Cover is safe during the day but dangerous at night: the use of vegetation by European wild rabbits

The use of protective cover by prey animals is commonly associated with high predation risk. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in southern Spain use vegetated patches in daylight but open prairie during the night, although predation rates are high during both periods. Hiding under vegetation may be adaptive for rabbits during the day because they suffer predation by visually oriented birds of prey, but may be dangerous during the night, when they are hunted by carnivorous mammals that need cover to stalk. Therefore, the heavily predated Spanish rabbits may leave dense cover in nighttime and exploit the rich prairie food.