[twoblink]

I shot a few rabbits; but one of them I got basically in the bladder; but it shouldn't have died.. but it leaped, did a 360 in the air; and then died.. My friend said more than likely, I scared it to death.. does that happen with rabbits??

[rcmodel]

No.
But they are really easy to kill with any body trauma.

That's why they reproduce like Bunny's & make more little rabbets so fast.
They just don't live that long in the wild.

That backward somersault in the air is a dead rabbit when it hits the ground, regardless of where it was shot.

rc

[M-Cameron]

now ive got a situation......

i was doing some squirrel shooting....so i take a shot at a squirrel and it scampers off( runs maybe 5 feet) , falls over , and dies.....

i go to take a look......there was no blood, and no visible entry or exit wound....

what gives?

[Cosmoline]

M-Cameron--that squirrel is planning to attack you later! You have to watch out for those. I've had one come back to life on me. The dog finished it off thankfully, and I hadn't put it in the bag yet or it would have been real interesting.

[rcmodel]

Yep!
Zombie squirrel!

I had a zombie coyote like that years ago.

I shot it about sun-up and threw it in the trunk of my car planning to skin it later.

Got back to my buddy's apartment complex about noon and decided to take some pictures of the morning hunt results.

I opened the trunk and out pops a very alive coyote, running like his tail was on fire.
Last we saw of him he was leaving a dust trail like Wile E. and rounding the corner of the second unit down the street!!

rc

[Double Naught Spy]

Animals live in a scary world, especially little guys like rabbits and squirrels. If they were prone to die from the complication of fright (fright itself is not lethal), then both would be quickly dessimated to extinction.

Strangely, it is pretty much only small animals people talk about being scared or frightened to death. You never hear of a grizzley being scared to death, or a moose, or an eagle. I am inclined to believe the difference of size is an issue of visibility more so than anything else.

With that said, animals may have various pre-existing medical conditions that could pre-dispose them to succombing to a massive adrenaline dump or shock, as individuals. The squirrel could have had something like a bad heart. This does happen to people as well who succomb to heart attacks or burst aneurysm in a major blood vessel or in the brain due to sudden and/or intense stress.

That's why they reproduce like Bunny's & make more little rabbets so fast.
They just don't live that long in the wild.
About 20 years ago, I studied cottontails and jackrabbits. The are an r-selected species which means basically they reproduce with multiple litters per year (no reason seasonality) of multiple individuals, often from a young age, often with a short gestation (relatively speaking), and often with little parental care. That differs from K-selected species such as humans, deer, elephants, bears, etc. that have longer gestation periods, longer periods of parental care, limited young, limited numbers of birth per year (usually 1 or less possible). Several studies done on both cottontails and on jackrabbits (from several parts of the country and with varied species between the 1930s and 1970s) basically revealed the same pattern. They had a hugely high mortality rate with something like 96-98% of them failing to survive their second year of life.

[Hillbillyz]

My Daddy used to tell the story of a hog that kept getting into the family's garden. It belonged to the neighbor and so whenever it came over they would just shoo it away. One day the hog was in the garden so my dad gets his .22 and put in several rounds of .22 fine shot. He walked up behind the hog and shot it in it's rear quarter. The hog let out a squeel pitched forward and never moved. The only thing anyone could figure is it died of fright.

[Cob]

years ago, a friend and I were driving down a country road, when a doe darted across the road 30' in front of us. As we slowed down, a fawn (just losing it's spots) darted out and was instantaneously hit by the truck, As my friend slammed on the brakes. The impact of the deer was enough to bend fender, bumper, and hood a bit, -the fawn "bounced" forward about 40', and came to a stand still, lying dead in the road in front of us. I got out of the truck, inspected damage, then investigated the "dead" deer. I walked up to it, saw no movement or sign of life, & to make sure it was out of it's misery, i stomped my boot on it's head about 3 times, then drug him to the truck and loaded him into the bed. We then proceeded to a gas station to further inspect the damage on truck, with lights to better illuminate (11:00 pm).

When we got to the gas station, the radiator was steaming, and the deer had it's head raised up, looking around in the bed of the truck! friend then took it home to try to bring it back to normal health, but it died next day.

[AKElroy]

I heard somewhere that kangaroos are prone to cardiac arrest from being startled. It sounds plausable for rabbits--

[Double Naught Spy]

I think that is just another myth.

[interlock]

a few years ago a british police traffic patrol car was operating on one of the local motorways (freeway in your language). they came across a fox that appeared to be dead in the road. Now in england people are a bit delicate about animals. when the cop investigated the fox it actually was laying motionless and unconcious but alive. He said he would have just stomped its head flat but people were passing. so gently he laid it (not the same as layed) on the back seat of the patrol car and decided to take it to the RSPCA.
so he sets off at traffic cop speed down the motorway when the fox wakes up and proceeds to do the wall of death inside the traffic car. so the cop, being a highly skilled british constable, whilst diving reaches for his friction lock batton and clubs the fox to death.
he was later presented with a bill for valetting the car.... he declined to pay, it was never enforced

[lizziedog1]

Yesterday I was out in the desert with my dog. She was near some brush when all of a sudden a jackrabbit takes off and smacks right into my dog. They both tumble around for a second and then the hare takes off. My dog jumps up to her feet and is looking around like she wasn't quite sure what had just happened.

