Outdoor Rabbits and Predators

Rabbits are natural prey animals. This means that in the wild, they serve as a food source for a variety of predatory animals. This is the reason rabbits are built for speed and running; they need to be quick to escape being caught! If you keep your domesticated rabbit in a hutch in the backyard, there is a chance it will be susceptible to injury or death from predators.

In the wild, predators of rabbits include coyotes, bobcats, cougars, hawks, eagles, snakes, wolves, foxes, raccoons and many others. If you live in a rural area and you keep your rabbit in your backyard, your bunny is susceptible to harm from practically all of these predators. In a suburban area, coyotes, bobcats and raccoons are still a problem. Even if you live in a city, raccoons can come up through storm drains and harass your bunnies. And let's not forget that domesticated dogs and cats can also be rabbit predators!

If you plan on keeping your rabbit outdoors at all times, you need to have a sturdy and secure rabbit hutch. The rabbit needs a place where it can go inside the hutch where it can't be seen from the outside. Rabbits have been known to die from pure shock or fright (without a mark on them!) caused by a raccoon or other animal climbing around or near their hutch. It is thought that being trapped so near a predator without having a place for them to flee to is too stressful for the rabbit to bear.

Ideally, you want to bring your rabbit inside your home, at least during the night. Purely outdoor rabbits tend to live shorter lives due to the wide variety of potential hazards, including weather and predators. If you can't find a way to accommodate your bunnies inside your house, the optimal solution is to provide a rabbit hutch for your bunny that makes him feel secure as possible. You don't want to wake up in the morning and see that your poor bunny has died of fright from a lurking predator!