Do Rabbits dig holes?

[phiferpharm]

I got something digging small holes everywhere. The holes are various sizes, the largest are 3-4 inches deep and conical in shape. Here is a picture, but I don't know if it is detailed enough to help.

 

[Mendonsy]

It is more likely to be skunks. They dig holes like that looking for grubs and moles.

 

[mikim]

armadillos dig like that for the same reason

 

[HarryN]

I say armadillos too!

 

[dusty3030]

Dillers x 3!

 

[KevT]

From the size and shape I agree plus it is the season for them around here. Look at all the road kill, Last month it was skunks, but whatever it is, it ISN"T a turtle!!! If you get my drift. Was working on some site clearing for a utility company around here and had to report finding 3 nests. It delayed the project 3 months (turtle wranglers don't seem to be in any hurry) and cost the Utility company $45,000 to have them relocated.

Huh, No Sir, I have not seen any turtles on my property in the 11 years I have lived here...

 

[Bird]

Doug, the answer to your question is "Yes"; rabbits do dig holes. But they dig them for a nest to have their babies or to dig under a fence, etc. So I agree with the other guys that the holes you found are not likely to be by rabbits.

When I was raising rabbits, I learned a number of things about them that I never knew before and suspect many do not know. Rabbits are among the world's worst mothers. They do not pick up a baby to move it as dogs, cats, and many other mammals do. If a baby gets out of the nest, it'll die unless a human saves it. So the wild rabbits have their litter in a hole in which a baby that starts to climb out, will roll back to the bottom with the others. A mother rabbit has 8 teats, so if she has a litter of more than 8, some will die from lack of nursing. I always tried to have at least 2, and preferably more, does have litters about the same time, so if one had more than 8, I could move some of them to another doe with fewer than 8.

 

[FentonFarmer]

Hello,
the title of this thread here in Australia would be similiar to someone asking if a bear visits the woods for their ablutions (family friendly version). Rabbits will dig small scrapes like that to access the sweeter roots of the plants. When they burrow the tunnel tends to be more steep sided and obviously deeper. Here they will sometimes dig an exploratory hole about 6 inches then move on, maybe looking for softer soil.

Assuming your rabbits are like our southern ones they should be out grazing just on dawn and dusk, so if you do spot them they may well be the culprits. That's when we try for them with the .22 or air rifle. Spotlighting after dark works well also, but cannot remember the legalities of this in the states.

On an aside dropped my little man off at kindergarten the other morning. Someone had bought 5 albino rabbits for the kids to experience. My little man, " They'd be easier to shoot at night Dad!" Cue mortified looks from surrounding hippy mothers. Rural life versus town life moment at its best.

Good luck with you quest. If it is rabbits try to get onto the population early as they will live up to their reputation for breeding. For us every 7-9 rabbits means one less sheep in the paddock. Given one pair can become hundreds in a year we like to keep on them.

All the best,
BR

 

[Pixguy]

Yes, rabbits do dig holes for their young and this proof in my lawn in SW Florida about 6 weeks ago. Two young bunnies that unfortunately didn't make because mom never returned during the day due to our 50lb dog.




I also had my front lawn dug with about 20-30 holes just like yours and it was Dillos. Killed the grubs and eliminated the holes.

 

[Bird]

Spotlighting after dark works well also

Riding on a front fender of a 1946 Chevrolet through pastures at night with a .12 gauge shotgun worked pretty well, and it was even better a few years later when a buddy and I both had convertibles; one would drive while the other stood up to shoot over the windshield. When I was growing up, we ate every rabbit we could find.