Funny Bunny Business

Bunny slippers, Bye Baby Bunting, bunnies in general just bring warm snuggly thoughts to my mind, especially since we have been experiencing one of the coldest southern winters in my memory. Nevertheless, the habits of rabbits (in Europe according to a recent study) are changing. Instead of bunching up (I prefer the term snuggling) in complex burrows in rural areas, rabbits are moving to the cities and living more solitary lives in smaller rabbit warrens. The closer rabbits are to the city the less populated and smaller the burrows become. Cities provide a better food supply thanks to humans feeding them deliberately and offer easy access to shrubs and other vegetation. Cities are warmer so the need to snuggle for warmth is reduced. Burrows don’t need multiple exits (think of the old Bugs Bunny cartoons) because the threat from predators is reduced in cities too. Rabbit populations in rural areas are declining and cities are serving as new habitats for them.

Now it’s time for me to slip into my bunny slippers.