Naughty bunny - I'm a bit freaked out!

[Emm-Jane76]

My bun Penny 'Pocket' is a very 'feisty' young bun. She did something before I went on holiday which has freaked me out a bit to be honest :shock:

The day before I went on holiday, I let all my buns out for a big long run in the garden. There are lots of places to hide in my garden under shrubs etc. They were out there a good couple of hours and I was sunbathing in the garden whilst keeping my eye on them. Anyway, when it came to putting them back in their hutches - I got my other three and then had to catch Penny (she is the hardest to catch!). She raced behind me and under a big shrub and then when I looked under there I couldn't find her?! I saw that she had been digging - which is normal for Penny - she digs everywhere. I started to panic a little bit but then noticed a bit of a hole. I got on my hands and knees and just put my hand in this 'burrow'. I could just feel Penny's bum. I couldn't believe it. Well i just grabbed hold of a bit of fur on her bottom and dragged her out. She looked a bit bemused! It is a good job she hadn't burrowed just a little bit more! This really scared me and I just thought what could of happened. What if i hadn't been able to reach her? What if I didn't even look in there and thought she had escaped instead?

I will obviously have to keep a very, very close eye on the little madam in future.

Now I know she is a bunny and bunnies do burrow - but to this extent? Is this normal behaviour and has this happened to anyone else?

 

[sue 1974]

god how scary, very lucky that you noticed it. the rescue where i volunteer have masive runs, some of the rabbits burrow there and the burrows are really deep. luckily they do this in the middle rather than the edge so they don't burrow out. sadly one of the rescue buns used to burrow under the shed which was fine as he always got out but last week he got stuck and died in the burrow. we think he paniced(sp) and got scared and died. really sad.

 

[elve]

yeah I don't let my girls on the garden any more because of it :roll: I have a group of 4 sisters, and Zinniea was the digger...at first - but they always copy each other and soon we had a chain gang working on their great escape :lol: underground and out of sight in about an hour - I would come around every so often and fill it all in again with my boot, whilst they looked on in total horror (oh you should have seen their faces ) - but in the end it got so they didnt do anything else on the garden at all - no running, no eating, just got to work the minute they were let out there :?

 

[Emm-Jane76]

Thanks for your replies and am glad Penny is not the only one. It's a pain though because I love to put her to run around in the garden! It's scary though when you mention that a bunny got stuck down there and died :shock:

 

[elve]

Thanks for your replies and am glad Penny is not the only one. It's a pain though because I love to put her to run around in the garden! It's scary though when you mention that a bunny got stuck down there and died :shock:

yeah that's a bit shocking I think maybe a good rule is fill in the hole as soon as their bum is all you can see - keeps them busy anyway :? Problem I had was after it had rained they just got so muddy as the earth had been dug over so much it was loose and just such a mess - then I worried about them licking all that mud off themselves :roll: does seem a shame to deprive them of something they so obviously enjoy though - I guess if you can handle her you could wipe her feet over with a wet flannel after if it's muddy - I can't get near my girls never mind wipe their feet

 

[dinklepip]

:lol: a wee bum poking out :lol: don't ya just love bunny bottys... I do :lol:

 

[Emm-Jane76]

:lol: a wee bum poking out :lol: don't ya just love bunny bottys... I do :lol:

I prefer them when their not stuck down a hole! :lol:

 

[Emm-Jane76]

yeah that's a bit shocking I think maybe a good rule is fill in the hole as soon as their bum is all you can see - keeps them busy anyway :? Problem I had was after it had rained they just got so muddy as the earth had been dug over so much it was loose and just such a mess - then I worried about them licking all that mud off themselves :roll: does seem a shame to deprive them of something they so obviously enjoy though - I guess if you can handle her you could wipe her feet over with a wet flannel after if it's muddy - I can't get near my girls never mind wipe their feet

Yes, I won't deprive her - I'll just have to keep an extra close eye on her. I have gone around the garden and filled in all the holes. I've told her what I've done and she wasn't happy!

 

[Emm-Jane76]

Anyone else had any experiences regarding this? Do you think if I get a sand pit or something similar and fill it with mud it may help or am i just clutching at straws!

 

[rabswood]

yeah I don't let my girls on the garden any more because of it :roll: I have a group of 4 sisters, and Zinniea was the digger...at first - but they always copy each other and soon we had a chain gang working on their great escape :lol: underground and out of sight in about an hour - I would come around every so often and fill it all in again with my boot, whilst they looked on in total horror (oh you should have seen their faces ) - but in the end it got so they didnt do anything else on the garden at all - no running, no eating, just got to work the minute they were let out there :?

elve that's so funny :lol:

Sorry I don't have any suggestions, mine will have a little dig occassionally but nothing scary thank goodness.

Rabswood

 

[AlisonA]

If she's going to dig, she's going to dig wherever she chooses so I don't think a sandpit will help. In any case, digging in the garden the soil should be a bit more 'stable' than in a purpose made pit, because it will have roots etc binding the soil together. Heather would dig her way to Australia if I let her so I just have to make sure that I check around. I let her dig to a certain extent but when the holes start getting either very deeply downhill, crumbly or towards arms length (whichever comes first!) I fill it in again...and she simply starts again somewhere else!

 

[bunlover]

yes generally they will dig. i found these calculations help roughly in a 3-6 hour period my bunny can dig a burrow of around 2foot alone.... now if a freind helps then they can dig double this.... and obviously with time and effort they can dig very quickly. so at mums what we did was dug around border of garden about 2 ft deep and layed mesh in a curve so if they did dig they couldnt exxcape....also if they dig in middle of garden as long as it doesnt go down more than 4 ft you can usually coax them out!! hope that helps! good luck.

 

[parsnipbun]

before we had fox problems ours used to run free all day in their various areas and would burrow to their hearts content. they made huge long burrows - I would guess 20 ft was about the longest . We sometimes used to brick off a central area to make a sort of chamber for them after the had made the burrow. We only had problems with them not coming out a couple of times - both times when i suspect the bun concerned had been spooked by something.

Its sad that now we have to have them in runs that have wired bases so they can;t burrow - but neither can the fix burrow in!!!