The funny woolen muzzle of the animal with big ears attracts the attention of both children and adults. Rabbits are very popular as pets and for culinary purposes. Interesting facts about rabbits can tell that these gentle, cheerful and good-natured creatures will become great friends.
Origin
It is a mistake to assume that the rabbit is descended from the hare. Yes, they are very similar, but relatives are very distant. If you mate a rabbit and a hare, the offspring will not work due to incompatible biological differences. But wild and domestic rabbits can interbreed.
Today, there are more than a dozen different species of these animals. But only the European wild rabbit was domesticated. So all breeds of pets take their roots from an animal that lives in what is now called Spain.
If you believe the researchers of this country, who tell interesting facts about rabbits, you can find out the following. When the Carthaginianslanded in this area, the soldiers began to shout: "Span, span!" Such an exclamation was heard because the rabbits jumped out from under each bush. "Span" in the Carthaginian language means "rabbit". Therefore, they called the landing site Spain, which means "land of rabbits".
Lifespan
The better the conditions of the pet, the longer he lives. Unfortunately, in the wild, a rabbit lives for a maximum of three years. Blame it on:
- illness;
- predators;
- bad weather.
Pets raised for gastronomic purposes live up to two years. Then they are killed for meat, and the skin is used to make furs or souvenirs.
Only decorative rabbits can boast of longevity. They live 7-10 years, there are individuals aged 13-14 years. The longest-lived rabbit died at the age of 19.
Single rabbits have a shorter lifespan than paired rabbits. In freedom, the animals get along with the whole family.
Sounds
Rabbits are almost dumb creatures. They occasionally make some sounds. Sometimes you can hear a soft clicking of teeth or something similar to rumbling. This means that the animal feels good, like a cat, when it purrs. Loud exclamations indicate pain.
An interesting fact about domestic rabbits is that they sometimes mumble. Such sounds are most often made by a rabbit when she feeds her offspring.
Running and jumping
Eared pets participate in race competitions onhippodrome for rabbits. After all, they can reach speeds of up to 55 km / h. The animal is motivated by yummy, and if a predator chases after it, the rabbit will easily leave behind the greyhound dog.
Another interesting fact about rabbits is the speed of movement and jumping. When buying a rabbit home, you should get a fence for them. It is desirable that it be higher. These ears are very flexible and bouncy. The rabbit jumps up to one meter high and three meters long.
A frightened rabbit can instantly take off and rush aimlessly, knocking down everything that is not standing, lying or walking in its path.
Sleep
It's funny to watch lagomorphs when they sleep. The muzzle and ears of the animals are in constant motion, as if they are having a dream about how they eat something very tasty. It turns out that during sleep, the animal's brain analyzes the scents and sounds around it.
An interesting fact about rabbits is that in order to obtain more objective information about the environment, the rabbit changes the position of the ears and nose. This helps him understand even in his sleep that a predator is approaching.
Records
These cute animals have given the world a lot of funny, amazing and interesting results.
Among them there are records:
- The longest ears of a rabbit named Nippers Geronimo - 79 cm.
- The heaviest rabbit - 25 kg.
- The smallest weighing 350 grams is a Litle Idaho rabbit. Its length does not exceed 35see
- One female produced 24 baby rabbits.
All these interesting facts about decorative rabbits are recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
Pet Breeding
Depressed rabbit may have a false pregnancy, eat a lot and act snobby.
A real pregnancy lasts 30 days. An interesting fact about rabbits is that a female is able to get pregnant at different times from two different males and carry both offspring at the same time.
The structure of the reproductive organs of a rabbit differs in that the uterus has two chambers that can store fruits inside themselves independently of each other. Mom feeds her cubs no more than 5 minutes a day.
Emotions
Rabbits make sounds differently, it happens to be heard:
- grunt;
- whining;
- grunt;
- loud teeth grinding.
This indicates irritation, dissatisfaction or malaise. If you scare a pregnant rabbit, she may lose her offspring. As for the male, he will simply die of fear, and this is not an exaggeration. Signs of fear:
- rolling eyes;
- grunt;
- loss of appetite;
- foot stomping.
So it's better to be nice to them. Under natural conditions, all predators are taller than lagomorphs, so raising the eared up can greatly frighten him.
