The New Huntmastersbbs!: Why Do Rabbits Scream

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Topic: Why Do Rabbits Scream

howler
Knows what it's all about
Member # 197

posted December 13, 2009 09:19 PM

interesting question, Do they think another rabbit is going to come and rescue them, Is it the pain of being killed by predator, or is it really a dinner bell. is it natures way of letting a predaor know there is a warm meal at hand. I think its the latter ?????

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Powder River let'r Buck

Posts: 53 | From: Glasgow, Montana | Registered: May 2003 | IP: Logged

Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2

posted December 14, 2009 01:20 AM

Would you scream if somebody was sticking bamboo slivers under your fingernails? How about if a bear had pulled your leg out of your tent and was eating it? Would your screams be for the purpose of inviting other bears to munch on your other leg? Actually, I have no idea, but if people have a reason to scream, I guess bunnies have the same?

Good hunting. LB

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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!

Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

howler
Knows what it's all about
Member # 197

posted December 14, 2009 11:26 AM

So you think they think about screaming and gave it some thought prior. [Confused]

I don't think so, [Roll Eyes]

I was just trying to provoke some thought [Big Grin]

. I know why they scream, You ever call in a mule deer with rabbit screams. sure you have if you hunt in the west. the doe deer is on a mission and will stomp the crap out of a coyote if she cathes one messing with a fawn [Mad]

. In this case the fawn is calling for help [Eek!]

. I doubt the rabbit is doing the same [Roll Eyes]

so why is it screaming well the only other alternative would be to let all know that something is ready for eating. maybe maybe not. [Big Grin]

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Powder River let'r Buck

Posts: 53 | From: Glasgow, Montana | Registered: May 2003 | IP: Logged

Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7

posted December 14, 2009 11:49 AM

"In this case the fawn is calling for help "

That would be hard to prove. I've dealt with plenty of screaming people, most in intense pain and fear, and it would be somewhat of a waste of energy and time to continue screaming for help when help is already there. But, if you asked them why they screamed the whole time, they'll tell you because (having something eat you alive) (insert your own tragedy) is painful, and screaming is a release by which some of the pain is reduced by the adrenalin dump that accompanies it.

Your assumption is that the fawn and the doe have co-evolved for one to produce a sound that the other is especially sensitive to when, IMO, the fawn is simply releasing anxiety, as will any animal in distress, and the doe is responding to an instinct that she unilaterally evolved a hypersensitivity to. The sound doesn't to be specific, as long as it fits a general template, sort of the way a squealing piglet stands the hair up on the back of your neck.

To assume that the fawn is screaming for help must be based upon the premise that the fawn has some cognitive awareness that help even exists.

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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.

Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2

posted December 14, 2009 01:26 PM

Howler, I really don't know how to take your question?

quote:
So you think they think about screaming and gave it some thought prior.

I've been misunderstood before, but this one deserves a little gold star.

I don't know the answer to the question, nor do I think too much of the three possible explanations that you offer.

If it is anything, it's simply an example of Newton's Law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton? Anyway, you stub your toe, as I did just a while ago, and you let out a yelp. Am I ringing the dinner bell letting a predator (read: lawyer) know there is a warm free meal at hand?

I (not only) don't know why I yelped, I cannot begin to tell you why the rabbit screamed, but I do not think it involves Natures way of involuntarily helping any predator within earshot. We might as well go a step further and suppose that The Supreme Being invented air that conveys sound so that these screams could be heard and thereby help out the poor, hungry coyote.

A mystery for the ages...'cause we ain't going to solve it here. At least not definitively, leaving a bit of wiggle room.

Good hunting. LB

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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!

Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

Briguy
Unofficial AGENT PROVOCATEUR
Member # 3471

posted December 14, 2009 01:32 PM

It's an involuntary response to an external stimuli...

Edit to add this would be an awesome question for "Dumb Question Friday" over at The NPHA. Course, you have to wait a few days...

