Can rabbits actually "watch" and feel scared of tv?

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jcottonl02

jcottonl02

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I have been bringing my rabbits inside for hours every day since i got them; they are outside in their run when I am at school, and inside with me when I get home.

At first they had trouble keeping control of their bladder, and used to poo everywhere, but when they started to grow up they did it less and less and haven't done anything inside for almost a year now. They just don't any more (I give them little toilet breaks) lol.

Anyway...Benji was inside with my yesterday and it was about 5 o clock. I was watching something called 'Life in Cold Blood' which was all about snakes and how they catch and kill their food. It was amazing. Anyway, I was lying on the sofa with Benji snuggled into my stomach, and he was looking at the tv. I covered his eyes briefly sometimes, more for my own comfort than his. A viper was on the tv spitting, and I wasn't covering his eyes. Then Ben turned around a few times and just weed. Usually he backs into a corner to wee, but he just...did it. It was like it was out of fear?

I didn't think rabbits could really......see things on the tv. I know they can see the colours but I didn't think they could actually recognise things. It wasn't that loud. Could he have weed out of fear, or was it a one off and a strange coincodence?

If so I think I will have to be much more careful what I let Benny watch!! :)
 
All of mine love tv. They are in a room with tv. Bo and Tony LOVE it. Clover likes music videos the most. Sounds weird doesn't it?

Tony was out the other night and actually positioned himself in a chair and watched television for quite some time. We were watching the movie Mr. Woodcock so I think he just liked seeing the movements and hearing the talking.

Bo watches animal programs and does get nervous with certain ones.

Clover will move herself into position to watch videos and listen.


 
Yes I have noticed that my rabbits seem to sit for minutes on end looking as though they are "watching" the tv, I just never realised they could....understand that a snake on the tv could be scary.

It's quite cute them "watching" tv lol. Benji loves Prison Break and watches it every week with me. He loves things like spiderman too and other actiony films (he doens't like the nasty ones thogh):). Pippin is more into the happy, upbeat films like Bridget Jones' Diary and Friends. Lol!


 
I would think that they wouldn't understand fear on TV, but they would sense fear in you, so he probably acted to the fear you felt.

Some of mine like TV. Actually, more so buns that are now at the Bridge. Flash loved The Simpsons and always sat and watched when it was on. Moon enjoyed Friends, and again would always sit and focus on it when it was on.
 
Well, my bunny doesn't care about series and movies, he turns his back to the TV set when I watch something like that. But he loves to watch ....the news bulletin (! he must have been a journalist in his previous life!!) and documentaries. One time that we were watching a BBC documentary with lions, I saw him reacting with fear (eyes bulging, ears up, body tense and alert and faster heartbeat) when the lion was chasing and, finally, caught and killed an antilope. I switched immediately to another channel, and then he was calm again within minutes. What can I say???

Marietta
 
I leave my lionhead and harlequin dutch bonded duo in their pen in the living room. I leave it on Nick all night and I have actually gotten up to use the facilities and seen them both positioned as if they are watching the telly.

Sometimes, if I go to bed first, my husband forgets and turns the TV off. We get awakened to sounds of them zooming around their pen like idiots. So I get up and turn the TV back on..to their nightly cartoons, and they immediately stop and settle down.

So yeah.. I think rabbits do enjoy the TV..
 
Oh my Barnaby LOVES to watch tv! He begs for me to pick him up and bring him on the bed so he can see it. Then he streaches out and gets comfortable, and I swear he would stare at that thing for hours.

Zeus, on the other hand, couldn't care less about the TV.
 
Yeah it's so cute. I reckon our buns actually have favourite channels and genres....cos sometimes my buns completely ignore the tv, and other times they seem focused and interested.

Well that's what I thought- how can Benji be scared of a snake when he has never seen one or heard one? But thten again it might be his instincts. But I definately wasn't scared or had any fear- I was absolutely fascinated; I adore those kind of programs. So I don't think he could have sensed any fear through me, as I was very relaxed- I was actually quite sleepy at the time lol!

