Mysterious disappearance of pet rabbit - who done it?

[mears]

We have had 2 rabbits (Tango and Humbug) for 4 years (got them from soeone else when they were 2 yrs.). Dh built an enclosure for them so that they had the freedom to go in and out of the hutch at will. They also love to run about in the garden. We have a long garden surrounded by brick walls - about 41/2 feet high. The garden faces onto the school grounds - lots of grass.
At night we usher them back into the enclosure so they are locked in. Tango can be a bu**er to catch and last week we couldn't get her but found the 2 of them in the hutch in the morning.
Anyway - I went out last night to put them in and couldn't find Tango - I reckoned she was hiding in the bushes so just left them.
Today there was absolutely no sign of her at all. Humbug was in the hutch. We all hunted the garden for her but to no avail. I think it is unlikely she was stolen as she can be difficult to catch.
Could a fox jump into the garden over that height of wall? Are they common in the town? There is no sign of a struggle?
What about a dog or a cat? What do you think is the most likely? Anyone know what animals like to eat rabbits?

I know this is a ridiculous thread really, but I hate the thought of some animal prowling in our garden. Children are pretty upset. A wanted poster has been drawn. Don't really want to say to them she probably is 'no more'.

I must admit I am pretty sad myself....

Mears ... I hate to say this but it might well have been a fox ... they are very common in towns ... and can jump fences of that height ... they are also very cunning (not just a thing in stories!!)
Did you find any evidence of , sorry to say this, but of blood or anything anywhere?
Could Tango have gone into next door's garden somehow? Have you knocked on all doors up the street?
Sorry, not much help but hope you find him soon XXX

No chance of getting into neighbours gardens because of the walls all the way round. I think she has been snatched by some horrible animal. No sign of blood though although there was a tuft of white fur on the compost heap. Wish I had put them in the hutch earlier - I definately feel guilty over this one

Our rabbit was stolen in similar circumstances. The boys that took him climbed over some high fences, took him out of his run, closed the run up and left. My kids were heartbroken. Luckily we put up posters for it's return and another neighbour discovered who had taken the rabbit and returned him. Really p**d me off. And the mum of the son who did it? Couldn't have cared less, was too busy trying to absolve herself of responsibility. We've moved now thank goodness. I hope you find it mears.

We have a rabbit and he has dug himself a warren in the garden, we only found this out on close inspection after we thought we had lost him and then the next morning he was out in the garden playing. This happened a few times.
Maybe he has done something like that.
Either way I hope he returns safely, I know how attached kids get to their pets.

Mears, what a shame to loose a pet, it is always sad isn't it? I'm afraid to say that foxes are really common in towns and cities these days, and I don't think they have much trouble getting over fences. Also, we have had a few cats over the years, and they could all catch a rabbit, no problem, and easily jump a wall. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings

Dd thinks that the rabbit has just decided to leave home. Keeps asking questions but I think it is best not to tell her that Tango was probably something's dinner!

My cats, when I lived at home, used to pinch the neighbour's guinea pigs. It was all a bit embarrassing really. Not sure if they would have been up to munching a rabbit, but you never know.

Hope you find her mears - it might be worth looking round to see if there are any obvious burrows etc.

Hi Musica - we checked out all the areas in the garden that had signs of a burrow - poked sticks dowm to make sure she wasn't there.

Dd was going on again about how she couldn't understand how tango had got out of the garden. I told her gently (!) that we thought Tango had been taken possibly by a fox.

She said 'Oh, well. She was getting old and will be really happy eating grass in heaven'.

Seems we worry unnecessarily at times about our children's reactions to things - I think I am the most traumatised...

Mears - did you ever find him? I was thinking of building an enclosure for our two and reading your message has really put me off - I would hate to think of one of ours just disappearing.

Jaybee - if you build an outdoor inclosure put mesh on the floor too, quite wide mesh though so it doesn't hurt their feet, but with holes too small to squeeze through.

That way, they can nibble the grass, but can't tunnel out of the enclosure.