After a few seconds she spots the rabbit runing. Luckily I have her whistle trained so she did not pursue it.

I wish I had video-taped it. It was funny.:D

[Ranger J]

I once was dove hunting and shot a dove, went to retrieve it and pitched it in a pile with other 'dead' doves. Dang if when it hit the ground it jumps up and takes off as if nothing had happen. A buddy and I both got two shots at it on the way out but it kept going. At least we got a good laugh about it.

RJ

[USAF_Vet]

friend then took it home to try to bring it back to normal health, but it died next day.

Probably had nothing to do with having a massive concussion and brain trauma due to having it's head stomped in did it?

[ridgerunner1965]

when i was a kid years ago i used to hunt a lot with a 357 blackhawk that i loaded for.it was not uncommon to "bark" a rabbit by shooting just under its jaw, the flying rocks and debris would kill it or maybe the concussion.never could duplicate it with a squirrel, those suckers are tuff.

[ridgerunner1965]

i have heard tho that bunnys are so high strung that they can be scared to death.i know when i get my tame bunnys out of the cage, and i dont handle them a lot, that their hearts are beating so fast i am afraid they are goin to have a heart attack.

[Liberty1776]

Yes, that is correct. My brother has raised rabbits commercially for 45+ years... some breeds are so high strung that they die from stress-caused heart attacks.

[Ohio Gun Guy]

I was told that rabbits could be scared to death, by my father when hunting them.....

AFTER I shot my first rabbit. It ran, stopped, then just sat there, i placed the bead direcly on it and fired. I got it, all of it. He made me clean it, then told me about trying not to hit it with the whole load. :what: :o

[mr.trooper]

Last rabbit I shot was on the run with a single shot, full choke, .410.

My shot must have hit mid stride, because both rear legs were heavily damaged at the ankles (my lead was too short, casing the bulk of the pattern to hit its lower extremities).

That bunny was stone dead when I walked over 20 seconds later, with not a drop of blood to be seen anywhere. After I skinned him out, I found that he had only been hit with TWO #6 shot pellets in his entire body, excluding the damaged ankles.

[langenc]

Regarding post 3--

I have heard of hunters 'barking' the squirrel. That is they hit the limb very close top the squirrel and some bark will kill the squirrel?? Im not that good of a shot.

I recall a hen pheasant darting across in front of me. It bumped underneath the vehicle. I stopped and picked it up and threw it on the floor-passengers side. Pretty soon I have a coming to life pheasant in the front seat. I got lucky and was able to wring its' neck.

My mother cooked it, like she had many before. It was a real tough one. The area where I hit? it was in the city and no hunting was allowed. Probably an old bird.

[shiftyer1]

I had a pheasant come back to live behind the seat of the truck, talk about a vibrating seat.

[DeepSouth]

I love these kinds of stories. Reminds me of one my dad tells, he says he was hunting with my uncle, his brother in law, when he noticed an owl on a limb. After watching it a while he noticed it was kind of swaying or wobbeling. It did that for a while then it just fell out of the tree. When he went to meet back up with my uncle he went by and picked it up, dead as it could be. He took it with him to show my uncle because he didn't think he would belive him without proof. When he showed it to him and told him what had happened my umcle jusr told him "you must have uglied it to death"

I've got another one I could tell about a deer chasing my dog, but noone ever belives it.

[shiftyer1]

I'll always remember that damn bird....it was my first one and it just wouldn't die. lol

[clamman]

Ok here's mine. Opening day 1999 I see a fat doe coming my way. I popped her in the neck about 50 yards out with a 12 ga. sabot. She dropped like a rock. I wait about five minutes and climb down. Up jumps "another" doe about 25 yards to the rear. Popped her in the ear, dropped like a rock. My lucky day, two deer! Got to the second animal, it had one hole in her neck and another in her ear. She did the commando crawl and I never saw it!

[Cob]

Quote:
friend then took it home to try to bring it back to normal health, but it died next day.

Probably had nothing to do with having a massive concussion and brain trauma due to having it's head stomped in did it?

You know it just might have had something to do with it...:rolleyes:

Once i saw the deer with it's head raised up, and looking around, it tried to stand up in the bed of the truck. I was about to stomp a second time, when friend talked me out of it... He wanted to see if it would live, i did not argue.

[sixgunner455]

Pulled a quail out of the bag one day, in the kitchen, and had it pop its head up around and tell me off, like I'd just woken it up from a good nap.

That bird had been shot, had a broken wing from it, picked up and mouthed by my Brittany pup, and I *thought* had had its neck adequately rung.

Tough little bird. Tasted good, though.

