Some interesting facts about Rabbits

There are several different species of rabbits including European rabbit and cotton tail rabbits are included in the total rabbit family. They should not be confused with hares. Hares generally are larger and do not live inside a burrow. Here I will only discuss about The Rabbits.

The size of a rabbit can vary from 20cm to 50cm in length and 0.4 kg to 2 kg in weight.

Rabbit is a social animal. They lives in groups. All rabbits (except the cottontail rabbit) live underground in burrows.

Most of the rabbit population is in North America(more than 50% of total rabbit population). Apart from North America they are also found in southern Asia, Europe, Japan and some parts of Africa and South America.

Rabbits ear is very long can reach upto 10cm in length. The long ears help them to detect predators in the jungle.

Rabbits have a near 360-degree vision and can even see behind them. They have just one blind spot right in front of their nose.

Rabbits have 28 teeth. They have two sets of incisor teeth one behind another.

Male rabbits are called bucks whereas the females are called does. The young ones are called kits. 

Rabbits are herbivores i.e, they eat plants. They prefer green leafy vegetation.

Rabbits are coprophagous i.e, they eat their own feces. They pass two different types of feces viz. hard droppings and soft black viscous pellets. They eat those pellets(called caecotrophs) immediately after extracting. Unlike other herbivores(such as cow) they do not chew the cud, rather ingest own droppings to extract the required nutrients. Rabbits can not vomit.

The fur of rabbits can range from pure white to black or grey. Although they were born without fur.

They have large and very strong hind legs. This helps them to jump 3 ft or higher. The front two paws have 5 toes whereas hind feet have 4 toes. They can run very fast. They can reach a speed of 30 to 40km per hour.

Rabbits have average sleeping time of 8-9 hours. They can live up to 12 years.

In popular cultures rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility. It has also been related with characters such as Easter Bunny, Bugs Bunny etc. It is also relates to the perception of innocence.  

Hope you got some facts which was not known to you. If you have any experience of having a rabbit as a pet, please share it with us.