Escaping Rabbit

Question
We have a male rabbit and we keep him outside.  We let him come out of his cage during the day and run around in our backyard. (It has a privacy fence all the way around.)  Every couple of weeks or so he digs his way out of the yard.  We've been fortunate enough to retrieve him each time and also plug up the holes.  The funny thing is that he will do this for a couple of days and then stop.  There are many places he could dig if he wanted to but he doesn't.  Could he possibly be detecting female rabbits outside our fence during certain times?  He has not be neutered.
Thank you
Laurie  

Answer
All rabbits, intact or not, are diggers.  He's just doing what he's born to do.

I have no idea what he's detecting as his sense of smell is a thousand times greater than ours.  There are so many scents and smells back there it could be anything.  Many rabbits just love to dig.

Please be aware I am not an advocate of keeping domestic pet rabbits outdoors.  They are not able to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous plants like wild rabbits can, and they have no natural escape places to go (ie underground warrens) if a hawk or feral cat or raccoon (or whatever) comes after them.  Plus you are inviting them to a whole host of additional health problems from fleas, flies, ticks, mites and bacteria that are not much of a problem with an indoor house rabbit.

Lee