[ralphie98]

Thought I had a deer scared to death a few years ago. Took a shot and he dropped after a few steps. Go over to dress him out and of course the first thing I do is check shot placement... couldn't find the shot. No blood anywhere, no holes I could see. Whatever... had people waiting so I opened him up and found I had gut shot him but just barely. He jumped right as I pulled the trigger and I ended up grazing the ponch hanging down on his belly. Just enough contact was made internally to open the gut up and give me that very unwelcome odor while cleaning him out. I'm glad he didn't run off where I couldn't find him but I still have no idea how a barely gut shot deer would drop like that.

[jondavis]

Yes, they can die from being scarred like that. I once caught a rabbit in a fishing net for my kids and as soon as I reached on to grab it it died.

[x_wrench]

we used to think they did sometimes as well. that is until we actually saw our beagle OUTRUN :what: the rabbit, catch it, and shake it until its neck was broken. she would bring the rabbit around 3 times, each time closer to it than the last. after the third pass, she was able to catch it. there were very few rabbits that ever made it by for a fourth pass. she really lived up to her name, which was Peppy. best rabbit dog i ever had the pleasure of hunting with.

[HammerheadSSN663]

Older gentleman friend of mine told me about the time back in the 50s he and some friends trapped a bobcat. Put a big suitcase over the opening and slammed the suitcase shut.

When down to the projects and set the suitcase on corner then went up the hill across the street and waited. 10 minutes later a car load of (insert perps here), slow down look at, turn around, snatch it and throw it in the back seat.

50 yards down the road car goes sideways and all four perps are jumping out the car screaming with the car still in gear.

Swears on the Bible its a true story.

Not a dead animal story but kinda related.

[coolcloo1019]

years ago, a friend and I were driving down a country road, when a doe darted across the road 30' in front of us. As we slowed down, a fawn (just losing it's spots) darted out and was instantaneously hit by the truck, As my friend slammed on the brakes. The impact of the deer was enough to bend fender, bumper, and hood a bit, -the fawn "bounced" forward about 40', and came to a stand still, lying dead in the road in front of us. I got out of the truck, inspected damage, then investigated the "dead" deer. I walked up to it, saw no movement or sign of life, & to make sure it was out of it's misery, i stomped my boot on it's head about 3 times, then drug him to the truck and loaded him into the bed. We then proceeded to a gas station to further inspect the damage on truck, with lights to better illuminate (11:00 pm).

When we got to the gas station, the radiator was steaming, and the deer had it's head raised up, looking around in the bed of the truck! friend then took it home to try to bring it back to normal health, but it died next day.

Sometimes I have to stop and try to figure out where some people get their brains from, then I realize that's just a lost cause and continue on with life. Really dude, stomp it's head? What about a knife, something just a smidge more humane... (this coming from an avid hunter).

[Marlin 45 carbine]

some years back I had finished some small repairs to a friends .58 cal muzzleloader and loaded to try a few shots with it off a crude rest behind my shop. there's low bushes around this area and I had not shot any in maybe couple weeks.
I 'lowered the boom' so to speak on the target and around 20' in front a rabbit ran out of thicket into the mowed area and keeled over deader'n a nit.
I cleaned it and ate it fried for supper.

[Strykervet]

now ive got a situation......

i was doing some squirrel shooting....so i take a shot at a squirrel and it scampers off( runs maybe 5 feet) , falls over , and dies.....

i go to take a look......there was no blood, and no visible entry or exit wound....

what gives?
Squirrels and other small animals with fast heartbeats can die if scared enough. You can feel their heart running like a hummingbird. I learned this when a nest blew out of a tree when I was young. I raised the babies and learned a lot. Anyway, one of them became like a pet and would hide on me anytime it got scared; you could really feel the heart drum. A wildlife expert told me about it too, and it made sense based on what I had experienced.

The rabbit will lock up, scared. It doesn't move, but the heart is. Fast. I wouldn't doubt that they can be killed from fright. I've heard about it from the old timers, but I haven't seen it myself.

[bang_bang]

Rabbits can be scared to death. Their little hearts beat so fast that it results in heart failure in high stress situations, kinda like an uber dose of cocaine in humans. I have caught a dozen or more distressed rabbits, all juveniles, and attempted to raise them to be released. About 75% of the time, they die within a few hours with no life threatening injuries. The ones that did survive were still scared almost stiff, but made a full recovery within a few weeks to be released.

Our local wildlife emergency care person (who takes in injured wildlife to be released when healthy and able) has the same problem with rabbits under her care.

[buck460XVR]

Rabbits can be scared to death..


Sure can, not just wild ones, but domestic ones also. I raised good numbers of large eating rabbits for a number of years and sometimes just a stray dog barking at them in their pen was enough to put them down. Had the same problem when raising pheasants. Every time it came time to debeak or put goggles on a pen full, seems there'd always be a couple that would die during the process.

[.45Guy]

If only flying tree rats were so easy to kill. I woke up a couple weeks ago to a strange squeaking noise at the foot of the bed. At first I thought it was my wife's labradoodle puppy, but as I became fully concious it is Mr. Kitty with what in the darkness appears to be a rat in his mouth. A chase ensues, and he finally drops an *apparently* dead flying squirrel. Thinking it dead, I don't bother with precautions and grab it to toss outside. Just as I'm walking out of the living room, it decides that it's not really dead and commences eating the tip of my thumb.