Latrine Use by the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

In addition to depositing fecal pellets throughout their range, European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), like several other mammals, deposit feces at specific “latrine” sites. In a free-living island population of rabbits, marked individuals of known age, sex, and social status were observed and their behavior at latrines was recorded. There are clear differences in frequency and duration of visits to latrines between members of the different age, sex, and social-status classes; behavior while on latrines; and the behavioral context of latrine visits. Pellets deposited while on a latrine elicited further defecation more often than pellets deposited at random. Rabbits from different age, sex, and social-status classes behave differently toward latrines and the deposition of highly odoriferous pellets at sites visited by a large proportion of local conspecifics is an efficient method of information exchange.