Springtime is BUNNY SEASON.
Just look around!
When the new green grass begins to grow, and flowers start to appear, that's when you'll
see a lot of new baby bunnies!
This is why many cultures feature rabbits in springtime celebrations.
Another reason we associate bunnies with the season of new growth is because they reproduce
so quickly.
{popping sounds}
"Bunny" is not an official scientific name - it's more like an affectionate nickname.
We call both rabbits and hares bunnies.
Rabbits and hares are in the same FAMILY, but they ARE different.
How can you tell the difference between a rabbit and a hare?
Hares are bigger than rabbits, and they have different-looking ears and feet.
Rabbits live in a warren - a series of tunnels underground with little rooms.
But hares usually live above ground.
Baby rabbits are blind and hairless, and they require a lot of care.
Hares are born with all their fur.
Their eyes are open, and they can hop around a few hours after they are born.
What about a jackrabbit?
Is that a rabbit?...
Nope, it's a hare, despite "rabbit" being in its name.
Look at his giant ears!
That's how the jackrabbit got its name.
It was given by Mark Twain, the famous author of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Twain saw those big ears, and said "It looks like a jackass rabbit!"
Jackass is another name for donkey.
See the resemblance?
Over time, the name got shortened to jackrabbit.
Some rabbits live in the wild, and some rabbits are pets.
There are more than a dozen SPECIES of rabbits in the wild.
And there are more than *200* different BREEDS of domesticated rabbits.
Domesticated means tame.
These rabbits live on farms or are kept as pets.
There is a wide range of sizes and colours of domesticated rabbit - from the tiny pygmy
rabbits like Britannia Petite or Netherland Dwarf to the biggest rabbits like Checkered
Giants and Flemish Giants.
Some special rabbits are ALBINO.
That means they don't make MELANIN - that's the same pigment we have that that makes your
hair darker and gives your skin and eyes their colour.
So albino rabbits are all WHITE, and they have PINK eyes.
Here's a kind of rabbit that has extra fur on top of their heads!
... It kind of looks like they're wearing a wig.
In contrast, most wild rabbits look something like this.
You can find wild rabbits in many parts of the world.
Most rabbits live in North America.
But you'll also find many rabbits in South America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia,
and parts of Africa!
Rabbits can adapt to almost any environment.
In many places, rabbits were introduced as pets.
They accidentally escaped into the wild, and reproduced like crazy.
This has caused environmental problems, especially in Australia and New Zealand, where rabbits
are considered pests.
In high numbers, rabbits can clear out all the vegetation in an area.
They continue to eat any little new plants that pop up, and pretty soon, the land is
completely barren.
That's what happens if an animal doesn't have many natural predators.
In North America, rabbits have MANY natural predators.
They have to look out for hawks, falcons, eagles, owls, foxes, coyotes, wolves, raccoons,
cats, dogs, snakes…yeah, rabbits are on the menu for MANY predators.
And rabbits don't have many natural defenses.
They do have strong nails and teeth, but bunnies are usually smaller and weaker than their
predators.
Instead of fighting back, they usually hide or run away.
Lucky for the wild rabbits, their brownish fur acts as camouflage, helping them blend
into their surroundings.
Rabbits rely on their senses to tell them a predator is coming.
See their big eyes?
Rabbits have excellent vision, and can see almost 360 degrees - that helps them look
out for predators, even overhead.
Bunnies also have a keen sense of smell.
Rabbits' noses are constantly twitching, picking up the scents of predators...and food.
Rabbits' big soft ears also help them LISTEN for predators.
If a rabbit hears something suspicious, they will thump the ground to alert other rabbits
of danger.
{cracking branch sound} gasp!
What was that?!!
Run away, little bunny! {use rabbit thumping footage here}
Rabbits and hares have a special way of moving… they hop!
Their powerful back legs let them leap great distances compared with their size.
Some rabbits can hop about 2 feet up in the air.
Others can reach up to 4 feet!
And horizontally, they can jump an amazing 15 feet!!
The longest bunny jump recorded was over 7 times the rabbit's body length.
By comparison, the world record for the Human long jump was less than 5 times our body length.
We don't know for sure whether rabbits are NOCTURNAL or CREPUSCULAR.
That is, whether they are naturally more active at night, or during the dusk and dawn.
It seems that rabbits can change their schedule and adapt to better avoid predators.
They sleep about 8 hours a day.
The rest of the time is spent eating.
We call this GRAZING.
Cartoons often show rabbits eating carrots.
But in the wild, they don't get to eat very many root vegetables that grow underground.
Rabbits mostly eat grass and hay.
They also enjoy leafy greens.
Rabbits don't eat meat.
They're vegetarians!
Another word for vegetarian is HERBIVORE.
Eating all that grass makes a rabbit want to settle down and have a family.
A male rabbit, called a buck, mates with a female rabbit, called a doe.
After about 30 days, they have a litter of usually 4 to 8 baby rabbits.
For about two weeks, the mother rabbit stays away from the nest except for feeding them
at dusk and dawn - to help keep the baby rabbits hidden from predators.
By the time a rabbit is around 3 months old, they can start raising their own family of
baby rabbits.
And rabbits can reproduce MANY times each year.
You can see how colonies of rabbits quickly grow bigger and bigger, and overpopulation
can be a danger.
That's why it's important that prey animals have predators.
Did you know there are some special places where you can visit a TON of bunnies?
There's a small island in Japan called Okunoshima where there are many, many rabbits.
HUNDREDS of rabbits!
In fact, some people call it Usagi Shima, which means Rabbit Island.
The wild rabbits on this island are protected, and NO DOGS OR CATS allowed.
Just bunnies.
If you can't make it to Japan, many other places have bunny petting events.
If you do go to a petting zoo, remember to be very, very gentle.
Bunnies are very small compared to us.
Now it's time for a bunny parade!
How many of these do you know?
Pygmy rabbit
American Fuzzy Lop
European rabbit
Desert cottontail
Belgian Hare
Lower keys marsh rabbit
Brush rabbit
English Spot
Cashmere Lop
Arctic hare
Snowshoe hare -- ooh, this one turns white in the winter!
Clever bunny.
French angora
Blacktailed Jackrabbit
Giant angora
Harlequin
Jersey Wooly
Lionhead
New Zealand Red
Mini Lop
Teddy Dwarf
Tri-Colour Dutch
Okay, we'll stop there but we could go on!
...and on!
And on!
Have you seen any wild bunnies where you live?
Do you know anyone who has a pet bunny?
Tell us about it in the comments!
Now it's time to watch another video about animals.
You get to pick!
It's up to you.
Totally your choice.
The OCTOPUS video is really good.
They're ALL really good.
You'll see!
Now pick your next video!
For more infomation >> Frisbee/Hat - Duration: 10:04. 
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