Some people, looking at cute and fluffy domesticated rabbits, tend to think that their relatives living in the conditions of cruel wildlife lead the same nonchalant life and only pinch the juicy grass growing in the meadows. But this is an erroneous opinion, since every new day for them is a constant struggle for survival. A wild rabbit is always in search of at least some food, regardless of the season, and besides, it must also hide from all kinds of predators.
Description
That is why these small animals have such a body structure, thanks to which it will be easier for them to survive in the harsh conditions of the natural environment. They are endowed with unique abilities to extract their food from under the snow, have excellent hearing, allowing them to hear the approach of a predator at a distance of thirty meters, even if it is not on the ground, but soars in the air.
Outwardly, a wild rabbit looks like a hare. A description of it can be started with the fact that it is small in size. The length of the body ranges from 32 to 46 centimeters, while it weighs no more than two kilograms. His hind legs are smaller than other
breeds of rabbits and hares, and his ears are longer.
The wild rabbit is endowed with a heterogeneous color. His photos show that this animal on top has a brownish-gray coat, sometimes with a reddish tint. The abdomen and tip of the tail are slightly lighter, and a whitish strip is visible on the sides, turning into a small spot in the upper thigh.
A wild rabbit, unlike a hare, does not change its color during the year, but only two molts occur, as expected, in spring and autumn.
Where do they live?
Initially, these small animals lived only on the Iberian Peninsula, but due to agricultural activity they were settled on almost all continents except Antarctica and Asia.
Currently, a wild rabbit lives in Russia, Ukraine, as well as in many countries of Europe and Africa. In addition, this small animal can be found on the islands of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.
These animals live only where there are bushes and low trees, but can also live in the steppes, forest belts and plantings. Their living conditions differ significantly from the hare lifestyle, as a wild rabbit needs less territory for its existence. The family of these small animals can coexist quietly on land, the area of which varies from three to twenty hectares. For a more comfortable existence, they dig holes for themselves, reaching up to thirty meters in length.
Dwelling of small animals
Such tunnels can be seen in any open area with a difficult terrain, it is there that a wild rabbit digs them for themselves. Where this small animal lives, only sandy soil prevails there, so that it is easier and more convenient to dig holes for itself.
The harsh conditions of survival forced these animals to hide as deep as possible underground, where you can hide away from predators. There they spend most of their lives. Such holes burrow mainly by females, and this takes a lot of time. They have the form of nesting with three exits to the surface.
Lifestyle
Thus, a wild rabbit in nature can often be found in beams, ravines, on steep coasts or abandoned quarries. These animals are not at all afraid of the neighborhood with humans, so they can settle even on the outskirts of settlements and in various landfills.
When these small animals choose a certain territory for their life, they must mark it with the odorous secret produced by the skin glands. Unlike rabbits, wild rabbits do not lead a separate lifestyle, but live in whole groups (7-11 individuals each). Their families have a rather complicated hierarchical structure.
What do they eat?
The wild rabbit, when feeding, does not depart from the hole further than a hundred meters. Therefore, his diet is not very diverse. Only winter and summer meals differ. In the warm period, small animals eat leaves and grass. If there are fields and vegetable gardens near their dwelling, then these animals eat salads, cabbage, all kinds of root crops and grain crops on them.
With the approach of the cold, rabbits are moving to dry grass and parts of plants dug from the ground. In addition, in winter they can still feed on shoots and bark of trees or shrubs.
How does reproduction occur?
These small animals are considered highly prolific. They breed almost year-round. Rabbits can carry offspring about three times per season. Pregnancy in these animals lasts about one month. The number of rabbits in the litter can vary from 4 to 12 and depends on the living conditions and age of their mother. Thus, in a year she can bring from 20 to 50 cubs. Within a few hours after giving birth, the female is again ready for mating.
Rabbits of this species grow at a fast pace due to the fact that the very first four weeks after their birth they are fed only with mother's milk. Five months later, they reach puberty and leave the family, forming their own.
What is the value of these animals for humans?
It turns out that only this type of European wild rabbit was tamed by humans. Therefore, it is considered the ancestor for all, without exception, domestic breeds of these small animals.
Their breeding is currently engaged in the territory of various natural protected areas and nurseries. European rabbits are in demand by many breeders, as they can be used to improve the breeds of domesticated species.
In addition, they are subject to fishing due to their beautiful fur and delicious meat. That is why rabbit breeding is considered one of the most important sectors of world agriculture.
Since the domestication of wild rabbits, more than seventy different breeds of these animals have already been bred. Among them, downy, decorative, as well as those that are used to test new drugs and food products in scientific laboratories, are distinguished.
But besides the benefit, these wild animals in some countries, where there are no predatory animals, can cause enormous harm to people, eating all crops, damaging fields, crops, and also spoiling the land with their many burrows. For example, in the Pacific Islands, they completely destroyed vegetation, which led to soil erosion and the destruction of the coastline used to nest seabirds.
Summing up, we can come to the conclusion that these amazing animals are perfectly adapted for living in the wild, so they can maintain their population.