Are Rabbits Crepuscular?
The short answer is: Yes, Rabbits are crepuscular. This means they are most active in the hours just before the sun drops below the horizon, and just after the sun comes up in the morning.
Why are rabbits crepuscular? That’s a hard question to answer, there are a variety of factors that contributed to this genetic adaptation. Life is hard for the average wild rabbit. As a member of the leporidae family of mammals, they have historically been a prey animal.They are hunted by cats, foxes,badgers , snakes, stoats, dogs,raccoons,ferrets, hawks, sparrows, falcons,kestrels, owls, and many more bird of prey. Because rabbits are so low on the food chain, small advantages that allow rabbits to survive and procreate tend to spread throughout the population through time. Crepuscular rabbits had a marginally better chance of surviving and thus over time this pattern led to many crepuscular rabbits. Why did this provide an advantage? It provided an advantage because many predators – particularly birds – tend to be diurnal or nocturnal . This means that they are most active during the day or during the night respectively. Sadly for the hunted bunny rabbit, quite a few of it’s predators are also crepuscular – such as the crepuscular cat.
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Funnily enough, this is no where near their greatest survival mechanism, because it ignores one of the most potent predators on the planet earth…humans! It’s true that rabbits have a tenuous relationship with humans. Many people raise them as livestock for food, and some people hunt them. In some places rabbits are regarded as a carrot chomping, garden devouring, flea ridden nuisance. Yet none of that matters quite as much as the fact that many people think rabbits are cute. While certain segments of the rabbit population are killed off by humans, others are protected by the most cunning and powerful species on planet earth. In fact, many rabbits are bred to have genetic qualities that make them even more desired by human beings. This is an accidental evolutionary blessing for the species, as those rabbits that are loved and protected by humans are very likely to survive into the future.
It’s easy to forget the impact that humans have on evolution. We are creatures designed to conjure up abstract thought. We often use that thought to shape and mold our environment to suite our own personal tastes. We share this environment with other creatures, and in turn it’s their environment that changes too. Individuals in these animal populations that not only survive, but thrive in these man made environments, will continue to reproduce. Those that do not adapt to man’s changes die out. Will the rabbits most effected by humans retain their crepuscular traits? It’s hard to say, it will likely be quite random unless rabbits are purposely bred to have internal rhythms that match that of humans. However without predators affecting the domesticated rabbits genes, they could quite easily lose their crepuscular traits as there is no longer a selective pressure for them.
To sum up and re-answer the question: Are rabbits crepuscular: Yes.
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