Thanks Mum2Toby - they have a run already which has wire at the bottom and they sometimes have the run of the garden (but only when I am in the garden too) - I have rabbit proofed the edges by burying wire mesh at the bottom of the fences so I am not really worried about them escaping just don't like the idea of something jumping over the fence and carrying them off. I thought an enclosure would be great for them as their run isn't that big and as the garden shrubs and plants mature they are getting a pain to catch.

A friend lost SEVEN guinea pigs on Christmas evening, last year. She is terrified it was a fox, and they were eaten, but I am convinced they were stolen. She was traumatised, too, Mears.

I've solved all those problems by having a house rabbit!

Mum2Toby - How do you stop them nibbling wires. One of mine is good in the house and is litter trained and I have often thought about them living indoors but I daren't leave him in the house while we are out in case he nibbles the wires - how do you get around this?

Jaybee - we have a hutch in the house for him and he only gets out when we are there. He's stopped chewing wires but has taken to ripping off wall paper! He knows not to now and he's quite good. I could NEVER leave him out when we go out, he'd blow himself up!

Thanks - now stop talking about rabbits and go and buy yourself a pregnancy kit!!!!

fear

Jaybee - don't worry about the enclosure - it is definately a great idea to give rabbits more freedom. My problem was that I had let them run around in the garden and hadn't managed to get them back in before going to bed one night.
Tango has never returned - Humbug (her sister) doesn't seem to care less

My friend's children lost their two bunnies to next door's Dalmation dog. The garden was like a blood bath and had white fur strewn about for miles. Thankfully, she spotted the carnage before getting the children out of the car. The dog was able to get the rabbits because the enclosure was open at the top; I guess that will have netting over it now, as well.

We had a dwarf rabbit who lived indoors. He was very cute. He died last year at almost 9 years old, which, according to the vet, is a Guinness-Book-of-Records age for a bunny.

Suedonim ... we had a dwarf rabbit too when I was little ... he was the sweetest thing. He wouldn't live in a hutch and lived in the living room. He slept behind the sofa ... my mum only worked out when we moved house that he had gnawed through the back of the sofa to make a cosy bed for himself with the stuffing! He was house trained too ... he used to do his poos on a square of newspaper that my mum put down for him ... I once dropped a table on him and broke his leg ... but the vet put a splint on him and he hobbled around quite happily.
When we moved to England my mum gave him away to friends and then we found out that they gave him to the local petting zoo because he chewed their curtains ...

PS ... mears ... any luck on Tango??

I can't believe how many mumsnetters are rabbit owners!! My mum bought me a rabbit and a guinea pig for my 30th birthday, to my horror. I absolutely ADORE bunnies and had kept a couple when I was a child, but had decided against getting them as an adult because of all the cleaning up a conscientious pet owner has to do. I don't know what my mum was thinking, and with hindsight, neither does she!

Anyway, Hoppity the bun and Scruffy the GP couldn't live together - though that had been the idea - because Scruffy was "victim" material and Hoppy could sniff the fear and used to nip him. So on day four of having them we had to buy another hutch, water bottle, feeding bowl, etc, etc. After worrying endlessly about them being kept in smallish hutches, we built a run (four pieces of garden trellis wired together and filled in with chicken wire!) and put them out as often as we could, but the strain of keeping them cleaned out and given fresh greens twice a day was considerable. We didn't have a pet shop nearby, so I had to make long tube trips lugging huge bags of sawdust, or had to nag Dot until she'd drive me to the pet shop(I never felt that it was fair for her to be landed with all this, as her mum wouldn't have done anything so daft!)

Postnatal depression set in with a vengeance after the birth of ds and we resolved to rehome Hoppity and Scruff, but every time we talked about it or made the calls, I'd just be a weeping mess and we kept postponing the dreadful deed. Finally Hoppity succumbed to one bladder infection too many (involving us having to give him antibiotic injections, and cleaning his bits while being viciously kicked...) and we had him put down - cue MANY more tears.

Scruffy, however, is still going strong, no doubt fortified by all the organic carrot peelings (he won't deign to eat carrots as they are; they have to be served up in peelings!) and bags of endive and radiccio salad we feed him. Sigh. At least I've found a farm delivery service for all his sawdust, straw and hay requirements. But if anyone ever thinks of doing something similar for their child's 30th: DON'T!!!