RABBIT

THIS POST IS FOR ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are eight different genera in the family classified as rabbits, including the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), cottontail rabbits (genus Sylvilagus; 13 species), and the Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi, an endangered species on Amami Ōshima, Japan). There are many other species of rabbit, and these, along with pikas and hares, make up the order Lagomorpha. The male is called a buck and the female is a doe; a young rabbit is a kitten or kit.

DIET : Rabbits are herbivores that feed by grazing on grass, forbs, and leafy weeds. In consequence, their diet contains large amounts of cellulose, which is hard to digest. Rabbits solve this problem by passing two distinct types of feces: hard droppings and soft black viscous pellets, the latter of which are immediately eaten. Rabbits reingest their own droppings (rather than chewing the cud as do cows and many other herbivores) to digest their food further and extract sufficient nutrients.

Rabbits are often known as bunnies to people around the world. Rabbits have been a part of human culture for 1000 years, and are kept as pets worldwide. Rabbits are clearly the species which has been domesticated as you would be hard pressed to find someone keeping a hare as a pet. .

The most obvious difference between rabbits and hares is how their kits are born. Rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless. In contrast, hares are born with hair and are able to see (precocial). All rabbits except cottontail rabbits live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares live in simple nests above the ground (as do cottontail rabbits), and usually do not live in groups. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares have not been domesticated, while European rabbits are both raised for meat and kept as pets.More than half the world's rabbit population resides in North America. They are also native to southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, some islands of Japan, and in parts of Africa and South America. They are not naturally found in most of Eurasia, where a number of species of hares are present

Domestic rabbits can be kept as pets in a back yard hutch or indoors in a cage or house trained to have free roam. Rabbits kept indoors are often referred to as house rabbits. House rabbits typically have an indoor pen or cage and a rabbit-safe place to run and exercise, such as an exercise pen, living room or family room. Rabbits can be trained to use a litter box and some can learn to come when called. Domestic rabbits that do not live indoors can also serve as companions for their owners, typically living in a protected hutch outdoors. Some pet rabbits live in outside hutches during the day for the benefit of fresh air and natural daylight and are brought inside at night.

Meet the world's biggest Easter bunny, Darius the enormous Continental Giant, who weighs a whopping three-and-a-half stone and is 4ft 4in.

Darius, aged three, munches through an incredible 12 carrots a day to keep up his strength and fuel his amazing growth spurt. He already held the title of world's biggest rabbit but has now smashed his own record after vets measured him a month ago and realised he had had grown another inch.

It is a double celebration for Darius who shares his birthday, on Easter Sunday, with his beloved owner Annette Edwards. Ms Edwards, from Worcester, has bred big bunnies before but Darius is the largest in the history of rabbit-kind. The 60-year-old, who also holds the Guinness World Record for Oldest Page Three Model, said: 'He is from a dynasty of giant rabbits and now he's smashed his own record and fittingly his birthday falls on April 8 - so he really is the Beast-er Bunny. 'He was officially measured by the vets last month and it's now been confirmed he's even bigger than before. Darius is the son of former record holder Alice and the grandson of earlier owner of the crown, Amy. Ms Edwards, who splashed out £10k on surgery and diets to turn herself into a real-life Jessica Rabbit, said she was stunned by Darius who just kept growing. She said: 'I think it's nice that the record is being kept in the family. 'Obviously his mum Amy died a couple of years ago and that was upsetting, but I think she would like to know her son had taken the record. 'People ask me what my secret is, but there really isn't one other than just treating them well and really looking after them. A spokesman from Guinness World Records said: 'This is the biggest bunny in the world.
'Darius is bigger than all the previous record holding rabbits.
'It's unbelievable that a rabbit could grow to over 4ft long.'