Let me set something straight
There is no such thing as dominance in animals. Rabbits don’t show dominance, tigers don’t show dominance, wolves don’t show dominance, bears, pigs, hamsters, fish, birds, whales, nothing. Dominance is a human invention, it’s because we anthropomorphise animals and we love dominating.
Let me say that again: There is no such thing as dominance, dominating behaviours, submission or the need for animals to rule over each other.
It is us that puts that upon animals, we are to blame. Stop anthropomorphising animals.
Here’s the truth
A man named L. David Mech wrote a paper titled Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs, it was about a group of captive wolves, their behaviour and social structure. It mentioned words like “alpha”, “dominance” and “submission”, and of course humans became aroused by the words (they didn’t finish reading the article at all), and applied those words to everything.
Science Norway puts it much politer than I ever would saying: Wolf packs don’t actually have alpha males and alpha females, the idea is based on a misunderstanding. The researcher who introduced this term tried to clear the confusion up two decades ago, but the myth still lives on.
According to Scientific American:
The idea that wolf packs are led by a merciless dictator, or alpha wolf, comes from old studies of captive wolves. In the wild, wolf packs are simply families.
It turns out that it is a myth
In an interview, L. David Mech said:
“What would be the value of calling a human father the alpha male? He’s just the father of the family. And that’s exactly the way it is with wolves.”
“It turned out all that stuff was mostly wrong,” Mech said. Yet, although field biologists no longer use the terms “alpha” and “beta”, they have proved too useful for humans to drop—now we use them in relation to our own groupings and conflicts. The New Yorker published the whole story in its article entitled: “The Myth of the Alpha Wolf: The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it.”
Rabbits aren’t wolves, I hear you say…
No they aren’t, but if the most fearless family of wolves don’t have a dominance structure, then why would rabbits?
Rabbits don’t have it wrong, we do
It is understood that rabbits do things because they are very territorial, seek dominance and have other behavioural traits that have a very human meaning. Let’s get one thing straight… Rabbits are not humans and that means we cannot put human meanings on rabbit behaviours – that is, after all, anthropomorphism.
However, it seems that for eternity that is exactly what happened. We see a trait and make assumptions about it because of the attached behaviours. We assume that we understand what it is, we assume.
Don’t assume, because it makes and ass out of u and me.
I was told not long ago that people believed that horses had particular traits that were clearly understood to mean particular things, and it wasn’t until someone realised it didn’t mean that at all that things started to change. From those new studies, people could see the behaviours for what they really were. That’s exactly the point of this, to let you see that we understand rabbit behaviour completely wrong and we need to adjust our assumptions. The rabbits don’t have it wrong, we do.
Moving on to…. territory
“Rabbits are very territorial”
What bunkum.
territorial
/ˌtɛrɪˈtɔːrɪəl/
adjective
Relating to actively guarding and defending an area, district or locality and the resources within it.
In the wild, rabbits live in a colony. Colonies can be from a few rabbits to over 30. They look after each other, they groom each other, they graze together, they snuggle close to each other in warrens. They do display behaviours like chinning, chasing, mounting and urinating when it comes to mating season in spring, they can even get nasty when threatened.
Compare this to a true territorial animal. Our favourite, the wolf. You’re probably thinking, rabbits and wolves are completely different… now you’re getting it, but I’m still going to explain it.
Wolves live in packs. A pack is two or more wolves. They live in one small, well defined area that they hunt in. They will protect that area aggressively and kill any intruder. They do not want anyone in their territory, and if someone comes by they will pursue it. They will protect their family unit to the best of their ability. Boundaries are marked by pheromone scent. They will allow female wolves to raise young when there is little competition for food, but they will kill young wolves if the pack is overcrowded to aim to keep the population maintainable.
Territorial animals protect, fight to the death and kill for food.
Lions are territorial. Tigers are territorial. Killer whales are territorial. Brown bears are territorial. Cougars are territorial. Cheetahs… Black Mambas… Leopards… Hippos… Bobcats… Dingoes… Eagles… Alpacas… Tasmanian devils… Crocodiles… Foxes… Ocelots… Chimpanzees…
Rabbits do not, and never will display territorial behaviours as the animals above do – and if you notice, it seems like territorial animals are carnivores or omnivores – where are the herbivores?
