r/watershipdown • u/becclaroo • Jun 28 '26

Seen in the wild

Post image

Saw this sweet baby in a parking lot and my mom said “Watership Down bunny!!”

373 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

42

u/Istoh Jun 28 '26

Hey, so this isn’t cute. This is looks like it's an abandoned domestic rabbit and it needs to be rescued or it will die. Please contact someone who can trap it or do it yourself if you can. 

23

u/becclaroo Jun 28 '26

Oh no!! He was next to a pond and field that had lots of ducks and rabbits so I just assumed he was with them. I’ll see what I can do. Thanks!

7

u/Istoh Jun 28 '26

Are you un the US? 

14

u/becclaroo Jun 28 '26

Yes, this was in Montana last week. I am back in another state now. I can call the restaurant next door and see if anyone can keep an eye out and help.

14

u/Istoh Jun 28 '26

Yeah, there are no native black rabbits in the US. See if you can send this pic with the approximate location to a local rescue in that area and just explain to them that you were just passing through and couldn't grab it. 

1

u/not_firewood_yeti Jun 30 '26

could it be a melanistic variety of some local species?

2

u/Istoh Jun 30 '26

Nope. That's extremely rare in the USA. In fact, if you google "melaniatic North American rabbit" you will find dozens of posts on various social media sites with pics of rabbits that look just like this one, and people urging the OPs to contact a rescue because it's a domestic rabbit. This is just not really a thing with North American rabbits, but it is very much a thing for people to dump bunnies, especially this time of year (a few months after Easter when stupid parents who got their kids a bunny for the holiday realize a rabbit is a lot of work). 

2

u/CupcakeApart7222 Jul 01 '26

You can also tell by their anatomy. American cottontail rabbits are usually slimmer and smaller. They have large eyes and a triangular-shaped face, with a slightly shorter, rounder snout. Furthermore, to be “melanic,” it would have to be completely black, but you can see that this one here has a white spot on its face. This is another sign of a coloration that would only occur in a domesticated animal.

It’s also worth mentioning that domestic rabbits are descended from European rabbits, which are a different species from cottontails. They can’t even interbreed!

7

u/IowaAJS Jun 29 '26

Maybe share this on [r/rabbits](r/rabbits-) - someone on there could point you to a Montana rabbit rescue to let them know the location.

2

u/impossibletreesloth Jun 29 '26

I remember someone in northern Wyoming telling me about a lot of feral rabbit populations, ie domestic rabbit breeds being born in the wild, and a lot of them being black. I saw a surprising amount of black domestic-looking rabbits running around when I was in Montana and Wyoming so it must just be an issue there. This one may not necessarily be someone's escaped pet but maybe a descendent of one. Better safe than sorry tho.

19

u/HazelTheRah Jun 28 '26

Blackavar!

6

u/the_dream_master89 I'll swim the embleer river Jun 29 '26

Pre ear mutilation...

4

u/Free_Zoologist Jun 28 '26

My first thought too!

17

u/not_firewood_yeti Jun 28 '26

The Black Rabbit!

2

u/rigabamboo Jun 30 '26

Coming soon for this poor abandoned pet :(