Think we have a stray rabbit in our garden!

Been seeing a wildie there lately, but for a few days now he's had company, a beautiful black rabbit who appears to be about the size of a domestic one, just saw it again and am now wondering if its a stray? :O Its so much bigger than the wildie and looks quite heavily built as well, kind of like my Bella except both ears are uppy. How can I tell if its a stray or not? Stupid question maybe but I dont wanna try to catch it unless I'm certain. I havent approached it as Im scared he'll run off and never come back :? Please help.

You can get black wildies too so I understand your caution. Can you take a picture?

I'll try if I see it again today. I've put out some food for it to encourage it to stay here, there aren't many foxes about anymore so as long as it stays in our garden it's relatively safe from being eaten/run over. I'm just wondering since we've only been seeing it for a few days, before that we just saw the smaller one which is quite obviously a wildie. This one literally looks like a domestic bun. I know there are rabbit owners in this neighbourhood so I'm wondering if it's escaped. When I approached however it ran off, would a domestic bun really do that? Although to be fair Boris runs a mile when he sees someone he doesn't trust so maybe that isnt a good way of judging whether it's wild. Hmm :?

Is he with the wildie? If he is I'd probably leave him be even if he was a domestic :wave:

Georgeypudding said:

Is he with the wildie? If he is I'd probably leave him be even if he was a domestic :wave:

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I have to say, I wouldn't. Wild bunnies have a very short lifespan (it sounds like a domestic bun, but can't be sure without pictures). If it is a domestic one, once caught it should be able to be tamed and given a good life. Just because it runs away doesn't mean it isn't domestic. If I put my 3 out in the garden there is no way I would ever catch them again! Well, maybe one but deffo not the other two. Just keep putting food out, and attempt to gain its trust. It may take days or weeks to catch it, but if you do it will be well worth it!

but isnt taking him from his wildie bonded partner cruel?


Are you sure the other is a wildie and not a domestic agouti?:wave:

Yesterday he was with the wildie but they were keeping their distance dad says, and didn't interact with each other much as far as he could tell. They weren't hostile, just kind of not bothered. Today he's been on his own, the little wildie is nowhere to be seen. I'll keep putting out food for him, do you think I should try to provide him with shelter of some sort? If I put out a cardboard box or something with some hay in, do you think he'd like that of would it frighten him? Also I saw that he'd done some droppings on the lawn today, so I was thinking about maybe taking some of my buns' poo and putting it on the lawn, would this keep him interested in coming out there or would it make him nervous/uncomfortable? Someone once told me to do that when I saw another stray down the road as it could attract it this way. I don't know, I cant stand the thought of this little creature being out there. I just want to catch him (if its a stray) and make sure it's safe. We have a playhouse that would make a great temporary home for a little bun
ETA: Yes Im positive the other one is wild. It looks so much like a wildie and is VERY skittish.

As you have the playhouse, I would leave it open, put some hay and water in it, and some food outside it to. Hoepfully he will keep coming back for food and you can shut him in there...

This is Roger



He was caught by someone well meaning, however, he is clearly a wildy- but a black one.

I agree about proceeding with caution.

I think bunny poo around and also offering shelter is a good idea- you lose nothing by doing it. I also think that a domestic bunny could go running when someone strange approached it (and even someone they know).

If you watch wildies out and grazing and generally do not interact with each other much. They can do if playing, but not much the rest of the time until in their warrens, when presumably they do. They often graze about 6-8 feet apart. So that in itself is not an indicator for if they are bonded or not.

It might be this one is a black wildie that the other wildie has brought along because your garden is a good place.

I have to agree that I would be a bit uncomfortable with catching it because it has a friend, but equally, I would be uncomfortable with leaving it.

I wonder if you could provide for it/them in your garden, so they have a safe base, and maybe see what happens? You could work to gain trust, such as by sitting out with food and suchlike. It might become clear with time what the best course of action is.

It looks exactly like Roger ^ I got a quite a good view of it this afternoon as it emerged from behind a bush. Such a beautiful little creature. I guess there's no way of knowing for sure if its a wildie or not, but i'll see if I can find something it could use as a shelter. I could leave the playhouse door open but it's in the opposite end of the garden. The black rabbit seems to be staying mainly in one certain area whereas the other little wildie ventures quite far. I'm gonna see if I can find a cardboard box or maybe even a wooden one, put some hay in there and see if it gets inhabited Maybe even get a cheap hutch type of thing for them to use as a base if they decide to stay. If this is a domestic rabbit that escaped I might be able to gain its trust by doing this and maybe catch it. But this really is a great place for them to be, lots of grass and very few predators around. Maybe they'll bring more friends along eventually :lol:

tasteofchaos said:

I have to say, I wouldn't. Wild bunnies have a very short lifespan (it sounds like a domestic bun, but can't be sure without pictures). If it is a domestic one, once caught it should be able to be tamed and given a good life. Just because it runs away doesn't mean it isn't domestic. If I put my 3 out in the garden there is no way I would ever catch them again! Well, maybe one but deffo not the other two. Just keep putting food out, and attempt to gain its trust. It may take days or weeks to catch it, but if you do it will be well worth it!

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Only short because of thier wild lives not health issues normally :wave:

I'd probably provide shelter and food for it, but wouldnt actively try and capture it because you do get black wildies and its very hard to tell the difference. If its interacting with other wildies it has been accepted by them I imagine (fairly sure they'd fight otherwise) I wouldnt like to upset the balance :wave:

I think it sounds like a black wildie. There's no harm in providing shelter but I wouldn't try and catch it just now.

I've just seen the grey/brown little wildie, on his own. Black one is nowhere to be seen, but seeing as it was active earlier it may be resting now. It looks like the food I put out has been eaten however but its difficult to tell now as it's growing dark. I'm going to mum's in the morning to give Boris his meds so will bring back some hay and poop with me :lol: There should be something in the garage I could use as shelter in the meantime.

Georgeypudding said:

Only short because of thier wild lives not health issues normally :wave:

I'd probably provide shelter and food for it, but wouldnt actively try and capture it because you do get black wildies and its very hard to tell the difference. If its interacting with other wildies it has been accepted by them I imagine (fairly sure they'd fight otherwise) I wouldnt like to upset the balance :wave:

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They can be caught be foxes, run over by cars, get myxi etc. IF it is a domestic I would try and catch it, but a pic would probably help identify this (although maybe not!)
I would keep an eye out for it anyway.

exactly, wild lives :wave: