Aggressive rabbits attacking chickens

Are there wildlife organizations in the UK who might offer behavioral information on rabbits specific to the British Isles? I personally don't know if we share common species on this side of the pond. Not to be unkind, but the rabbit attack sounds like something out of a Monty Python skit--but certainly believable!

The wild cottontail bunnies on our ranch frequently eat the chicken feed my hens have billed out of their feeders. And the bunnies were the first to learn how to use the pedal (treadle) chicken feeders; squirrels learned next, some hens never learned! The rabbits here, so far, have always been well-behaved and are unafraid of my comings and goings during morning chook chores. Some of my hens, however, have pecked the bunnies on the head if they get too close.
 
Are there wildlife organizations in the UK who might offer behavioral information on rabbits specific to the British Isles? I personally don't know if we share common species on this side of the pond. Not to be unkind, but the rabbit attack sounds like something out of a Monty Python skit--but certainly believable!

The wild cottontail bunnies on our ranch frequently eat the chicken feed my hens have billed out of their feeders. And the bunnies were the first to learn how to use the pedal (treadle) chicken feeders; squirrels learned next, some hens never learned! The rabbits here, so far, have always been well-behaved and are unafraid of my comings and goings during morning chook chores. Some of my hens, however, have pecked the bunnies on the head if they get too close.
First thing I thought of was Monty Python. Lol
 
@texsuze Coincidentally, I was trying to think if there's an organisation like that. I told them what people on the forum have suggested, and his wife could only reiterate her surprise. Her husband's had that farm all his life (he's now 74), and before him his Dad, his Uncle and his Grandad; they've been tellling everyone in the family and no-one can recall anything like this ever happening. She felt that something in the environment must have changed to cause it.
Your bunnies sound very ingenious! That's what my sister's up against - clever bunnies who keep outwitting her and getting the carrots lol!
Pure Python was that pet rabbit of my daughter's - cute little black furry ball hanging onto my hand until her hubby prised its mouth open!!
 
Your European rabbits are different than what we have. I think what you have is more similar to domestic rabbits in that they make burrows and form more complex social groups. Mine get gruffy with me. I have had wild American Cottontail try to run my daughter away from her nest and seen on multiple occasions the mom attacks a snake near here nest. What you describe is something different and likely specific to your rabbit species.
Yes, they burrow and seem to interact socially. There are often quite a lot in a social group. I don't know if our European rabbits are the same as those on the continent or whether they've evolved to become different. The tales I'm reading, such as yours, are making me really respect rabbits a lot more; I didn't know they're so courageous and protective.
 

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