Rabbit twitching

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

Im not sure whether this is the right place to post this but i had something happen that ive never seen before.

I was out shooting this afternoon with my son and the 22lr. We had bagged quite a few, but as this was a serious job to knock down numbers and we were killing pretty indescriminatly, young were easy game.

Now, I gut the rabbit, then peel the skin off over its head, then stand on the skin, hold the back legs and pull tight, then cut through its neck, leaving me with a skinned rabbit ready for home. This particular rabbit i gutted it , peeled the skin off but when i went to stand on its skin and pull it tight to cut its head off the head just came off - i had obviously shot it through its neck BUT it started twitching, not a bit-A LOT. its back legs were going, the saddle was twitching and the muscle around its bum/top of leg was twitching and it didnt stop for 10 minutes!!! It was just weird seeing this gutted and skinned rabbit with its legs going! If i could have videod it i would have it was feckin mad.

Has anyone else seen this? ive gutted thousands and have never had a rabbit twitch on me when gutted and skinned- This was for 10 minutes too!! and a good hour (at least) after i shot it!!

 

 

Seen this happen quite a few times , I dont mean after its just been shot but hours later

[Piscator 0]

last weekend we went out for a few rabbits with the 17HMR, out of 8 rabbits 6 were head shots and i was suprised to see a few of them kick and flip as though they had been hit with a bad shot. The damage to the head was severe but a couple of the rabbits didnt relaise they should have been dead

 

slightly different subject,

 

That is called the clonic phase and normally follows the tonic phase where the animal is very still just briefly before twitching starts.

It is basically the result of removing what was a very complex control system which had been piloting the rabbits body.

Until the point it was killed, the brain was controlling all muscle movements and other body functions - until you flip the switch and turn that off.

Suddenly there is nothing to regulate the bodies activities and it all goes a bit wild

[the Verminator 0]

i once shot a wood cock with the shotgun, it had a pellet straight threw its head so i put it in the game bag, bot 5 min later it was flapping bout in the bag

[aaronpigeonplucker 32]

i had a dog fish wich, after i had skinned it and beheaded it was twisting and turning for ages. it was even turning when i was chopping it up to put in the pot