At the end of two of my gigs last year a female walked up to me and told me noise kill rabbits. I forgot what noise one of the females were referring to. But the other one mentioned the yelling and laughter from the children can kill a rabbit. I think it is a rumor because rabbits have big ears. What are your thoughts?

Never lost a rabbit from too much noise. I guess it depends on what kind of noise it is. A loud thunder or lightning might scare the rabbit to death.
I place my bunny far away as possible from speakers with loud music, low and high end music really gets to them.
Tricky Ricky

It has a possibility of hurting their ears under very harsh circumstances. Such as putting them right next to a speaker at a concert but no children being loud will not frighten them to death. That is stupid. No offense to you

I take that back. Of the rabbit was pregnant it could cause her to miscarry killing the offspring and in an extreme circumstance maybe her

I've heard this one before; it's an old wive's tale. We're a fairly noisy family who raises rabbits and haven't scared one to death yet...not even on July 4.

Hi,

Not necessarily an old wives tale as there is some truth to it - rabbits are prey animals and either will freeze or flee as many in the animal kingdom do. Rabbits can and do have heart attacks if they are too frightened. A random rabbit can't be used for shows unless it's been seen that they are well socialized and are used to noises in the first place.

Rabbit House Society describes it best as to why this may occur.
The perception of a dangerous or frightening situation causes the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters from the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. These neurotransmitters affect many tissues in the rabbit’s body, but most notably the adrenal glands that release epinephrin (adrenaline) and, with protracted periods of stress, glucocorticosteroids.

Epinephrine causes the rabbit’s heart rate and blood pressure to increase. Blood flow is directed to vital muscles and organs and away from those that are nonessential in this dangerous situation. The rabbit’s respiratory rate increases, his eyes dilate, and his blood sugar (the fuel for the bodies tissues) soars. Other neurotransmitter and hormonal effects of fear not as easily understood are that they cause an ileus of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract-that is, they cause the GI tract to stop moving.

....when these physiological conditions exist for a long period, they affect the rabbit negatively. Restriction of blood supply to “nonessential tissues” leads to their dysfunction. Ileus results in changes in GI tract bacterial balance and potentially can lead to gut stasis, diarrhea, enteritis or even enterotoxemia. Exhaustion of liver energy stores leads to a starvation of body tissues that may be lethal.
For the short term, death seems to be caused by what we intutitively expect - adreneline's effect on the heart. A study conducted on rabbits and rats reports (in the abstract):

Arterial hypertension, hypotension, and heart failure are the reactions typical of the stress-sensitive animals. The main cause of sudden death under emotional stress is the abrupt decrease in peripheral vascular resistance. Adrenal hormones are crucial to the mechanisms of sudden death under emotional stress.

Cheers
Chrystal

Thanks Chystal for the detail info. This is the first time I heard about how noise can be dangerous rabbit, will put that into consideration from now on.

I just ran across this while doing other things. I should amend my earlier statement about the 'wives' tale' thing. My wife commented about the loud noise issue in her barn and I stated directly that I was informed that it was a myth. She firmly corrected me on the fact and pretty much reiterated what Chrystal posted. Many apologies for the misinformation.

Tossing out my two cents... If you keep you bunnies in a garage and only bring them out for shows, they will be much more apt to have high stress levels with unfamiliar noise and unknown situations. Keeping your rabbits in the main part of the house, handling them daily and practicing with them using your props will make performances a better experience for them (and you). Reducing the rabbit's stress reducing the possibility of giving it cardiac disease (just like with people).

I've seen many spoiled and well-cared for rabbits, doves and guinea pigs that were kept in a special room or the garage, but those owners made animal care a priority in their life. Over the years I've seen many magicians who only pay attention to their livestock at feeding time, when they clean the cage and when they perform. Makes for a sad life for the bunny.

Getting back to the issue of stress, nothing is more relaxing than holding your rabbit as you watch TV.

Indeed!