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Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny are such well-loved fictional characters, and the lovely little furry pets - black, white, piebald, long-haired and pink-eyed - so innocent and charming, that it is difficult to believe that their wild brethren were capable of eating farmer and forester out of house and home. All domestic rabbits are derived by selective breeding of the European wild rabbit which is a native of the semi-arid areas of Southern France, the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. They were introduced into Britain by the Normans in the 12th century, the first recorded colony being in the Scilly Islands in 1176. They were kept in large warrens, surrounded by banks of earth or stones, topped with palisades or close-grown thorny shrubs. Artificial burrows were made and extra food was provided in the winter. The rabbits were harvested for their meat and skins. By late medieval times there were hundreds of warrens throughout Britain and, needless to say, the animals began to escape into the open countryside. But it was not until the Agricultural Revolution in the 18th century that suitable conditions for their wild existence started to appear - hedgerows and earth banks of the new enclosures, small woods and shelterbelts for game, large areas of fodder crops to feed the increasing number of farm animals. All these changes favoured rabbits; furthermore, sportsmen found them an additional and interesting quarry, introducing them onto their estates. Add to these factors the destruction of rabbits' enemies such as foxes, stoats and buzzards, in the interests of game preservation by the landowners, and you have optimum conditions for rabbit survival and increase. By the middle of the 19th century they had become a major pest throughout the land. Small wonder this was so. The rabbits’ breeding season extends from January to August. The gestation period is only four weeks and the six to eight young themselves start to breed when four months old. The female, or doe, once she has reached breeding age, is in continuous oestrus until she mates; and after a litter is born she is usually pregnant again within two days. Thus for much of the time she is both carrying young and suckling a litter. In the mid-1800s rabbits were still the landlords' preserve, and poaching them was a serious, even deportable offence. But much to the relief of the tenant farmers, who watched their crops and grass being eaten down to the ground, passing of the Ground Game Act in 1880 permitted them to kill rabbits legally. The era of the rabbit-catcher had arrived. By means of the gin-trap, snare and gun they could earn a living, for rabbit meat was a popular addition to the diet of the poorer sections of the community, the skins fetched good prices for gloves and coats, and the fur for felt hats. Even rabbit tails were sold as charms against rheumatism. Despite all this, conditions were so ideal for rabbits to prosper (and the rabbit catchers never wiped out the source of their income) that by 1950 damage to agriculture and forestry crops was so serious that acts of parliament designated rabbits as a major pest. Various methods of mass destruction, such as gassing warrens, were introduced. However, relief was at hand. In 1953 myxomatosis struck the rabbit population, and in only two years the numbers throughout Britain fell to one per cent of the mid-century peak. The virus is passed on by rabbit fleas and the symptoms are horrid to behold. The animals become almost blind and barely mobile, and the lingering death takes anything from 10 to 18 days. By the mid-1970s many rabbits appeared to have an inherited ability to survive the disease, but any return to the devastating numbers which ravage the country in the 40s and 50s would not be welcome. But to be spared the horrific sight of infected rabbits creeping about the fields in abject misery will be worth a modest increase. In some areas this increase has already happened, often due to individuals living above ground, but a recent outbreak of a new virus infection has struck rabbits and may reverse the trend. S.L. | TOP | |
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THE
RABBIT