Wild rabbits in search of food befriend pet horses

Two of the wild rabbits feeding with Finley the horse

Hungry wild rabbits searching for food during heavy snow have befriended several pet horses at their stables in Aberdeenshire.

Owner Pauline Young described the scenes in Glenbuchat, near Strathdon, in recent weeks as "amazing".

As well as helping themselves to hay, the rabbits even get licked by their new friends.

Mrs Young said: "It's so strange. It's like the horses have a sense the rabbits are starving so are sharing.

The rabbits began stealing food from tubs in the yard, before eventually coming in to the stables.

Mrs Young added: "One horse Maisie doesn't get out due to an injury, so she wanders around the yard, finding her hay in tubs.

"I noticed the rabbits stealing from the tubs, which I thought for wild rabbits was most unusual, especially being so close to humans.

"As the snow kept falling, more and more rabbits were looking for food.

"Because there were pieces of hay lying outside the stable doors, the rabbits would come and eat where they could."

The rabbits have made themselves at home in the stable

One miniature horse, Finley, has a lower stable door so he can see over.

Mrs Young said: "One rabbit would stand on a mound of snow and jump over his door, go in, and eat the hay, even out of the hay net.

"They started appearing every day. Finley would just lie down and sleep next to them. It became that he was almost looking for them.

"First thing in the morning, they would be there."

'Unlikely friendship'

Despite the easing of the weather in recent days, Mrs Young said she found a rabbit back in the stable today.

She added: "These are wild rabbits, but they have been seriously hungry.

"I have been around horses a lot of my life and you would expect them to chase them away. But they have been so good. It's been a horrible, stormy time, and they have sensed they have needed hay."

"It's an amazing thing to see."

NatureScot said many wild mammals and birds have struggled to find food in the recent snow and freezing conditions.

Mammal adviser Rob Raynor said: "This unlikely friendship just illustrates how resourceful nature can be in such circumstances.

"The milder conditions we're experiencing now should offer our wildlife a bit of welcome respite."