I`ve been so upset!
Got up this morning to find Gimli wasn`t in his hutch.
When we had a good look around the garden, we found a trail of clumps of his fur, leading right into a fox hole at the top of the garden.
My kids are going to be so upset, he was such a beautiful, friendly, funny rabbit.
He used to come in for a play at teatime when the kids get home. And they loved him to bits.
Here`s a couple of recent pics of our gimmers
http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w202/lyndix/?action=view&current=julyo7001-1.jpg
http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w202/lyndix/?action=view&current=24mayo7002.jpg

omg! that is awful so sorry for you hun! x

I`ve been bawling my eyes out!
He was an absoloute sweetheart!!

foxes do this kind of thing , i keep my rabbits in a locked barred and bolted shed at night , I am sorry for your loss hun

So very sorry to hear what happened to Gimli, you must feel so upset and i would have been too, i hope your little boys are not to upset for to long :sad:

Aww no! I am so sorry! one reason why my piggers are kept indoors

Sorry to hear this.
Saying anything about rabbits being outside + foxes seems to go in one ear and out of the other until something happens.
Again, sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry to hear this Lyndix :(

Run free Gimli :(

Edit: This is Lotti - GC didn't log out :rolleyes:

I'm really sorry, what an awful thing to happen. He was a beautiful rabbit.

awww bless your poor bunny im so sorry for you and your kids.
:(

Oh - I'm so sorry to hear about Gimli- his photo shows he must have been a stunning bunny and this would've been a terrible shock to you.

For future, is there anything fellow forummers can suggest on how to keep outdoor rabbits safe from attack? For some people, keeping their furries indoors may not be an option, or they may not have access to a secure shed. Is there anything can be done to make hutches more secure?

Buy a decent hutch (not saying the OP's hutch wasn't decent..), one thats not made of ply wood and doesn't have 1 inch gaps in the mesh, put fox proof locks on hutches, don't leave rabbit roaming around garden all night (or all day for that matter if unsupervised, I think some people should start taking more notice of this) and don't leave your rabbit in a run that doesn't have mesh on the bottom or at least something that isn't earth/soil. A rabbit will dig, and dig, and dig until it gets out of any enclosed space (mine tries to dig her way out of my house :rolleyes: ). A fox can dig too, and if it can't jump over your six foot fence or wall, it could probably dig under it.

I really would not recommend keeping a rabbit outdoors, and this is one of the main reasons. I'm really sorry to say this, but if you already have a rabbit who must be kept outdoors then so be it. Add some fox proof locks, and save up for a big shed for your rabbit to keep it safe. If you're going to buy a rabbit and keep it in an exposed hutch, then shame on you. Get another pet, like a hamster or something. No one buys a dog if they don't have a garden and the ability to walk it, so why buy a rabbit if you have to keep it in a hutch and every night (and sometimes day) for the rest of its life, risk it meeting an end at the mouth of a predator or in the hands of extreme weather fluctuations or fly strike.

/End rant.

I think the 'shame on you' is a tad harsh. Whilst I agree that they shouldn't be in an exposed hutch (we used to keep outdoor rabbits and have chosen not to have rabbits while they cannot be indoor rabbits), I don't think that on the whole anything reflects this.
Pet shops always have rabbit hutches outside their shops which are clearly to be kept outdoors and not particularly to be kept in a shed, the general public belief is that rabbits are kept outdoors in hutches.

Rather than shaming those who do keep rabbits outdoors I think there should be more public awareness and education on why not to keep them in exposed outdoor hutches.

Ps. I didn't have a secure garden when I bought Takara :D (She did go for regular walks though)

I think the 'shame on you' is a tad harsh. Whilst I agree that they shouldn't be in an exposed hutch (we used to keep outdoor rabbits and have chosen not to have rabbits while they cannot be indoor rabbits), I don't think that on the whole anything reflects this.
Pet shops always have rabbit hutches outside their shops which are clearly to be kept outdoors and not particularly to be kept in a shed, the general public belief is that rabbits are kept outdoors in hutches.

Rather than shaming those who do keep rabbits outdoors I think there should be more public awareness and education on why not to keep them in exposed outdoor hutches.