How to pick up
This is especially useful for children. An interesting fact about rabbits is that anya careless gesture is perceived almost as an attack. At first, it is better not to take a pet in your arms.
Let the coward settle in and get used to it. What to do:
- Hold carefully. The bones of the animal are very fragile, they can be broken.
- You can't pick it up by the ears - it hurts.
- To grab the withers is also not worth it. The rabbit may start to struggle and injure its neck.
It's best to hold the furry creature on one hand while holding the other.
There are many different breeds of rabbits, but the Angora rabbit is especially popular.
Angora rabbit
This group of breeds is common throughout Europe. The homeland is the city of Angora in Turkey. There is an opinion that the sailors took these fluffy creatures with them, and therefore Angora rabbits spread to different parts of the planet.
Interesting facts about these cuties:
- Wool can be up to 25 centimeters long. From this, the animal seems much larger, although in fact this group of breeds is considered dwarf. And their weight ranges from two to seven kilograms.
- Russian scientists have developed a downy breed of rabbits. They are able to survive in severe frosty conditions.
- There are English, satin, French, giant, Germanic and downy rabbits. They are all different in some way. German bring a large amount of fluff (about 1.5 kg per animal per year). The English breed is considered the smallest, its weight does not exceed three kilograms.
- Angora rabbits are most oftenthere are white, but there is also another color (black, gray and with a bluish tinge).
China has the palm for the production of angora rabbit fur. Almost eight thousand tons of fur are produced in the state per year. For such a volume, almost 11 million furry animals are needed. But on one continent in the Southern Hemisphere, rabbits are a disaster.
Rabbits in Australia
Due to their fertility and lack of enemies in the natural environment, rabbits have spread throughout the Australian continent. These animals brazenly increased the territory of their habitat up to 100 km per year. In order to somehow stop the eared land grab, the Australians created the Great Barrier - a wire fence, the length of which was 3,500 kilometers.
But it didn't work, the animals dug under the fence and spread further, safely getting on the nerves of the farmers, destroying crops and vegetation. In the middle of the 20th century, the number of rabbits was 750 million.
As soon as they did not fight with rabbits in Australia. Interesting facts show that even predators that were specially brought to the continent could not cope with this task:
- foxes;
- martens;
- caresses;
- dogs;
- ferrets.
These animals chose to prey on marsupials, and rabbits have spread and continue to spread, threatening to wipe out sheep farming in the country.
Eared animals were poisonedchemicals, but this did not give any special results. Infection of specially bred mosquitoes with an infectious disease turned out to be effective, which led to the death of almost 90% of rabbits. But the surviving animals gained immunity and continued to breed.
Today, the fight against eared disaster continues. Every year, these cuties eat enough grass to feed 25 million sheep.
Animals guys
Usually kids want to have a furry friend at home. Often the choice falls on cute eared animals.
After watching them, you can note some interesting facts about rabbits for children:
- Rabbits are born with their eyes closed and without fur;
- rabbit has 28 teeth, they grow constantly, throughout his life;
- the animal has 5 toes on the forelimbs and 4 on the hind;
- heaviest rabbits weigh over 25kg;
- rabbit's eyes are designed so that he does not need to turn his head to view the area;
- animals only sweat on their paws, so they can overheat in summer;
- A rabbit can make 120 chews per minute and has over 17,000 taste buds;
- if the rabbit rises on its hind legs when the owner appears, it means that he recognized him;
- 2kg eared baby drinks as much water as a 10kg dog;
- rabbit whiskers grow near the nose and around the circumference of the muzzle, which helps to determine the distance to an obstacle in the dark and get around itside;
- eared pets mark their territory with their chin, they rub against objects, leaving a secret with a specific smell;
- before birth, the female builds a nest from her wool, plucked from the breast;
- A medium-sized animal can eat enough grass to fill a pillow;
- do not bathe a pet, rabbits are clean and lick their fur 5-6 times a day, and an unpleasant smell can only indicate that the animal is sick;
- Lagomorphs can only distinguish red and green colors and their shades.
When buying a fluffy lop-eared animal, you should carefully weigh everything. After all, feeding, keeping and caring for animals will require certain costs and time. It is worth approaching this issue responsibly so that the owners and the pet itself do not suffer later.
