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do rabbits evolve

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:33 pm
by dog
been having some huge runs lately , was running the other day and was just telling my buddy how far one was run the last time out and he was looking at me like i was nuts , the next think we knew the dogs struck and that rabbit ran the same way , he went out about a mile before he turned back , dogs ran pretty much check free and i know they didnt switch rabbits because he came right back to within 50 yrds of where they jumped him , i run mostly open , reclaimed strip mine , grass fields with brushy draws and cattail swamps , seems like rabbits run a little further all the time , i think it is the habitat that they are in , the only real defence they have is distance out there , do rabbits learn these traitsover time , what ever happened to a rabbit running a couple hundred yrds and coming back

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:45 pm
by bodetis
i had my first experience this year with wood rabbits or some say swampers, i couldnt believe how much further they ran then cotton tails. and when it finially did circle back i didnt know wether to shoot it or get out of its way, they are huge! they may be on some wood boogers, they will run hundreds of yards before coming back!

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:52 pm
by dog
we had some big runs last season ,5 , 6 or 7 hundred yrds before turning back but these rabbits this spring are covering some ground , that was buy far the longest i have ever had , we found a hill about in the middle and watched the show , i loved it but it aint for the faint of heart , wonder how many dogs have been fried for running these kinda rabbits , most would think their dogs were on trash

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:53 am
by beaglerof4
They deffinetly run further here on our one property then any other I have ran on. It is a over grown thicket surrounded by creeks,swamps,and hardwoods. It's not unusual to get runs that last a few hours and will go way out of hearing distance. The last time I ran there we had to walk about 800 yards before we could just barely hear the dogs in the distance. Most of our rabbits stay within a few hundred yards but a few run really, really big.

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 6:09 am
by lebro
for us coal mine rabbits run bigger consistently than farm land rabbits. ithink they just have bigger unbroken habitat.

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 9:05 am
by Casey Harner
I call it adapting and not evolving. The rabbits you all are running is rabbits that have adapted to their surroundings and are comfortable running long distances. If the rabbits have the habitat to run big they will run big. BCBEAGLES, talks how his runs will lead to a 10 minute run to a hole. Is that called evolving, no its called adapting to one's habitat.

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:03 pm
by S.R.Patch
Rabbits still have a home comfort zone.
Bucks are roaming to breed all the does they can = big runs. Does stay close to the comfort zone and their holes = short runs.
Vast cover lets the bucks roam with more security to seek out the does. Less cover, the bucks range narrows and the does are easier found in the limited cover.imho

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:53 pm
by dog
wouldnt it be the opposite , the less cover there is the further they have to roam to find females , the stuff i run is pretty open and the last couple of years the average rabbit runs very big , if i had to guess , the average run last season was 500 or 600 yds before they start too turn back , this spring they have at the least doubled that distance , sometimes triple , they put distance between them and the dogs quick and then run just hard enough to stay out there , i watched a rabbit the other day the dogs jumped run across a field and up a hill for probably 300 or 400 yds and when he disapeared over the hill he was still running flat out , granted we run fast dogs but these rabbits arent waiting to get preasure before they start running , they are running like that off the jump and they have plenty of opportunity with the terrain to circle shorter they just choose not too , its been crazy, call it whatever , isnt adapting just a short term word for evolving

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 9:43 pm
by east80kennels
you boys are running buck rabbits and if the rabbit gets out of his territory then he will run where ever he can to get away from a hound, wouldn't you if you were being chased by somthing that was going to kill you? and yes buck rabbits are roaming greater distances to find a mate and when they do they find themselves in trouble sometimes. think about it a rabbit and a deer act a whole lot a like in many many ways breeding and territory and even stiring times.

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 6:23 am
by mybeagles
Rabbits evolve.....I was running one the other day and I wasn't sure if it was a fox or a rabbit. It was 5X larger than a rabbit and fur like a fox. I call them fabbits. I havent figured out what they eat yet.

Mybeagles

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 8:20 am
by dog
if they are buck rabbits that are out of their core area because of roaming , looking for females too breed then why are they circling back to where they were jumped ? i think the rabbits are changing

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 9:37 am
by warddog
Dog, curious of how much pressure is being put on the rabbits in your hunting area either by man or beast?

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 2:30 pm
by FreeHoller40
I know what you guys are talking about!!! I run alot on House Mtn. in Virginia and if anybody is familar with it its steep!!!! We normally run rabbits and the stay around the fields and don go up the mountain in the woods... but the woods are so thick and green right now! I was running right before dark yesterday and they jumped it on one side of the mountain ran over 3 different ridges in a straight line, at first my though was fox or yote but i took off with them and they plum wore me out!!!! I hate running over ridges lol it brought in my mind of coon hunting pulling ridges and stuff is for th birds lol... I caught up with them finally and I see Ruger way ahead of the pack like normal now adays and I am think what are you doing boy! and he was on the line and he mad a sharp right turn and there came on buck rabbit right at me with Ruger man 2 ft from catching him and back up the ridges they go! Here I am now cussing because I have to walk all the way back over there lol I had just got my buddy to go around to pick us up but we scratched that idea and headed up the ridge again... finally making it to the top , there still stroking it and I see them baring left and going down into the rocks and to be honest I believe that was the first time I was glad to see ole cottontail go down! On the behalf of things though I am excited for my buddy because his pup started with them but he had alot of trouble keepking up so I suppose he will be put in with our slower dogs for awhile... ;)

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 7:31 pm
by dog
they get ran but i havent been seeing many at all runnin since rabbit season went out , as for preditors , no more than anywhere else

Re: do rabbits evolve

Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 8:59 pm
by Casey Harner
the only way I see rabbit evolving is when they grow wings and fly away from the dogs, or vi versa the dogs are being chased by rabbits and the rabbit ended up catching the dogs, now thats evolving. Evolving is when the entire species change behavior. Again to me a rabbit that runs big is just trying to survive. He has to adaptation. JMO.