Ps. I didn't have a secure garden when I bought Takara :D (She did go for regular walks though)

Thanks for this Lotti - I dont have rabbits anymore, I was thinking of other bunny anf GP owners and what they might do to protect theirs - but I was going to say same- all the pet shops sell the same types of hutch and these are clearly designed for outdoor use, otherwise they wouldnt be so bulky and unimaginatively designed (or stained with that hidseous red/brown woodstain). I couldnt have an indoor rabbit with my barmy bengal and daft dobe anyway - both are too giddy to live with small free-roaming furries - and even house rabbits need an outdoor run, to ensure they dont become Vit D deficient...

Pet shops sell rabbits that are four weeks old.
Need I say anything more? Rabbits are supposed to stay with their mother until they are at least eight weeks...
Pet shops also sell muesli mixes for rabbits that are less than 10% fiber and far too rich in protein.
What my post meant was that when you buy a dog you do your research. You don't just feed it the cheapest food on the shelf and walk it when you can be bothered to. If people took the time to research what its really like to keep a rabbit then maybe rabbits would no longer be the most neglected pet in the UK. Keeping any animal in the wrong circumstances is neglect - and most rabbits are neglected, even when people think they are doing the right thing. www.rabbit.org. Research would help, but if no one listens, how are we supposed to change the way rabbits have 'always' been kept?

And I know you didn't have a secure garden, but you still fulfilled all of T's needs and made sure she was safe.

And a hutch that looks bulky might not be. Foxes will stop at almost nothing to get at their dinner, and a rabbit makes a hearty meal. Thin plywood is no good at all when a hungry fox comes into your garden.

My rabbit is outdoors and has been for years. He is in a pet shop bought hutch too. His hutch is covered with a taupaulin which is uncovered in a morning and then covers all of his cage, even the front of it and tucks underneath it at night. We have had no end of foxes and cubs go through our garden yet they have never even tried to get at the rabbit (surely we'd notice damage to the hutch if it had). Even though the foxes I have seen are the skinnest i've ever seen! The cats around here follow the foxes up and down the road :huh:

I have had a few rabbits, the one outdoors now, bubble, and the others were all indoors, Bubble is the longest surviver.

lyndix i'm so sorry to hear about your poor Gimli.

I've never had a rabbit, and much as I think they are lovely I don't think we'd ever have one - but I can imagine that Little One may ask in years to come. So, I was interested to read all about the risk they face from foxes - I had a vague awareness but never realised how determined foxes can be until bobbybunny explained it. Thank you bobbybunny, IF Little One ever asks for a small pet in the future then we certainly won't be getting a rabbit as there's simply no room to keep it indoors.

lyndix i'm so sorry to hear about your poor Gimli.

I've never had a rabbit, and much as I think they are lovely I don't think we'd ever have one - but I can imagine that Little One may ask in years to come. So, I was interested to read all about the risk they face from foxes - I had a vague awareness but never realised how determined foxes can be until bobbybunny explained it. Thank you bobbybunny, IF Little One ever asks for a small pet in the future then we certainly won't be getting a rabbit as there's simply no room to keep it indoors.

Glad to hear it (not that you won't be having a rabbit, but that you won't be having one and just sticking it outside to be a fox's main course (wow. Insensitive. But true. Sorry to the OP.) Good on you. :D

Buy a decent hutch (not saying the OP's hutch wasn't decent..), one thats not made of ply wood and doesn't have 1 inch gaps in the mesh, put fox proof locks on hutches, don't leave rabbit roaming around garden all night (or all day for that matter if unsupervised, I think some people should start taking more notice of this) and don't leave your rabbit in a run that doesn't have mesh on the bottom or at least something that isn't earth/soil. A rabbit will dig, and dig, and dig until it gets out of any enclosed space (mine tries to dig her way out of my house :rolleyes: ). A fox can dig too, and if it can't jump over your six foot fence or wall, it could probably dig under it.

I really would not recommend keeping a rabbit outdoors, and this is one of the main reasons. I'm really sorry to say this, but if you already have a rabbit who must be kept outdoors then so be it. Add some fox proof locks, and save up for a big shed for your rabbit to keep it safe. If you're going to buy a rabbit and keep it in an exposed hutch, then shame on you. Get another pet, like a hamster or something. No one buys a dog if they don't have a garden and the ability to walk it, so why buy a rabbit if you have to keep it in a hutch and every night (and sometimes day) for the rest of its life, risk it meeting an end at the mouth of a predator or in the hands of extreme weather fluctuations or fly strike.

/End rant.


