The Evolution of the House Rabbit

Ancient History
The origin of keeping rabbits in the hutch came not long after their domestication about three thousand years ago to be a food source for the Romans. Ancient Phoenicians invading the area now known as Spain found such large numbers of these lagomorphs living on the hillsides, they christened this land 'Hispania' - which translates into the Latin word for rabbit.¹ Through their conquests and seafaring, Roman domestication of these hardy mammals helped propagate the globe with descendants of the European lagomorpha.

The Kitchen Hutch
The hutch design we think of today in its traditional form, with top-opening pitched lid and wire mesh bottom on stilts, was kept in the kitchen of large estate homes and palaces so kitchen staff would have the evening meal handy for the slaughter while probably also affording service staff and their children with a temporary pet. Eventually the hutch moved outside as homes got smaller during the rise of the Middle Class in the Victorian era. The idea of keeping rabbits as house pets probably began in this age as the fad of keeping pets in general became popular and possible for more people. No longer suffering from such vast social class division as they had in the age of aristocracies before the French revolution, Western society became more affluent and so did the rabbit's disposition amongst us. Around the beginning of the 20th century, we have evidence of the first house kept rabbit as pets in the West. The rabbit hutch is truly a vestige of the Dark Ages of rabbit history as a food and fur animal.

These two rabbits share a salad on their warm spot on the hearth. They are cherished pets and will live to a ripe old age.

Credit: Patti Henningsen

Copyright: Patti Henningsen