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Natural castration

22 10:01:12

Question
Are there any stats on wild rabbits castrating younger males?  I cannot imagine a rabbit letting himself complete neutered in a fight.  If they were so injured, do they usually live or die?

Answer
Hi Tom,

I really don't have much information on wild rabbits.  I also doubt that there would be to many published studies of such things.

From my understanding wild rabbits live in warrens.  I believe they all live together in a family type situation.  To tell you the truth I don't know if there would be a dominant male that would fight off other males such as you would see with lions and other wild animals.  

Domestic rabbit males will fight if put together and the first place they go is the testicles.  Domestic rabbits are a totally different species than wild cottontail rabbits and they have a different hierarchy of sorts and different social status.

My guess and this is only a guess would be that if they are not part of the particular warren that they would fight not only males but other invading females.  Because all rabbits do not handle stress well I would assume that if they were fighting that they would not have a very good chance of survival.  Rabbits have a built in defense mechanism where it seems they can just choose to die.  More likely they have a heart attack but I have seen wild rabbits literally drop dead if you look at them cross eyed.  There is no animal that would intentionally let itself be castrated.  Animal instinct is to reproduce for the survival of the species.

I am not really sure what you are looking for but if you want information on wild species you may want to try one of these experts:

http://www.allexperts.com/el/Wild-Animals/

I would suggest Dana Krempels.  She does have experience with wild rabbits and hares.  There seem to be a few others on the list that have a better understanding of wild animals.

I am sorry that I can't help you.  I have no experience with wild animals other than to refer people to wildlife rehabilitators when they come to our clinic.

Good luck finding your answer.

Pam