Guest Chip Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 i pulled up this morning at a farm to run the terriers through a couple of spots i hadnt been to in a while and saw this fella sat there right where i parked. I must be turning Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Escaped pet rabbit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kay 3,709 Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Nice one it looks at home in that hutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cometa300s 20 Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 nice find there is a couple of them round my area Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Chip Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 well i was quite chuffed to see it when i did,i hear plenty about lads takeing blackuns on the lamp but to date i havent seen one. i expected this one to leg it but it just stayed put, firey enough when picked up all legs seem to work. i think its an old boy possibly blind,dumped??i dont think he,d taste to clever. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gimli 0 Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 I regularly see black ones on my permission near Shenley in Hertfordshire - on one particular area of farm but not on my other two permissions close by. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff.C 0 Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Plenty of blacks on my permission. They are (I assume) the result of some escaped pet, joining and mating with the wild ones some years ago. The babies are very attractive, fur is like velvet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Chip Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 couple of days later i decided to neck it,something wasnt right about it cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
comanche 2,827 Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 (edited) Plenty of blacks on my permission. They are (I assume) the result of some escaped pet, joining and mating with the wild ones some years ago. The babies are very attractive, fur is like velvet. Probably not escapees mate. Genetic blips in wildies are not rare.Rabbits are not actually "brown" they only appear so.Look closely and you'll see a mixture of grey,black,white,cream hairs but no proper brown ones. Rabbits born with missing pigment tend to be either white -in which case they stand-out like beacons & tend to be knocked-off by predaters long before they manage to breed and pass on their genes- or black . In the past black wild(feral? ,naturalised? let's not get anoraky about terminology) rabbits were activly encouraged in some stately parks for their novelty value and on some island warrens for the value of their pelts for hat-making. Several superstitians have grown -up around them .Some call them "Vicars", others think it unlucky to kill one. Old Keepers liked to see a few about as they were easy to spot and if they went missing it indicated the activities of vemin ..or poachers! Edited October 20, 2008 by comanche Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Chip Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 (edited) enough said eh Edited October 22, 2008 by Chip Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scar 0 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 see quite a few of the blacks around the bedfordshire area,saw my first wild blacks down in gloucestershire back in the early 90's . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jeepster 0 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 A few years ago we were living with my in-laws (farmers & father-in-law enjoys shooting., ferreting etc) when a guy came with two young rabbits - my two kids saw them before Father-in-law did, and thought F-I-L had got them some pets. (The guy who brought them bred show rabbits and used to bring F-I-L the ones that wern't up to the mark, F-I-L used to eat them) They were kept for a few months, but were vicious buggers, we've all got scars from their claws & teeth. One escaped a couple of time, and ended up in the pot -(it was the more vicious of the two) my kids loved the chicken pie Gran made that day!!!!!!!!!!! They still think 'Misty' is living wild on the farm! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chess 0 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 couple of days later i decided to neck it,something wasnt right about it cheers. Feck me that made me laugh What wasnt right about it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 I've seen black rabbits in droves, on Skomer Island. There's all sorts of colours there, hundreds of thousands of coney, well there was when I went there on a school trip, many moons ago! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Chip Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 couple of days later i decided to neck it,something wasnt right about it cheers. Feck me that made me laugh What wasnt right about it It wouldnt stop howling Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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