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How smart are rabbits with regard to deep water (ie rivers)?

Lisa F

Lisa F

Mama Doe
My buns currently have their hutch and run plus a few hours everyday in our fenced off deck. So they do get quite a bit of exercise but I'd love to be able to let them have some supervised playtime in the garden as well. Our garden is really small but the big problem is that we live next to a river. The garden is secure on all sides except for the waters edge. Now I'm not sure how my buns would be with that. My daughter is worried that they'd just run right off the edge of our dock into the water but I'm sure rabbits are not that daft and that they'd be fine. Any thoughts on the matter greatly appreciated :)

(Here's a pic of the garden and waters edge)

1558528_10152119726598226_776206542162772743_n.jpg
 
I don't think I'd want to let my buns run around next to the water with no barrier. I'm sure they wouldn't jump in intentionally but mid-binky or if they get frightened they might fall in by accident.
I have a similar problem in my garden (no water involved) in that the grassed area is raised about 5 foot off the patio with no barrier. They have a run so that they can have some play time on the grass, and they only free range properly on the patio.
 
I think I would be worried about them falling in. I have a large pond in my yard and I'm concerned about that with mine - not that I ever let them more than a few feet away from me though (I follow them around because of birds of prey etc).
 
Have a look at puppy pens, most you can unlink into one long wire 'fence', add a couple of uprights (you can get mental stakes at garden centre) and you could create a barrier relatively cheaply that you could fold up easily when not it use :)
 
I would think they're more than likely to be fine but all it takes is one binky or one mad dash, or for the decking to be a bit slippy. You could buy some 3-4ft puppy panels and put them along the bottom of the grass, just before the decking? Then they could access all that grass but would be fine with the canal so near as long as they were supervised :D
 
Like everyone else said. We had an accident yesterday when one of the hens heard the cake tin opening and took a short cut across the lawn .........straight into the pond. She was going down quickly when my oh sashed over and pulled her out. Have had a rabbit swim across a pond once but would seriously worry about a river
 
I have a deep pond fenced off just in case. By the way Eric and Ernie are adorable and I love their names :love: :love:
 
they can't swim... We have 100's of wild rabbits on the grounds at work and I oversee the site services, we have a natural stream which runs through and under the site along with fire water tanks dotted around the place. we end up pulling around 15 rabbits from them every year as they cannot swim to the side to get out...
 
I've certainly seen footage of rabbits swimming (not just in Watership Down ;P): in still/very slow-flowing water! I live right next to a working canal but we have a low (1') wall separating the garden from the water which is about 5' below the wall, and a 2' wide border with hedges in before that. If Lopsy went in, he'd never get out, whether he could swim or not! I suppose they only swim if they have to, and those that manage it carry on? Natural selection and all. I'm more worried about Lopsy getting out onto the road or into next-door-but-one, where the dogs live. Or possibly through the old catflap in next door... I really like the foldable barrier idea, and I've seen that used along the canal (and indeed on the boats themselves!) to prevent dogs going astray.
 
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