Coincidentally, late February or early March also marks the start of the breeding season for these creatures, and that wild reputation is likely tied to mating rituals [source: Yarrow]. As winter comes to an end and spring approaches, the male rabbit begins his search for willing females to mate with after the long winter dry spell. When he finds a female who's willing to do the deed, they engage in a bizarre courting ritual, which can take many forms.
Some rabbits show their interest by running and racing, others leap or hop and some even take to boxing or fighting [source: Pennsylvania State University ]. When the deed is done, the male may stick around for a few hours before he's off in search of his next conquest.
Male rabbits are polygamous, and dominant males will attempt to breed with all willing females on their turf, which could span as much as 25 acres [source: University of Maryland Cooperative Extension ]. In areas with large concentrations of rabbits, that's quite a bit of courting going on. Humans who witness these rituals can easily wonder why the rabbits seem to be losing their minds, leading to the common belief that rabbits go mad at the start of spring. At the onset of spring, rabbits notice the change in weather.
Winter coats are shed and wild rabbits grow more excitable. This is irrelevant for domestic pets. Domesticated rabbits have less logistical concerns surrounding mating. This is why you can buy baby rabbits from pet stores all year round. The same will apply if you have pet rabbits inside your home. Spaying your female will drastically reduce the hormones in her body.
This means she will not enter heat. Your rabbit will be calmer and easier to manage. This goes double for male rabbits. All of the aggression and frustration associated with untapped sexual potential will evaporate.
You are merely helping her become the pet she wants to be. Domesticated rabbits have no biological need to breed. Spaying or neutering your rabbit eases this burden. You are removing unwelcome biological urges that serve no purpose in your pet. Cancer risk, especially in female rabbits, drops sharply after the procedure.
In many respects, it is irresponsible not to spay or neuter at your earliest convenience. Female rabbits do not experience periods in the same way as humans. This means that your pet will not bleed while in heat. If she does so, it suggests that something is wrong. Your pet may be producing discolored urine due to something she has eaten. No rabbit should ever bleed freely. This suggests your pet has injured herself in some way.
Painful is perhaps too strong a word to use. There is no doubt that a rabbit in heat will be uncomfortable, though. A biological urge will drive her. Preventing her from acting upon it will make her life miserable. She needs to mate in order to feel comfortable.
If she is unable to do so, she will not be able to rest. The same applies to a male rabbit. Spaying or neutering your pet is not mean. Domesticated rabbits want to be pets. Eradicating unwelcome wild instincts helps them to achieve this goal. An intact male is required to impregnate a female rabbit. Insemination is essential, just like with any mammal. It takes two intact rabbits with the male mounting the female.
The same cannot be said about false pregnancy , though. A spayed female can experience a pseudopregnancy if mounted by an intact male. However, the potential for a surging rabbit population because of their prolific breeding is greater than what happens in actuality because of a few factors. Most notably, about 44 percent of cottontail rabbits die in their first month of life, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Only 20 percent to 25 percent live for a year after birth. That means many rabbits never produce offspring of their own. One reason rabbits have become infamous for their ability to produce so many offspring may be because of a well-known math problem involving the Fibonacci sequence that dates back to , according to Live Science.
In a book on mathematics, mathematician Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, who later came to be known as Leonardo Fibonacci, posed a brain-teasing question along these lines: A male and a female rabbit are placed in an enclosed area.
After a month, they mature and produce a litter with one male and one female. That pair then goes on to have another litter and so on. After a year, how many rabbits would you have? The formula used to derive the answer is called the Fibonacci sequence, and the rabbit problem is well-known and still used in math texts today.
Gradually increasing day length in spring spurs the onset of reproduction. Males chase each other to establish dominance. In encounters between the sexes, a female may at first face off in a threat posture and strike out at a male with her forepaws. As courtship proceeds, the two sexes may jump over one another, or one rabbit may leap into the air while the other darts beneath it. Breeding occurs from late March into August and September; during that span, a healthy female may produce several litters of young.
Before giving birth, a mother cottontail makes a nest by digging a depression in the ground about 5 inches wide and 4 inches deep. She lines the depression with grass and fur from her body, then adds a covering of twigs and leaves.
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