[ December 14, 2009, 01:36 PM: Message edited by: Briguy ]

Posts: 94 | From: El Desierto | Registered: Aug 2009 | IP: Logged

Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15

posted December 14, 2009 01:58 PM

Leonard, I think howler was just being intentially silly, personally. His last sentence about it being, "the latter" told me it was a joke. But like you, I've been wrong a time or two too.

However humorous the question may or may not be, It got me wondering...Sometimes we scream when we get spooked. You know, like a little Yelp. I think it would be cool sometime to see a startled bunny leap in the air and let out a little, "WAAAAAAAAAA - as in "that really spookified me" way. Now that would get me laughing.

In fact, I love sneaking up on my sleeping cat and pounce on the hollow floor just in front of him. I get a kick out watching those eyes open wide, instant levitation, mid-air 180, every hair sticking out side-ways like in the cartoons, tail as wide as a pop can and fleeing as if in flight. A distress scream would only add a little extra flavor to the treat!!!

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I love my critters and chick!!!! :)

Posts: 2219 | From: CO | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2

posted December 14, 2009 01:59 PM

They can't ask dumb questions until Friday? Hmm? Can't wait to ask; "Do these camo pants make my butt look fat?"

What I have noticed is the uncontrollable urge to post photos of their favorite AR Phallus Symbols in the Firearms Forum.

Good hunting. LB

[ December 14, 2009, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!

Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15

posted December 14, 2009 02:17 PM

Posts: 2219 | From: CO | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11

posted December 14, 2009 02:45 PM

"I think it would be cool sometime to see a startled bunny leap in the air and let out a little, "WAAAAAAAAAA - as in "that really spookified me" way. "

Have not had a rabbit let out a spontaneous scream, but did have a rock chuck do it once. We were killing them with shotguns at a country club and had to recover all the bodies. I was walking out to retrieve one from out in the rough, which was lava boulders and brush. Came around a two story boulder and there was a chuck on a little ledge right at my eye level. He let out a little scream as he scampered off his ledge. Me and my buddy laughed pretty good about it!

- DAA

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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.

Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter

Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11

posted December 14, 2009 02:46 PM

Oh, and a "P.S.", it wasn't the typical 'chuck whistle, it was a full blown distress cry. Sounded real good as a possible calling sound, actually.

- DAA

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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.

Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter

Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

howler
Knows what it's all about
Member # 197

posted December 14, 2009 02:53 PM

Hey its -30 windchill out and I'm kind of bored, I'm getting a tad long in the tooth to be fighting these elements so I am trying to stimulate yours-ours brain cells. The fawn screams and help is on the way the rabbit screams and what dose he get, fang amd claw diease.could it be that every critter who has no defence is just offered up for others to take advantage of. [Confused]

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Powder River let'r Buck

Posts: 53 | From: Glasgow, Montana | Registered: May 2003 | IP: Logged

Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15

posted December 14, 2009 03:26 PM

Maaan, your coyotes are pretty!!!

quote:
could it be that every critter who has no defence is just offered up for others to take advantage of.

That's pretty much my opinion of rabbits anyway. My feeling is that God put bunnies on this great Earth for no other reason than to be a food source for such critters. Perhaps, God gave the bunny a great distress voice so the sound would be easy for ******* (oops - Natives) to mimic the sound using a blade of grass. In fact, I think He made the grass just the right width and thickness to do so. Who knows? You're just about as weird as I am Howler!?!?

[ December 14, 2009, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Locohead ]

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I love my critters and chick!!!! :)

Posts: 2219 | From: CO | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633

posted December 14, 2009 04:01 PM

Why do rabbits scream???

Because they can't sing. [Big Grin]

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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.

Posts: 7582 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged

Rich Higgins
unknown comic

posted December 22, 2009 02:27 PM

Kokopelli's answer is a real contender but I like the article in Predator Xtreme best.
The author stated that distress cries are a protective device that are designed to attract other predators which may give the bunny an opportunity to escape as the new predators attempt to steal it away from the captor. Honest.

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Locohead
World Famous Smoke Dancer
Member # 15

posted December 22, 2009 02:33 PM