wild rabbit question

[mothhawk]

Went for a walk in the snow this morning, and I noticed that the rabbits round our village nature reserve pee bright orange, and I'm talking rowan berry orange here. Wasn't sure at first if it was rabbit pee, but it can't be anything else. Everywhere there were little scatterings of rabbit droppings, there was also bright orange snow nearby.

The predominant vegetation apart from grasses is gorse. Could it be that nibblling gorse turns their pee orange? It's really odd.

[bearded bloke]

apparently ..........

"Red colour of the urine is sometimes observed in rabbits. It is probably caused by a plant pigment and does not affect the health of the animal."

Red urine is a descriptive term for the condition where a rabbit's urine varies in color from the normal pale yellow to dark yellow, carrot orange, brown, or bright red. Red urine is not a medical problem. The color usually returns to normal within one to three days, although I have had a couple of rabbits take three to four weeks before their urine returned to the pale yellow color.

So says ...... Red Urine: Blood or Plant Pigment?

[veggiechicken]

Something new I've learnt today about a subject that has never crossed my mind before - what colour is rabbit's urine? Could be a good opening line when amongst strangers

[mothhawk]

Thanks for the link BB, that explains it then, deffo something they are eating, must be the gorse - I know you can get yellow dye from it, so the urine probably intensifies the pigment.

Something new I've learnt today about a subject that has never crossed my mind before - what colour is rabbit's urine? Could be a good opening line when amongst strangers

They'd have to be STRANGE strangers VC!

[veggiechicken]

They'd have to be STRANGE strangers VC!

Is there any other sort MH

[mothhawk]

I'll try it out next time a utilities salesman comes hawking at my door......"....yes, I might be interested in switching to your company if you can tell me what colour rabbit pee is....."

[veggiechicken]

........or for those unwanted telephone callers...
"Hello, you'd like to speak to me about my special interest?
Yes, it is rabbit urine. So if I subscribe to your.........will it make their urine more orange?
No, I'm not taking the p*ss - are you?

[WendyC]

You'd be able to tell if they'd been eating your beetroot too.

[bearded bloke]

No probs Mothhawk a younger brother had much the same thing with pet rabbits many moons ago,back then we found a similar answer in a book on the library van

[bubblewrap]

Don't eat yellow snow
Frank Zappa-Don't Eat The Yellow Snow - YouTube