Battle scarred rabbit

[Okanagan]

Check out the ears on this small dude!  Every "part" in his hair is also a cut or scar and when he straightens out, there is a patch of hair missing from his flank, hidden the way he is sitting in this pic, plus a fresh looking scrape that shows some red on his left side away from the camera. He's the local variety of a small wild rabbit, a smidge larger than a man's two fists.

This rabbit has stayed pretty much in our yard for the past four days.  Several of them live in our suburban neighborhood, but normally we seldom see them.  He's been acting sick, laying around in the sun, letting people approach pretty close, hunching up in a tight ball.  Today he looks like he is doing better.

I wondered if he was poisoned.  A few days ago I poisoned some broadleaf weeds in our lawn, giving each plant a shot of  spray that kills weeds but not grass.  Then I got to looking at him two days ago and noticed the scars, and when he was lying on his side taking in sun, it looked like fresh blood on his left side.  Maybe he is recovering from the claws of a house cat or one of the coyotes or raccoons that I see once in awhile roaming through here at night.

He likes to eat the emerging buds from plants that I poisoned.  I watched him eat some today.  The plants are curled up but not yet dead.  He sat most of this afternoon against the south foundation of our house, the warmest place around even though it has been cloudy today.  I took the pic a few minutes ago, leaning out of a second floor window above him. 

Dunno what ails him but hope he survives.  He's got some history!  Kind of like JohnP!

[pitw]

Looks like frozen ears almost.  What is the LD50 of the chemical you used?  I doubt it was high and the bunny would have to eat a pile to hurt it.  I'll go with the meat eater theory for now.

[FinsnFur]

I'm thinking rabbit stew

[nastygunz]

Break out the Crosman!

[Okanagan]

Looks like frozen ears almost.  What is the LD50 of the chemical you used?  I doubt it was high and the bunny would have to eat a pile to hurt it.  I'll go with the meat eater theory for now.

Can't find LD50 anywhere on the label.  It is Ortho WEED B GON.  It says harmful if swallowed.  Works on weeds but not nearly as fast as the label says and doesn't kill some, just kind of warps them for awhile till they recover.

Yep, I've seen calves with ears frozen off like that, but can't imagine any wild animal freezing his ears in this climate, especially with the mild temps we had this winter.

That looks like a healed cut running down his nose.  Maybe he's been in a fight with another rabbit. 

I killed a coyote all cut up one time, fresh from a fight with another coyote.  The best evidence was a coyote fang broken off against its spine and still lodged there when I skinned it.  It perfectly matched the same tooth on the one I was skinning.  Female during the mating season.

We killed a cougar that was all scarred up like that as well.  It had been in a terrific battle with another cougar, cut up all over but especially on its face.  I've got pictures of it somewhere, mouth torn from corner clear down toward its Adams apple, bit through its lip, chest cut, plus old healed wounds from earlier battles.  Mountain lions fight a lot, at least in our country.

But how much fight can a rabbit handle?  I wouldn't expect him to survive enough ruckus to scar him up that much. 

[riverboss]

Jim a rabbit that tough would surely kick a 60 amp breaker on a crock pot!

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[slagmaker]

I saw a familys pet rabbit get his feet mauled off by a dog. The owner couldn't catch him so he left him be. A few weeks later he was hopping around the yard. He lived several years after that.

[FinsnFur]

Jim a rabbit that tough would surely kick a 60 amp breaker on a crock pot!

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LMAO You might be right

[Okanagan]

Jim a rabbit that tough would surely kick a 60 amp breaker on a crock pot!

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Great comment!