How do bunnies see?

[Holly]

My hubby just asked me a question. It might sound like a dumb question, but we are curious.  How well do bunnies see straight ahead versus left to right? Do they have better site forward or on the sides?

 

Thanks

[babybunsmum]

they see better on the sides… they actually have a blind spot right in the front under their nose!  because their eyes are more on the sides of their head their peripheral vision extends further behind them to help notice predators sneaking up on them.  i just read an article about this that some one else posted in another forum on the same topic.  it was very interesting.  if i can find it i’ll post a link. 

[Lo]

Hey Holly – here’s a nice article that explains bunny vision

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/vision.html

cheers,

L

[Holly]

Thanks.

[Holly]

Thanks again. That link was helpful. I only posted my question because my husband asked me to. For someone who doesn’t really like animals, he has really taken an interest in my bunny. I’m glad. The other day he had a really bad day. When I came home from work he said, I borrowed Holly. I asked him what he meant. He said I just petted her for like 20 minutes, and she actually let me do it. I was glad that she could help him when I wasn’t available.

[MimzMum]

Aww, that’s sp sweet! ^^ I remember hearing about how they are allowing small animals into nursing homes to help with loneliness and that petting a soft, small animal can actually lower your blood pressure! Seems like the hubby was honing in on that. How sweet!
I also asked about bunny eyesight in this thread. It’s not about their peripheral vision, but it might help with your question.

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=3&postid=28982&view=topic

[Lo]

I’m glad your hubby is enjoying Holly too! When I proposed bringing Stewart and Anna home my roomate agreed, but wasn’t excessivly keen on the idea. Now when he’s thinks I’m not paying attention I hear him talking to them, and he even goes to say goobye to them when he’s leaving for a few days!

[MimzMum]

LOLZ…dontcha just loooove it when your partner/mate is ambivalent or dead set against a new member of the family? And then one day you catch them making goo-goo noises at the ‘red-headed stepchild’?
This happened with my cat, Griffyn. My hubby met me at the door when I brought the kitten home and firmly said, “NO.” For months, Griff was ‘the ratboy’ as far as my husband was concerned. Little by little, Griffy just took cute bites out of his heart…now my husband can’t go past him without chucking him under the chin, talking baby talk to him or giving him a big ear rub. It’s hilarious! XD
The other instance was with my MacKenzie Husky, Shadow. This dog DID NOT like MEN. While trying to get him to warm up to us, all I had to do was put on a skirt. Since hubby WASN’T doing THAT, he tried leaving his cap on a chair inside the leash line. He came back out later to find both chair AND hat in tiny little pieces. (so much for THAT idea!)
However, all he had to do was fire up our ATV and start taking Shadow for runs with it. They bonded and have been best pals ever since.
Shadow is now very old and gimpy. As is my husband. The two of them are like a couple of grumpy old men…but they love each other in ways I’ll never be able to match.

Oh, and btw, my hubby was the first to befriend Mimzy. But I turned the tables on him when Mimzy came to live with us and now he dotes on me and hardly notices the hubby when he comes by.
Touche! ^^

[ScooterandAnnette]

Aww, that’s sp sweet! ^^ I remember hearing about how they are allowing small animals into nursing homes to help with loneliness and that petting a soft, small animal can actually lower your blood pressure!

Not long ago, we learned of a few local pet therapy organizations that would consider bunnies.  For a membership fee (for insurance purposes) and some training, you and your pet would visit elderly and disabled folks to give them a bit of TLC.  Mostly dogs that are well-behaved and obey commands, but they did mention that some other animals including rabbits could be acceptable.

We thought about doing this with Bailey, who’s the calmest and only suitable bunny of our four for this purpose, and put our names in, but never heard from them again–guess they weren’t interested.  We’d try again, but now we’re moving out of area in a few months and wouldn’t be able to satisfy the time commitment they require.  Maybe after we move.

 

[Lo]

ScooteranAnnette – I work in research within a hospital that is also a vetrans nursing home. The recreation therapy department has a cute little guinea pig and until two weeks ago my co-worker brought allong her dog Rudy to visit the residents as well as patients attending the day clinic. Rudy was a hero around here, but unfortunatly at 13.5 years we lost him to cancer.

If you think Bailey would be good with visits I stongly encourage you to contact the organization again as I’ve seen what a rewarding and enjoyable experience pet therapy can be, however I will caution you that it can at times be somewhat nerve-wracking as many elderly patients have motor skill and judgement issues which can cause them to be a little too agressive or heavy-handed.

best of luck!

L

[ScooterandAnnette]

loisme:

Thank you for your insights on pet therapy. We’d contact the specific organization again, except that they would like a six month minimum commitment to the program after training. Unfortunately, we are moving out-of-area in less than six months, so at this point, there is no way that we can satisfy their requirements. We will, however, look into similar organizations after we move.

Your point on handling is well taken. This is one of the reasons why only Bailey is suitable….he’s gone to places like Edmonton’s Pets in the Park event in June, which is this giant pet-fest with events and podiums and vendors and so forth. Lots and lots of dogs. Which doesn’t faze him, in fact he will chase down dogs several times his size! Otherwise he’s just very mellow. Of course, we are very careful to make sure he won’t get hurt. We don’t dare take the other bunnies to anything like that, or pet therapy–their temperaments aren’t at all suitable.

[Lo]

Bailey sounds wonderful! you’re lucky to have a bun like that Unfortunatly neither of my girls are that mellow lol

Good luck with the move and let me know if you find a therapy program that accepts Bailey

cheers,

L

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I worked in a nursing home up until recently (acutally I still have a casual position there) and one day one of the girls who worked their brought in kittens because her cat had had an accidental litter. So me and another employee brought two kittens upstairs to visit the residents. We went up to this man and the employee I was with put a kitten in his hands and said “look we have a kitten’. This man who was really disabled, elderly and on a dementia unit, who hadn’t said a word in the year he’d been there, looked at us and said clearly “you have two kittens’ and smiled.

AWWWW!!!

[Holly]

Wow! The power of animals. This is kind of crazy, but when I was 13 or 14 we had a baby calf on my grandparents farm. I was in 4-H. Every once in a while our 4-H club would go to nursing homes to visit the folks there. My advisor had an idea of bringing a few animals. We brought out calf, and a couple of dogs and cats. I’ll never forget this elderly man in a wheel chair. He saw the calf and the rest of the time we were there the calf stayed with him. Later a nurse pulled my mom and I aside and said thank you. He’s our meanest patient here, and you just helped him have a happy moment. That’s the nicest he’s been in forever. Kind of cool.

[Lisa_43]

I know that for sure because I put my finger in front of Ebony and she must of thought it was food and bit me, Ouch

Ebony is really placid and has never bitten me before.

[Author]

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