and that we are going to see more rabbits of all stages of developement regardless of season. God ,do I waffle on or what? Sorry.

Edited February 1, 2008 by comanche

[ferretville 69]

Some interesting comments there comanche the bunnys i`ve taken so far have had no young in them . I think nature is now very much dictated by the weather it is learning to evolve in different ways and by different measures it is a naturall progression of these`s moving times long may the good times roll FV

[COMPO 54]

Comanche

 

seems to be a well read man.....who has taken the moto "know thy enemy" literally, well done that man and some cracking points, i haven't been ferreting as long as you, only nearly 20 years, i knew of the re-absorbtion thing but never put 2 and 2 together......the does with the small young inside are just taking a chance and if the weather stays cold they wont drop them, makes sense now but i never thought in that way!

 

Your new student

Compo

[comanche 2,799]

Comanche

 

seems to be a well read man.....who has taken the moto "know thy enemy" literally, well done that man and some cracking points, i haven't been ferreting as long as you, only nearly 20 years, i knew of the re-absorbtion thing but never put 2 and 2 together......the does with the small young inside are just taking a chance and if the weather stays cold they wont drop them, makes sense now but i never thought in that way!

 

Your new student

Compo

Probably not quite that simple (,any sort of stress can cause the internal abortion thingy at any time of year)but whatever the cause it helps the survival of prime breeding does in times of adversity and saves them the time and energy involved in rearing unviable litters.Thanks for the kind comments.I'm off to put my anorak back on. Edited February 1, 2008 by comanche

[sniffer 167]

never caught any pregnant one's yet but i seen a load of down outside a bury last week where the doe's ar stripping ther belly's ready for a nest.