You don`t know anything about me or how I treat my animals.
"Shame on me" for having a pet bunny for the kids, one which like all of my pets, is kept in excellent conditions and spoilt rotten.
What happened to our Gimli is very sad.
But I didn`t expect for a minute that I`d get some jumped up ***, come on the forum and start spouting their gobs off at a time when everyones upset.
If you can`t say owt nice then, say nowt!!:rant:

End of my rant

GL note : can we please remember this is a FAMILY forum.

bobbybunny, I wasn't arguing particularly but people don't do their research when they buy a dog.

How many dog owners have I come across who can't work out why their dog is bouncing off the walls despite the fact that they have far too much protein in their diet?
How many dog owners keep dogs tethered outside with the old style kennel as their only shelter?
How many people buy a dog thinking it looks cute then find out they knew nothing about the breed and rehome it?

It's not just happening with rabbits, it's all animals and pet shops are businesses, as long as they make a profit type of thing... so yes I agree, they do lots of things wrong but that doesn't make it the owners fault- many people think pet shops should know what they're doing.

Katkins comment about bulky I think meant that it would look ludicrous indoors so it's obviously meant for outside.

The difference is, dog people are doing their best to educate people getting dogs on a dog's proper needs but I see a lot more about dogs than rabbits so can only assume there's not a lot of education in rabbits going on.

My point was, prospective owners need more education - not to be blamed when they've done everything they thought they were supposed to and it didn't work :(

So sorry to hear about Gimli. I'm paranoid about foxes as I have two rabbits that are in a hutch in the garden and I do worry about them. However you do what you can to protect them. We have a cover that goes over the hutch at night time, and the hutch is supposed to be fox proof although I'm not sure how much.

How does a fox get into a secure hutch? They must be pretty dextrous to unbolt a door or unfasten a padlock?

I've never kept an animal that had to live in a cage outside, so I'm a bit nonplussed as to how they break in?

edit to say: I was led astray by my curiosity about foxes. I'm very sorry that your lovely pet has been killed lyndix. I should have said that and not assumed it would be taken as read - sorry! :(

Katkins comment about bulky I think meant that it would look ludicrous indoors so it's obviously meant for outside.

:(

Yes, that's what I meant- is it any wonder rabbits are still kept outdoors (and usually alone rather than in pairs) if the pet stores steer prospective owners down that path. Personally, I dont see what the problem is with having an outdoor hutch provided there is an exercise run and/or the rabbit(s) are handled and allowed to run indoors.

And if there is a problem with the foodstuffs petstores are selling maybe the experts should be lobbying those stores to rectify the situation - I (naively so it appears) assumed that the rabbit foods on offer at my local pet superstore offered a healthy balanced rabbit diet.

Now, back to poor Lyndix-who'se original post told us all how devastated she felt about the loss of a beloved family pet.

It seems we have forgotten about this and are now giving a lecture on the dos and don'ts of rabbit ownership.

It would be much more helpful to give Lyndix our condolences and to suggest how other pets might be saved from a similar fate in future - bearing in mind that we are not all in the position to have indoor bunnies or the luxury of a shed to keep them safe.

non of it matters all that does is that a family pet that was well loved has been taken from us. all there is to say is that we hope Gimli is at rest and out hearts go out to Gimlis friends and loved ones


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks to all you guys that have offered support and condolences.
My kids were heartbroken. Especially my 5yr old lad, it was only when he started getting tired that he realised gimli wasn`t coming back, and there were lots and lots of tears, he also had problem sleeping last night(he never has probs sleeping). It was very upsetting for everyone, even our german shepherd Amber just keeps lying by the side of his hutch, whining, and mooching around the house looking for him.

Foxes can be determined buggers who can figure out how to open seemingly 'foxproof' doors/locks etc. Ours were protected by a mental cockeral and a fixed bolt on the door, but neighbours lost entire henhouses of chickens after the wily foxy fox figured out how to get open the henhouse door.. Never underestimate their abilities!

.

I agree Studwall and my heart goes out to Lyndix and her kids as it must be terrible trying to console the children.

I agree that the subject needs to be raised about the dangers of foxes to rabbits. I dont agree that all rabbits should be houserabbits either. I have kept Rabbits and chickens and had a fox problem, but if the housing is kept secure, then there is no reason for a rabbit not to live outside in their natural environment (sorry to those houserabbit folk) but that is my view.

I dispair at the tiny plywood hutches on sale outside petshops, but I think we need to educate would be rabbit owners on the comfort and security of their housing rather than slam them for keeping a rabbit outdoors.

Well said Gemima, I totally agree.