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All black wilde? !

Clare-uk

Mama Doe
Just passed a stretch of grass with lots of wild rabbits & alongside them 1 all black. I said he must be a released pet rabbit but mum said you don't know that, so I said I'll forum it & see if anyone knows [emoji38] do you think he was a pet before living there?
 
I quite often see black wildies around here. They are a real thing as opposed to released pets. :thumb:


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If you were in the USA then I would say a pet rabbit but in the UK I have seen on herecthat wildies can be black sometimes.
 
yes, I've seen black wildies. I watched something about rabbits that said the black ones were courtesy of the Romans. or did I just dream that?
 
We have 3 living in the field here, there is a 'wildlife mound' where the hedgehogs and bunnies live and I've seen 4 separate black buns alongside the usual coloured ones. I did see one get carried away by a fox the other day which was sad :( We tried to scare it off but they're so brazen, it wasn't bothered at all so that was sad but there are still 3 and they're getting bigger!
 
Learn something new everyday :thumb: that's good to know, I was feeling bad for the little one. He was a beauty & looked healthy :)
 
All rabbits are courtesy of the romans, they're actually an introduced species.
But i think naturally some are often born black or creamy but they are easier for predators to spot to don't breed much, that's how breeders originally got different colours, through selecting variations to breed from.
 
I had a black wildie who was mistaken as a released pet and very wrongly captured. He was wonderful but it still made me sad. :love: very possible
 
There are lots of black wildies around. I've also seen a black squirrel as well.
Funnily enough I was where black squirrels are often seen! I didn't see any of them just the black bunny. I'm really pleased to know he was ok :D and will keep my eyes peeled for more, he was a beauty :love:
 
I've seen black wildies at castle Bolton/redmire in north Yorkshire and also at Manchester airport near the premier inn.
 
Yeah they're called melanistic :) It's like the opposite of albino i think. A lot of animals (including humans I think) have the gene for the melanism mutation, it's basically where the body creates an abnormally high amount of melanin pigments.

It's pretty common in some animals and rare in others. Grey squirrels, genets and savannah cats (serval x domestic cat) are some ones where it's pretty common apparently because I know of some breeders that sell them.
 
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