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My OH posed a question

keletkezes

keletkezes

Wise Old Thumper
Paraphrased:

How, given that Lopsy so ravenously eats anything foragey put anywhere near him, are there still (rabbit-friendly) plants below 2' high in the British countryside?
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I was watching the wildies on the Science Park and they weren't devouring the brambles they were scampering about in... But Lopsy ate the whole twigs I gave him the other day, in preference to some parsley, in less than an hour. 1/4" thick ones, thorns and buds and stalks and all.

Thoughts?
 
Maybe cos they have constant access to them? And they can only eat so many.. mine are like Lopsy with their brambles... they wolf them down, tis hard to keep up with the demand too :)
 
Well there's only a certain amount of rabbits. and if there were enough rabbits to eat ALL the safe plants, the rabbit population would then go down because there'd be no food. And then the plant population would recover.

It's like saying "how are there any little fish left when big fish so enjoy eating them."
 
Year before last casserole decimated my blackberries so no fruit last year at all :evil:

Then last year he only pruned it so I have new growth this year and hopefully he will leave it alone so I get some berries this year :D

But then I did also get a Guy who butchered a few of my plants last year so nothing grew too much :roll:
 
It could be as simple as the fact that forage is a novel treat for captive animals so they gobble it up, whereas in wildies it's part of their normal diet and health routine. However, I think the answer goes a bit deeper. It's very common for non-migrating herbivores to have a specific strategy in regards to grazing, as obviously it does not pay them to eat up their entire food supply. At some point there were probably rabbit ancestors who lacked the 'self control' or the instinct to only eat part of the plant, and they died out. So natural selection plays a huge role in the process - the selection pressures of a limited food supply favours those who ration it... however unintentionally. Rabbits (and other grazing animals which exhibit similar selective grazing) likely have this partially instinctively, and partially learn it through grazing with their parents and conspecifics. The reason why captive rabbits appear to not abide by these grazing 'rules' could be varied: not spending enough time with mum to learn from her; not fearing the lack of food (due to small amounts of conspecifics, and also because humans constantly provide food); because captive rabbits are so far from wildies in nature; because captive animals have much less need to constantly scan for danger so they can get down to eating with ease; because the way we provide food (in bulk) cannot replicate a normal feeding pattern; or even because the environment that they're in is small enough not to have the option to selectively graze and so they have no instinct to. It is interesting to see that some groups of captive rabbits are less 'greedy' with their food... whereas others will gobble up everything as soon as they get it - is it because a litter mate at one point was perhaps under the weather or underweight and required more food, so the food supply went down and it brought out the desire to gobble everything down as soon as possible lest anyone else get it? And this has then had the same affect on conspecifics later in life? It's also interesting that some single rabbits are less 'greedy' - is it because of lack of competition? Or perhaps they eat at the same rate - is it down to boredom, or is it just a normal rate of eating?

Many questions :lol:
 
yaretzi said:
It could be as simple as the fact that forage is a novel treat for captive animals so they gobble it up, whereas in wildies it's part of their normal diet and health routine. However, I think the answer goes a bit deeper. It's very common for non-migrating herbivores to have a specific strategy in regards to grazing, as obviously it does not pay them to eat up their entire food supply. At some point there were probably rabbit ancestors who lacked the 'self control' or the instinct to only eat part of the plant, and they died out. So natural selection plays a huge role in the process - the selection pressures of a limited food supply favours those who ration it... however unintentionally. Rabbits (and other grazing animals which exhibit similar selective grazing) likely have this partially instinctively, and partially learn it through grazing with their parents and conspecifics. The reason why captive rabbits appear to not abide by these grazing 'rules' could be varied: not spending enough time with mum to learn from her; not fearing the lack of food (due to small amounts of conspecifics, and also because humans constantly provide food); because captive rabbits are so far from wildies in nature; because captive animals have much less need to constantly scan for danger so they can get down to eating with ease; because the way we provide food (in bulk) cannot replicate a normal feeding pattern; or even because the environment that they're in is small enough not to have the option to selectively graze and so they have no instinct to. It is interesting to see that some groups of captive rabbits are less 'greedy' with their food... whereas others will gobble up everything as soon as they get it - is it because a litter mate at one point was perhaps under the weather or underweight and required more food, so the food supply went down and it brought out the desire to gobble everything down as soon as possible lest anyone else get it? And this has then had the same affect on conspecifics later in life? It's also interesting that some single rabbits are less 'greedy' - is it because of lack of competition? Or perhaps they eat at the same rate - is it down to boredom, or is it just a normal rate of eating?

Many questions :lol:
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I read some of the start of this and like your points. I think it would be loads easier to read with some paragraphs in it. That could just be me though.

ps The hare piccies send their love!
 
tulsi said:
I read some of the start of this and like your points. I think it would be loads easier to read with some paragraphs in it. That could just be me though.

ps The hare piccies send their love!
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You're definitely right, I just couldn't be buggered to format it since it was just a quick musing while freezing my bum off in the rabbit shed :lol:

Glad you like them :D Have you found a place for them yet :love:?
 
yaretzi said:
You're definitely right, I just couldn't be buggered to format it since it was just a quick musing while freezing my bum off in the rabbit shed :lol:

Glad you like them :D Have you found a place for them yet :love:?
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Yep. On the wall half way up the stairs, just near a little window :D

Know what you mean about not being bothered. Read the whole thing this morning and agree with all of it!

My belgian hares are getting rather comely. Must get their run built.
 
yaretzi said:
[big long post XD]
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I said it was due to natural selection: those that like grass more will have less teeth problems, so will live longer and have more babies. Those that just like forage, teeth problems ahoy and dead by a year. I agree there are a lot of factors and a lot more questions!
 
clutterydrawer said:
I'm not sure that eating plants other than grass causes teeth problems. :? Some of them are higher in fibre than grass.
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It's not the fibre that cuts the teeth down: it's the abrasive action :thumb: Grass contains silicates (I think) which grind on the teeth, as does hay, whereas twiggy plants generally just do it by 'firmness' rather than (microscopic) chunks of mineral. It's why grass is very hard to get any nutrition out of: grazing animals have complex digestive systems of one form or other to cope :) I'm no expert though so a trained faunobiologist might have more detail!
 
Wildies instinctively leave areas of dense 'shrub' - especially brambles as it gives them cover to dive into when threatened. They will eat some patches (this is why the South Downs for example has no brambles over most of it) and then leave patches for cover.
 
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