Black wild rabbits?

Can you get them?

A friend has just posted a pic (not that close up sadly) of a black 'wild' rabbit. Then someone else has commented that they have seen several in one area.

Yes. You can. There are quite a few around here.

(Either that or Hector does actually go out when I'm not looking and has a great time with the local girl bunnies.....)

*that is a joke!

Ive seen little wild black ones too:wave:

I imagine they're melanistic rabbits

Thanks. I have never seen one, I'm disappointed now. :lol:

That they are melanistic makes sense.

Yes you can, but its more common to find black domestic ones having been released. Well, more common where I live anyway.

yeh i've seen dutch crosses too ppl 'release' domestic ones then they breed with wildies - my vet said thats why there's so many variant of wildies now.

about a year ago (may last year in fact) i seen a baby dutch cross on the side of the road, made hubby turn car round (id had a dream a few weeeks before that i seen a dutch rabbit and stopped and caught it, at the very very same place) but couldn't find it, i cried for days and went back with pellets etc but I just never seen him again - til a few months ago we were driving home from work and i seen it in a different field (across the road from where it was) - with a whole black / brown / white family

sadly a week later the effing council or developers or something started digging their field up Its just like watership down altho last week i seen one of them in the field as they've only dug the entrance up (so far)

I understand that black is the the commonest natural colour variant but as said released/escaped domestic rabbits add to the colour variation, which can continue for decades after people have left islands uninhabited.
I was surprised that even in deep dusk agouti remains the best camouflage. Black rabbits stand out like sore thumbs!

I saw a little black bunny on the verge on my way to work this morning. She/he was happily nomming the grass. My counsellor who lives near there told me earlier this week that there is a field of them - all black. Am glad I knew that or I would have panicked thinking the bun was a pet who had escaped.