Habitats

Part eleven how rabbits transform the landscape.

Without rabbits, much more of our downland and cliff tops would be a mass of bramble and hawthorn scrub- not the short, flowered-studded turf that is so characteristic. Rabbits suppress the growth of shrubs by nibbling the growing shoots, but they tend not to eat older shrubs, so established thickets remain. These provide the rabbits with shelter from hungry buzzards, but they give cover to hunting foxes. Nibbling rabbits are very damaging to crops, so farmers try to fence off their fields. Cliff tops are not suitable for crops because of exposure to wind and salt spray, so rabbits are usually tolerated along coastal strips. By their close and constant grazing, rabbits crop the grass as short as if it had been mown. Short turf favours the growth of low growing or creeping plants such as vetches and trefoils, which would otherwise be swamped by long grass and shrubs. These plants attract many butterflies, such as the common blue. The butterflies feed on nectar and lay their eggs on the plants, which serve as food for their caterpillars. The short turf is also highly suitable for other insects, especially ants. The insects in turn attract many species of birds- skylarks for example, common in open country.Rabbits will feed mainly at night, but in undisturbed places will graze by day. Turf near a burrow may be cropped very short, but thistles are avoided.