So why do we still think rabbits are territorial?
Let’s make one thing clear, the rabbits mentioned here are domestic rabbits, not wild ones.
Let’s dive into it deeper:
The Bishops of Stortford Veterinary Hospital‘s website says this:
In order to begin to understand why a rabbit may be aggressive you have to look at both wild and domestic rabbits lifestyles and put yourself in the rabbit’s position. Wild rabbits rank towards the bottom of the food chain as they are prey to many predators (including humans). This explains why they are always on their guard for the first sign of danger and can react adversely when threatened.
If a rabbit senses danger it has a choice of 3 options, commonly known as the three Fs. It can either freeze in the hope that the potential danger will go away. If this fails the next option is to take flight and run away from the danger. If this fails and the rabbit is caught, then its last line of defense is to fight. Rabbits in fighting mode are formidable opponents; they will strike with their front feet, often growling and using their very sharp teeth and claws to inflict as much damage as possible in an attempt to escape.
So, according to this, rabbits are prey. We all know that. Also rabbits follow the three Fs to a tee, Freeze, Flight, Fight. They will always freeze first, then run. If they are chased down and caught, i.e fighting mode, they fight to escape, not to kill.
Answer me this, how can a prey animal be territorial? When a fox can come in and annihilate a colony of rabbits over night. Rabbits don’t fight back, they scatter to protect themselves, but if they do fight they likely to still end up dead. Rabbits are food, they are not predators.
It’s clear that rabbits only become aggressive to fight and protect themselves if there is no other choice.
If they are aggressive, they are scared.
It’s all about resources
Again on the same Bishops of Stortford Veterinary Hospital site it says:
Some pet rabbits that are perhaps feeling that their territory is insecure, may display aggression towards their owners when they try to feed them, clean them out or put their hand in the cage to stroke them. This form of aggression is the often linked with possessions; if the rabbit thinks we are going to take something away from them, they will defend it.
Yes and no. Their behaviour is not territorial, it is resource driven. If your rabbit is aggressive towards you, they think you’re taking a resource away. Give them presents, give them treats BEFORE you make a change to their resources.
Imagine you’re a rabbit in a colony, and you have to protect your resources. Then something comes in and takes those resources away. You’d get scared, anxious and mad. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
If a rabbit is happy with their food, toys, pen etc, and another rabbit comes along and looks like it might take it all away (or dare I say it, share resources), the original rabbit will become aggressive. As a kid, I did the same thing. I didn’t want to share my things. Other kids were dumb and didn’t deserve to touch, look at or even breathe on my stuff. That’s what rabbits are like too.
Don’t take away your bunny’s resources unless it knows it will be replaced with an equal value item before you remove the original resource.
Incorrect information from a veterinary clinic
This is off topic, but a great example of incorrect information. It is on the same Bishops of Stortford Veterinary Hospital webpage it says:
WTF? pick the rabbit up by the scruff of the neck and the butt? Who the F would follow that information? This is information on a veterinary site – get your information correct, people. This is disgusting.
Then it says:
Never lift a rabbit using their ears or the scruff of the neck and don’t attempt to wrestle with the rabbit if you lose control. These actions will cause the rabbit to avoid all contact with you next time.
Contradictory, much?
Hierarchy
None of the hierarchy information is correct, even though this is what we have been taught. Scientists are now finding that hierarchy, dominance and territory are human concepts put upon animals to let us think we understand them better, that we have a connection to them because that’s the way we act in situations.
Rabbits do not dominate, do not have a hierarchy, and definitely don’t have a territory. Even though rabbits seem to have those behaviours, the way we understand them is wrong. We understand them from human perspective, not a true animalistic one. People often look at animals and anthropomorphise them, don’t be one of those people.
Everything animals do, rabbits and wolves alike, amounts to two things… resources and jealousy.
Putting humans in the mix
Studies have been conducted about rabbit interactions with humans, and there are many different outcomes. But one thing is clear, humans are considered the brains of the outfit. Humans dictate when it’s meal time, grooming time, cleaning time, play time… you name it, we control it. That way, bunnies have an easy life knowing they don’t have to struggle to survive.
