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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing bunnies. Bunnies are also known as rabbits who are also known as hares. Hares are typically larger than rabbits and have longer ears. They live on their own and are born ready to run. When born, they have fur and open eyes. They can run within a few minutes of their birth. Rabbits are smaller, form groups, and their babies are born with closed eyes and no fur. Technically speaking, hares are classified in a single genus in the rabbit family, but this video will focus on the group as a whole.

There are over 60 living bunny species. They roam natively throughout the world on all continents except Australia and Antarctica, though they’ve been introduced to the former with negative impacts on local fauna. While some of us may associate bunnies with grasslands, they can survive in all kinds of environments. Bunnies live in deserts, tundras, swamps, woods, mountains, and more. Some rabbits live underground in self constructed burrows while hares live above ground and depend on their fast feet to escape danger.

Predators to bunnies include foxes, raccoons, eagles, owls, snakes, and more. In the wild, bunnies may only survive a year or two, though some species can reach almost a decade in age. Those that live in groups benefit from their family member’s white tails. When threatened, bunnies flash their tails to warn others of the danger. Bunnies also communicate by thumping on the ground with their large feet and grinding their teeth. They can also scream: [audio]. In size, they range from one to over four pounds (0.45-1.8kg) in weight and 8 to 20 inches (20-50cm) in length.

Most bunnies are herbivores but some also eat carrion. Like capybaras, they also eat their own poop! First they’ll eat plant parts like leaves, grasses, dandelions, and sometimes bark and twigs. After this is processed through their body it comes out green. This green feces, called a cecotrope, is re-consumed so it can pass through the bunny’s digestive system again and comes out much darker. This second stool is not eaten.

It may seem like a no-brainer to call these animals “rodents” but they aren’t! Like rodents, bunnies do not have canine teeth and they do have continuously growing incisors; however, rodents have only two upper incisors, or front teeth, while bunnies have four! So, while they’re quite similar to rodents, they aren’t the same!

One of the most iconic features of the bunny are its ears. Like African wild dogs, these are large and help with temperature regulation, though not all bunnies are built the same. Some, like this marsh rabbit, have comparatively shorter ears! Some, like the arctic hare, go through color changes throughout the year with their fur changing based on the season. There are also striped bunnies!

Bunnies are known for their high fecundity: they have lots of babies! Bunnies have multiple litters in a year. Hares gestate longer and give birth to precocial young who can run within their first few minutes of life. Rabbit kits take longer to develop outside of the womb, though their mothers have short gestation periods. Male bunnies fight each other over females, but something fascinating to note is that female bunnies are larger than males. This is abnormal for mammals! Mother bunnies only feed their babies once a day. This makes it more difficult for predators to find the litter.

For more facts on bunnies, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today. Thank you to our Patrons SpikeSpiegel93, Dad, and everyone else for their support of this channel! And thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!