↓ Continue Reading To See This Amazing Video
Rabbits are subterranean mammals that can be found in a variety of habitats, including wetlands, tropical forests, and deserts. The open spaces found in fields, parks, and gardens are where you’ll find the European rabbit. In grassland settings where the soil enables them to dig large, well-drained burrows.
Rabbits are common as well where there are hedges or small sections of forest to provide concealment and cover. One skilled rabbit that was exploring a field in Lincolnshire, UK showed off his incredible fight or flight reaction.
Danny Carter, 38, has been training animals, namely golden eagles, from the age of sixteen. As Danny was exploring with his birds in Lincolnshire, a wild hare got a bit too close and nearly got caught by one of the eagles. The footage is absolutely breathtaking and is something you have to watch more than once!
Mammals and birds, both alive and dead, make up the majority of an eagle’s diet. Medium-sized mammals and birds including rabbits, hares, grouse, and ptarmigan make up the majority of the live prey. Gulls and other seabirds are part of the diet of coastal birds. Larger objects are considered carrion.
The golden eagle is not just the fourth-largest species of eagle but also one of the largest predatory birds on earth (10th). The size advantage of the golden eagle helps it catch prey. The golden eagle in this video is flying around as he spots the lonesome rabbit.
An Unlucky Attempt
It takes the eagle just seconds before he’s soaring down in an attempt to snatch up the small mammal. Believe it or not, rabbits can jump as high as four feet in the air and leap 10 feet in front of them. This stunning footage from Carter shows just how impressive the rabbit can be when outwitting a predator.
As the eagle takes a final swoop to grab the rabbit with its talons, the bushy-tailed animal jumps over the eagle and does a backflip before landing safely on the field. The eagle is so out of sorts after the interaction, that it flies off without any rabbit for dinner.
A comment under the video reads as if this was an Olympic sport. It says, “Just incredible. Never seen anything like this before. Give that hare a score of 100/100 for artistry, technique, and degree of difficulty. That aerial roll reminds me of today’s bull leapers and gymnasts. Especially seeing the head-on high-speed run-up. Incredible to think that this evasive maneuver, which seems so skilled and to require intense practice, is probably just instinctual.”
We have to give the bunny a 10 out of 10 as well. To react that quickly and efficiently is something not many rabbits know how to do. This time, it saved his life!
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I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
