wild rabbit or drop off?

[WannaBeFarmR]

Found this guy in my field edge/back yard this evening. He was just laying there, I caught him and put him in a crate in the barn with some rabbit feed water and hay for bedding. He was listless at first and I noticed he has a few wounds small scabs/puncture wounds scratches on his "lips" mouth, and nose and hair ripped out on his muzzle, head, neck, chest. I'm assuming something had a hold of him and he got away. He is also slightly underweight. After I put him in the crate he drank an entire dish of water and part of a 2nd dish right down. A few hours later he seemed more active and fearful of me. He sure looks like an eastern cottontail but he could also be a drop off former pet that just resembles a wild rabbit. How can I tell for sure?

 

[ILuvSheep]

I dont know what cotton tails look like, but looks like a pet to me

Arent cotton tails thinner and scruffier and, well, crazier wild eyed looking? XD

 

[Bunnylady]

Eastern Cottontails. There are several species of Cottontail rabbit; I don't know which might be native to your area.

Western Brush Rabbit

Desert Cottontail

Swamp Rabbit


(I collected all of these pictures from the internet, so there's a good chance they could have been tagged wrong, and the animal in the picture isn't the species identified!)

Native North American rabbits generally have long, slender faces. Ear length varies with species; the Desert Cottontail has significantly longer ears than the Eastern Cottontail, for example.

Wild rabbits vary quite a bit in size, too. The Pygmy Cottontail weighs less than 2 pounds, while the Swamp Rabbit may weigh more than 5 pounds.


My inclination is to think that what you have is a domestic rabbit. The eye looks a bit small in proportion to the head to me, and the head looks a bit more broad and round than any of the wild rabbits I've seen. How big is this rabbit? It's not easy to tell from the picture, but if he's say, as long as my laptop keyboard is wide when he's sitting hunched up like that, he's too big to be a native North American rabbit.

 

[lastfling]

I agree. That looks to me like a domestic rabbit that someone has abandoned.

 

[manybirds]

its owner probably let it loose because they didn't want it anymore and assumed it would be fine in the wild. it probably found your house, and being domestic, saw it as a source of food/water etc and dropped by

 

[WannaBeFarmR]

Any ideas on the breed mix in this little buck, hes about the size of a mini rex and I would guess close to being full grown...hes rather mature in the nether regions I noticed when I first caught him.

 

[manybirds]

Any ideas on the breed mix in this little buck, hes about the size of a mini rex and I would guess close to being full grown...hes rather mature in the nether regions I noticed when I first caught him.

with mutts of any species it can get really hard to tell. we have a neighbor with a dog that looks like spaniel/ boxer mix or something and you would swear he was part rotweiller/lab or something. he looks like he may have some chinchilla in him or maybe one of his parents is part flemish. alot of people with breed pets breed there very favorite mix pets so he may have as many as 8 different breeds in his back ground. i remember before we bred show bunnies we had a mix buck, he was english spot/flemish. he was english spot patterned but he was build like a new zealand. yesterday we had a neighbor drop off a mutt at our house thats alot like yours. sorry i know its not any help but its the best i've got. it dosn't really matter much if he's just going to be a pet, if you advertise him i would advertise him by his weight and color stating that he showed up at your house. i would probably get some wormer in him once he starts to look better, you never know what they pick up on the way. (i use a pee sized amount of horse wormer or if its available you could get wazine)

 

[ILuvSheep]

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4599803228520600&pid=1.7&w=227&h=149&c=7&rs=1http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4625607396557673&pid=1.7&w=194&h=146&c=7&rs=1

Eastern Cottontails. There are several species of Cottontail rabbit; I don't know which might be native to your area.

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4684761991545943&pid=1.7&w=240&h=153&c=7&rs=1http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=I5050345281290747&pid=1.7&w=243&h=153&c=7&rs=1

Western Brush Rabbit

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I5054056142930833&pid=1.7&w=199&h=148&c=7&rs=1http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I5023218255332524&pid=1.7&w=226&h=155&c=7&rs=1

Desert Cottontail

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4926766202160028&pid=1.7&w=168&h=147&c=7&rs=1http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=I4918730317104322&pid=1.7&w=221&h=147&c=7&rs=1

Swamp Rabbit


(I collected all of these pictures from the internet, so there's a good chance they could have been tagged wrong, and the animal in the picture isn't the species identified!)

Native North American rabbits generally have long, slender faces. Ear length varies with species; the Desert Cottontail has significantly longer ears than the Eastern Cottontail, for example.

Wild rabbits vary quite a bit in size, too. The Pygmy Cottontail weighs less than 2 pounds, while the Swamp Rabbit may weigh more than 5 pounds.


My inclination is to think that what you have is a domestic rabbit. The eye looks a bit small in proportion to the head to me, and the head looks a bit more broad and round than any of the wild rabbits I've seen. How big is this rabbit? It's not easy to tell from the picture, but if he's say, as long as my laptop keyboard is wide when he's sitting hunched up like that, he's too big to be a native North American rabbit.

Oooh i see! That top right one looks nearly identical, except eye size and general size

Cute bunny, glad he found you, he wouldve been killed !

 

[mama24]

Looks like a Tennessee Redback, which people around here use to train hunting dogs. That's probably what got him, too.

 

[bellasrabbitry]

To me the rabbit looks like a domestic rabbit, he doesn't have the characteristics of a wild rabbit. I'm not sure what breed he is, but his color is called chestnut (It looks very similar to the coloring on a wild rabbit). My guess is that he is a mixed breed rabbit that someone let go because they no longer wanted him.