Environmental problems

Rabbits have been a source of environmental problems when introduced into the wild by humans. As a result of their appetites, and the rate at which they breed, wild rabbit depredation can be problematic for agriculture. Gassing, barriers (fences), shooting, snaring, and ferreting have been used to control rabbit populations, but the most effective measures are diseases such as myxomatosis (myxo or mixi, colloquially) and calicivirus. In Europe, where rabbits are farmed on a large scale, they are protected against myxomatosis and calicivirus with a genetically modified virus. The virus was developed in Spain, and is beneficial to rabbit farmers. If it were to make its way into wild populations in areas such as Australia, it could create a population boom, as those diseases are the most serious threats to rabbit survival. Rabbits in Australia are considered to be such a pest that land owners are legally obliged to control them.

Classifications

Rabbits and hares were formerly classified in the order Rodentia (rodent) until 1912, when they were moved into a new order Lagomorpha. This order also includes pikas.

Order Lagomorpha

• Family Leporidae
• Genus Pentalagus
• Amami Rabbit/Ryūkyū Rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi
• Genus Bunolagus
• Bushman Rabbit, Bunolagus monticularis
• Genus Nesolagus
• Sumatra Short-Eared Rabbit, Nesolagus netscheri
• Annamite Rabbit, Nesolagus timminsi
• Genus Romerolagus
• Volcano Rabbit, Romerolagus diazi
• Genus Brachylagus
• Pygmy Rabbit, Brachylagus idahoensis
• Genus Sylvilagus
• Forest Rabbit, Sylvilagus brasiliensis
• Dice's Cottontail, Sylvilagus dicei
• Brush Rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani
• San Jose Brush Rabbit, Sylvilagus mansuetus

A French lop rabbit

• Swamp Rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus
• Marsh Rabbit, Sylvilagus palustris
• Eastern Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus
• New England Cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis
• Mountain Cottontail, Sylvilagus nuttallii
• Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
• Omilteme Cottontail, Sylvilagus insonus
• Mexican Cottontail, Sylvilagus cunicularis
• Tres Marias Rabbit, Sylvilagus graysoni
• Genus Oryctolagus
• European Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus
• Genus Poelagus
• Central African Rabbit, Poelagus marjorita
• Three other genera in family, regarded as hares, not rabbits

Naming

Rabbits are often known affectionately by the pet name bunny or bunny rabbit, especially when referring to young, domesticated rabbits. Originally, the word for an adult rabbit was coney or cony, while rabbit referred to the young animals. Coney was abandoned as a term for the animal after it was co-opted in the eighteenth century as a synonym for the word cunt, widely considered vulgar. [2]. More recently, the term kit or kitten has been used to refer to a young rabbit. Young hares are called leverets, and this term is sometimes informally applied to any young rabbit. Male rabbits are called bucks and females does.

Rabbits in culture and literature

Rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. The species' role as a prey animal also lends itself as a symbol of innocence, another Easter connotation. Additionally, rabbits are often used as symbols of playful sexuality, which also relates to the human perception of innocence, as well as its reputation as a prolific breeder.

Folklore and mythology

The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies.

• In Chinese literature, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon. Also associated with the Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year), rabbits are also one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese Zodiac for the Chinese calendar. It is interesting to note that the Vietnamese lunar new year replaced the rabbit with a cat in their calendar, as rabbits did not inhabit Vietnam.

• In Japanese tradition, rabbits live on the Moon where they make mochi, the popular snack of mashed sticky rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an usu, a Japanese mortar (See also: Man in the moon). A popular culture manifestation of this tradition can be found in the character title character of Sailor Moon, whose name is Usagi Tsukino, a Japanese pun on the words "rabbit of the moon." Similarly, Japanese-American Stan Sakai's comic book character Usagi Miyamoto from Usagi Yojimbo is an anthropomorphized rabbit who is a samurai, based loosely on Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

• In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometotchtli or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.

• In Native American Ojibwe mythology, Nanabozho, or Great Rabbit, is an important deity releated to the creation of the world.

• In the folklore of the United States, a rabbit's foot is frequently carried as an amulet, and is often used as keychain, where it is thought to bring luck. The practice derives from the system of African-American folk magic called hoodoo.

• In Central Africa "Kalulu" the rabbit is widely known as a tricky character, getting the better of bargains. ^{[citation needed}]

• In Jewish folklore, rabbits (shfanim) are associated with cowardice.

On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky and speaking its name can cause upset with older residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the quarrying industry, where piles of extracted stone (not fit for sale) were built into tall rough walls (to save space) directly behind the working quarry face; the rabbit's natural tendency to burrow would weaken these "walls" and cause collapse, often resulting in injuries or even death.

The name rabbit is often substituted with words such as “long ears” or “underground mutton”, so as not to have to say the proper name and bring bad luck to one’s self. It is said that a Public House (on the Island) can be cleared of people by calling out the word rabbit and while this was very true in the past, it has gradually become more fable than fact over the past 50 years.

Other fictional rabbits

The rabbit as trickster appears in American popular culture; for example the Br'er Rabbit character from African-American folktales and the Warner Brothers cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in a host of works of film, literature, and technology, notably the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; in the popular novel Watership Down, by Richard Adams; and in Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit stories. Also they appear as Rabbids in the Ubisoft game Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Urban legends

It is commonly believed that a rabbit, if injected with a woman's urine, will die if the woman is pregnant. This is not true. However, in the 1920s it was discovered that if the injected urine contained the hormone hCG, a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women, the rabbit would display ovarian changes. The rabbit would most likely be killed to have its ovaries inspected, but the death of the rabbit was not the indicator of the results. Later revisions of the test allowed technicians to inspect the ovaries without euthanizing the rabbit.

Trivia

• Rabbits are incapable of vomiting due to the physiology of their digestive system.[3]

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rabbit&action=history

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html