If your bunny is displaying aggressive or dominance tendencies, they are simply jealous and they don’t know how to tell you that they are, and what they are jealous of. You have to make sure you listen to your bunny.
Rabbits understand and mirror the emotions of their owner. If you are happy, they will be too. If you are sad, they will be concerned about you but not be able to show it. If you are ill, they will sense it and behave accordingly.
Rabbits have an emotional bond with their humans. But humans need to prove that they are trustworthy to gain their bunny’s affection. Bunnies have to learn that you will not hurt them and once they do, they will become your companion. They become attached to their owners in a similar way to a cat.
Rabbits may understand human facial expressions, because most of them are a universal language, but they read the emotions and energy behind it rather than the expression itself.
Bunnies can learn words and their meanings, but it’s believed that they don’t respond to the name, but rather the pattern of words and the tone you use. That’s also why rabbits like listening to music. The tone of your voice is important to human-bunny bonding. But remember that bunnies have personalities and may choose to ignore you.
What is jealousy?
They say that envy is wanting the attributes or possessions that someone else has; jealousy is feeling threatened, protective or fearful of losing something to someone else.
According to BunnyHugga.com rabbits experience plenty of different emotions; happiness, jealousy, anger, fear, grief, love, irritability and insecurity.
Jealous behaviour occurs when one rabbit feels that the other is treated better. They all want to be the centre of your attention at all times. Rabbits can get jealous when you focus on another rabbit, and this can lead to behavioural issues.
We must manage rabbit jealousy carefully, as a bunny who feels inadequate will become difficult to handle. We must make sure to spend equal time with each bunny, because it is not funny or cute when they start to misbehave.
The smallest thing can make bunnies jealous, like a change in a routine, a visitor, giving a loved toy to another rabbit, feeding a rabbit more than another or hand feeding one rabbit more than the other. If the attention a rabbit gets drops dramatically, they know it and they won’t like it.
You are the best thing in your bunny’s world. You are the only thing that matters to them. So, if you change your behaviour, they will see it. It’s your job to make sure that they always feel safe, happy and valued. They don’t like being second best.
Bunnies can be jealous of human partners, new babies, affection that you give other pets, or even plants. Bunnies believe that they have come into your life to make you feel loved and cherished and nothing should take their place. You have to make sure that you give enough time to your bunny before you spend time with others.
Nothing is as important as your bunny… that’s what they think anyway…
If your bunny is jealous, they can become difficult to live with. The first time they feel jealousy can damage your bond with them. Rabbits don’t give unconditional love like a dog, you have to earn their love, and respect the bond they have with you. You have to work to maintain their love, and it’s a big job, especially if you have more than one bunny.
Signs of jealousy
- Nudging you with their nose
- Grunting
- Run away
- Keep our of your way (dodge you)
- Keep our of your way (dodge you)
- Destruction of anything and everything
- Aggressiveness
Signs you have offended your bunny
- Your rabbit looks at you, and when you catch it’s eye, it looks away. This says that it’s mad at you.
- Giving you the side-eye. This is daring you to do something to fix the problem, but it must be worthwhile.
- Silent treatment. Turns away from you and looks over their shoulder. Bunny doesn’t want to know you. You no longer exist in their world.
- Runs away from you, like they are scared, but you know they aren’t. This is letting you know that they are upset and don’t know what to do to get way from you.
Just be firm and fair. Make sure you don’t take the rot and give your bunny attention. Just make sure you don’t make any other bunnies jealous in the process.
You can also change the subject, so if your bunny is in it’s pen, for example, give it free roam time or give it another toy (resource). Your aim is to get it’s mind off what it is thinking about.
Bunnies have an built-in timer, they know if one bunny got a longer cuddle than they did. Make sure you don’t short-change a bunny.
Love your bunny, that is the only language that they truly understand. It’s important to make your bunny comfortable. It’s good to learn their language, and most of it is very easy to understand because they are always trying to communicate with you. Bunnies are not a low-maintenance pet. They are highly emotional and let you know exactly how they feel all the time. Make sure that you meet their needs and they will be a beautiful family member.