Vanished Bunny!

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My doe who had SIX kits last night only has FIVE kits this morning. They are like three weeks old so there isn't anyway that a snake that could have gotten in and eaten one just slithered right back out...unlesss there is some new kind of snake that has super quick digestion...? The doe is very agitated. The wires are all tight, I tried to pull on each bit of panel in between to see if there was a place that might be loose and nope, nothing loose. What the heck? Rod Serling is living in my barn? How weird is this? There wasn't any blood or fur to indicate the others ate the missing bunny. It's really strange. Any ideas?

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), July 14, 2001

Answers

My first thought was also snake. Absolutely sure it couldn't have squeezed out with a bunny inside or still be hiding there someplace? They're funny creatures. Aside from something pulling it through or a snake, I'm also clueless. (And not the first time I've been that- heehee)

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), July 14, 2001.

An owl! Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), July 14, 2001.

An owl...silly Hoot. No, I really don't think a snake could have done it in less than 6 hours. These cages are all wire and I put a galvanized top on top of the wire. The wire for the cages is baby guard on the bottom and then like 3/4x1" or so above that. The kits are three week old Californians. They could possibly get squeezed thru two of the upper wires....it would still be very tight. I looked everywhere around the barn and overturned the beds I have for the does, all the rafters, in the feed cans, you know, EVERYWHERE. It has me stymied. The only thing that MAY be a possibility is the neighbor kids, but why would they just take one? And I really don't want to think that at all.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), July 14, 2001.

I'm still inclined to think if there is a space anywhere that it could have been squeezed out, a snake could be the culprit. Used to have them sneak into the rabbit cages where I kept my broodies and eat three chicks of a meal!! As I recall, it took them 2 or 3 days to come back for the next ones. Hope your mistery is solved and you don't lose any more.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), July 15, 2001.

Predators, such as house cats, will sometimes eat them in pieces through the wire. If there is anywhere for a cat to stand and reach through the wire, that would be my guess. Brutal and gory, but that's what some of mine have done.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.


Well, unless my cats can hover they can't be responsible for this one. But that's good to know so I don't put bunnies any place they can get to them. Yeeeuck. Thus far, I am blessed with my barn cats. They looked at my keets...I told them no severely and they never messed with them at all. They've been great! It must have been a snake. Or an alien abduction. Or perhaps my bunny was raptured??:smile:

-- Dreen (bisquit@here.com), July 17, 2001.

Good one--I do believe that many animals are perfect in their sphere, but?? ;)

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), July 17, 2001.

Best guesses are a)The doe killed and ate the bunny herself (not likely but possible), b) a dog (stray?) pulled the bunny through wire in pieces, as previously suggested. I have seen dogs do serious and/or fatal damage to adult rabbits by ripping at their feet through the bottom wire. I don't know what kind of cage setup you have, but I would enclose the area below the cage to keep out predators to prevent future loss.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), July 19, 2001.

I'd have to say the Doe ate it as they sometimes do. No one really knows why the female eats their babies, but they do it. I know there are cannibals in the human world, so why not in the animal world.

-- Jet (ladyjet@pocketinet.com), May 05, 2003.

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