Wild rabbits are considered a pest in New Zealand’s South Island but one farmer decided to let a group of them live after he found them cleverly hitching a ride on some sheep to escape the rising floodwaters in the farm.
According to 64-year-old farmer Ferg Horne, the Otago region was placed under a state of calamity due to the floods; thus, he wasn’t feeling positive that he would find his neighbor’s sheep alive when he went to check on the flock the following morning.
But the flock of around forty sheep were all safe, standing on 3 inches of water at a higher portion of the farm. But Horne was surprised to see black specks in the sea of white, considering that he was quite certain his neighbor only had white sheep.
Curious as to why his neighbor now appears to have black-faced sheep, Horne went closer to the flock and discovered that the black specks were actually wild rabbits. The clever creatures must have realized that they won’t survive the flood if they stayed in the lower areas but also understood that the waters were too deep for them to tread.
Hitching a ride on the much taller sheep ensured these wild rabbits’ safety; thus, Horne let them live because he believes they deserved to live after devising such a clever escape plan!
Amused at what he’d seen and wanting to show it to his son, Horne took a short clip on his cellphone. His son was also impressed and later shared it on social media where it went viral. What clever rabbits!
Check out this video and be amazed by these smart creatures: