Humming, Thumping & Racing

[BonnieSue]

Last night, I gave Hazel a chunk of frozen banana as her nighttime treat (she gets a small piece of fruit in the morning and evening along with her greens and fresh lettuce when I clean her litter box). After she ate the banana, she did something I hadn’t seen yet. She became hyper excited and made a funny hum/squeak noise, then slapped her foot, and then raced a circle around her hutch. She did this maybe three times before settling down again. She is about 3 months old now, so perhaps entering her sexual maturity (she is getting fixed pronto, no worries)… but I’m not sure if she was just excited or what… Totally crazy! Frozen bananas are apparently a BIG hit.

[hannaroo]

Thumping is usually a sign of fear or annoyance. Bunnies use this method to warn other rabbits of danger or to tell somene to back off but if she was racing around she could’ve hit the ground harder than she intended! She sure loves banana!

[Dwarf Sparrow]

I’ve noticed that Merida sometimes thumps before racing off to do laps around the apartment- usually with a binky or two thrown in the mix, so I’m pretty sure she’s not running because of fear or anger. Maybe it’s what hannaroo said, and they don’t know their own strength I almost wonder if it’s a warning: “here I come! get out of my way!”

[BabyD]

My bunny often thumps when she’s excited i.e. when it is play time and feeding time.
I’m quite sure not all thumping are a sign of fear.

[BinkyBunny]

Sounds like she had brain freeze or a sugar high. LOL. I have also only seen thumping as a sign of warning or annoyance. So I am surprised that the thump happened during a time of excitement. My first thought is maybe the “cold” bothered her a bit, but it also tasted good — so maybe it even confused her.

I also believe we don’t have all the answers to what certain behaviors always mean, so I am definitely into discovering when thumps may mean something other than fear, warning or annoyance/dislike.

[BabyD]

A clear sign of warning is when they drum with their hind feet.

Ref: http://www.funkyranger.com/webpages/rabbitlanguage.htm

A single thump could just be an expression of excitement.

[hannaroo]

I dunno, Buttons did very loud single thumps when I was trying to sex him and that wasnt excitment at all! Each bun is different, some humans express happiness through crying so it wouldnt suprise me if your bun is expressing excitment with thumps!

[BabyD]

Maybe I need to send my bunny to a rabbit ethics school.

[BonnieSue]

It is so interesting to see how they are all different and how behaviors have to be applied in context to situation. She drummed her foot when she first came home and was hearing the dogs bark, but that very quickly stops. Her “single thump” does seem to happen during times of excitement or high energy; so it may just be a hard jump, or it could just be showing her excitement – I liken it to how some people like to slap a desk or high five when they are excited. Hahah, I also thought it may have been brainfreeze!!!!

I had discussed over in another post how Hazel seemed possessive of her litterbox when I swapped them out in the morning – she was grunting and sometimes lunging a bit. (I have two litterboxes and rotate them for cleanliness; also, it’s much easier in the morning and saves me time before work if I can just drop a fresh litterbox in and pull the old one out). Anyhow, I noticed this behavior was only happening in the morning and last night I thought to myself, “perhaps her grunting and lunging isn’t so much possessive, but defensive. Perhaps YOU are rushing in the morning and it spooks her and gives her a defensive feeling when you fling that box in there and slam the top down and race out the door.” So last night, I took my time and spoke softly and gave her a little rub when I switched the boxes and hand fed a little banana. This morning, I did the same exact thing: took my time, had a soft word and a pat, and VIOLA! No grunting, no lunging.

This story is a little off topic here, but it just seemed like a great example of how their actions can be misinterpreted by us and how important it is to take behaviors in context (and also to think about what WE do that might force them to act a certain way… I am always having to examine my own behaviors in relation to my little furry friends).

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