It must have been something to make him wee though. Or maybe it just was an accident. But as someone said earlier, their bun seemed alert and fearful when they saw the lion on the tv, so maybe he was scared of the snake. I think I'll be a little more careful when watching animal documentaries with him. I do love them though; they are fab!
 
Simon was on the couch the other day and I was flicking through channels. I ended up stopping on Harry Potter. There was about an hour left maybe and he sat there till the end. He then proceded to get up and show me he left me pee. lol

He will stop at times and seem to "watch" for a few minutes, but I haven't seen him be still like that again. I have noticed that even if he isn't watching, if he hears like a hawk on the TV or what not he will run into his cage.
 
jcottonl02 wrote:
how can Benji be scared of a snake when he has never seen one or heard one? But thten again it might be his instincts.
Click to expand...


My bunny is afraid of birds and dogs and has never been nowhere near either one, ever, and he's also an inside rabbit. As a matter of fact, if I play with a friend's dog and then go at home and go towards Vitto without having first washed my hands, he jolts like an arrow and goes under the kitchen table to hide. He absolutely hates dog smell... So, yes, its their instict or what is called the species' "collective memory".

Marietta
 
Wow....okay thanks!

I'll bear that in mind when I watch things on tv and if I ever stroke another dog- he "tolerates" my dogs and cats. That is, will sit with them and snuggle when they are in a good mood, like you can see from my avatar, Ben n Rolo lying next to each other and Rolo licking Ben, but if they are excited he won't go near them. Which is fair enough!

They are such clever things aren't they?
 
Bo B Bunny wrote:
All of mine love tv. They are in a room with tv. Bo and Tony LOVE it. Clover likes music videos the most. Sounds weird doesn't it?

Tony was out the other night and actually positioned himself in a chair and watched television for quite some time. We were watching the movie Mr. Woodcock so I think he just liked seeing the movements and hearing the talking.

Bo watches animal programs and does get nervous with certain ones.

Clover will move herself into position to watch videos and listen.
Click to expand...

How adorable! My cats watch TV but my bunnies don't. That's so cute that Bo watches Animal Planet or animal programs. Adorable!

Jil, how can you tell that they like Spiderman and those actiony movies?? Lol. That's cute!

I wonder if they would enjoy video games as much as the television shows! Lol.

Emily
 
one time a long time ago, I remember Bo was playing and the tv in their room is an old console television (sits low on it's own wheels) and there were like gazelle hopping through the tall grass or something..... he saw that and started binkying. I think he just saw the hoppy movements of something around his size (tv size) and thought it was bunnies!
 
Bo B Bunny wrote:
one time a long time ago, I remember Bo was playing and the tv in their room is an old console television (sits low on it's own wheels) and there were like gazelle hopping through the tall grass or something..... he saw that and started binkying.  I think he just saw the hoppy movements of something around his size (tv size) and thought it was bunnies!
Click to expand...

How cute can that be!!!! Wish you had videotaped this!
:rabbithop

Marietta
 
Yeah, that's a great article. I read something about how albino people with the pink eyes see. The girl described it very much like that. She can see shapes and some colors but looking at us she wouldn't be able to see the details of our face.


 
Snowball likes to watch football. He and my husband are a match made in heaven.

Now that football season is over, he is watching basketball but it doesn't seem to hold his interest as long.

He does not enjoy cooking shows.

It's very funny how he pays attention to some programs but not others! We have been observing this behavior for several months, he is pretty consistent.


 
This picture was taken a while ago, when my Dad and I were watching X-Men (i don't care I love it!) and Ben is just sitting there with his paws on my Dad's shoulder, and just watching it.

He stayed like that for about 5 minutes- which doesn't sound long but when it is a bunny staring transfixed at the tv it is quite substantial!!! Anyway I took a picture, and then about a minute later, he looked around, and hopped off and flopped onto his side by a big squashy cushion.

(His eye was really red and I didn't like it, so I coloured it in, so that is why it may look a little odd, I just couldnt stand it being red)

benwatchingtv.jpg


I just couldn't believe how interested he looked!!!!!!!
 
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