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S38 Ep14

Remarkable Rabbits

Premiere: 4/8/2020 | 00:00:35 |

There are more than 100 types of rabbits and hares, both domestic and wild, from snowshoe hares to Flemish giants. Despite their extraordinary ability to reproduce, many wild rabbits are in danger of being eradicated.

About the Episode

There are more than 100 types of rabbits and hares, both domestic and wild, from swamp rabbits to Flemish giants to snowshoe hares. Yet these prolific creatures are often overlooked and rarely get the respect they deserve – due, in part, to their adorable appearance and storybook depictions. Learn how hares are more than just a rabbit of longer ears and legs, how rabbits have managed to survive in ever-changing landscapes – from downtown Chicago to Canada’s frozen boreal forest – and how they turn the tables on their predators. Meet rabbit enthusiasts who convene to determine the “Best in Show,” and join scientists in the field as they work tirelessly to save rabbit species from the brink of extinction and reveal ground-breaking discoveries. Explore how surprising and remarkable rabbits and hares can be as they face incredible challenges in the wild, from habitat loss to climate change.

Buzzworthy Moments:

  • Once a year, rabbits from all over North America and as far as Japan come together to compete in the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) rabbit show. More than 3,000 people and 17,000 rabbits come to the show to compete. Forty-nine breeds, including the French lop, Tan rabbit and English Angora, compete for the coveted prize of “Best in Show.”
  • A male Eastern cottontail runs fast toward a female cottontail in an attempt to communicate his desire to mate. She jumps straight up in the air as he runs beneath her. To further entice her, the male gives her a spritz of urine as he passes. If she is interested, her jump steps become faster and her leaps get higher. The longer the dance goes on, the closer the female is to mating. This ritual is called cavorting.
  • The disappearance of dense shrublands in the Northeast has had a drastic effect on the New England cottontail. To remedy this, biologists at the Roger Williams Park Zoo and the Queens Zoo have raised around 150 New England cottontails over the course of six years through a process called captive breeding. When the cottontails reach a certain age, they are then released back into the wild, where they must learn how to find food and evade predators within the first few hours of life in their new home.
  • A hawk spots an Antelope jackrabbit and begins chasing it throughout the desert. The hare is built for speed, but Harris hawks hunt in packs. As the hare escapes one hawk, two more hawks keep pursuing the hare as it tries to escape. Sensing the trap, the hare dives undercover, hoping to wait out its predators. The hawk rushes the hare, forcing it back out into the open, where the other hawks are waiting to attack.

Noteworthy Facts:

  • The Antelope jackrabbit is the largest hare in North America, weighing more than nine pounds and standing almost two feet high.

  • Rabbits are born in nests, hairless and helpless, with their eyes and ears closed. Hares, meanwhile, are born on the ground with a full coat of fur and their eyes wide open. Hares are ready to run an hour after being born, while rabbits still depend on their mothers for the first two weeks.
  • When outnumbered by predators in their environment, a Snowshoe hare reacts to this chronic stress by reducing its fertility. Hares usually give birth to around 20 babies per year but can limit their reproduction to 7-8 babies per year when threatened— just enough to sustain their population’s long-term survival and starve out their predators.
  • Swamp rabbits are the largest rabbits in the cottontail family. Their large size gives them increased buoyancy and musculature to be great swimmers. They are so comfortable in the water that they easily move about flood plains and swamps to evade predators and find food and mates. These shy, little-known creatures have been filmed for the first time in Remarkable Rabbits.
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PRODUCTION CREDITS

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
SUSAN FLEMING

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
JOSHUA J. SEE

ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
HUGO KITCHING
KEITH BRUST

AERIAL CINEMATOGRAPHY
JOSHUA J. SEE

PRODUCTION MANAGER
GRAHAM DUGGAN

CAMERA ASSISTANTS
RYAN DURACK
CAITLIN MCMANUS
MICHAEL LAING-FRASER

SOUND RECORDISTS
JOSHUA J. SEE
PETER SAWADE
HUGO KITCHING

EDITOR
ROBERT SWARTZ

ORIGINAL MUSIC
JUSTIN SMALL
OHAD BENCHETRIT

GRAPHIC ARTIST
MARK ALBERTS

WRITER
SUSAN FLEMING

RESEARCHERS
GRAHAM DUGGAN
DAVID MORTIN
GINA CALI

NARRATED BY
NORA YOUNG

WRANGLER
JAMES DUNCAN

BOOKKEEPERS
SHARYN MCMAHON
DANIA KANNAN

EDITING ASSISTANTS
NIRAJ PATEL
HELENA ESCALLÓN

ONLINE EDITOR
ARTHUR DITNER

COLORIST
JIM FLEMING

ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR
KALI RAIGH

JUNIOR ONLINE EDITOR
DAVID FIORENTINO

SUPERVISING FX EDITORS
JANE TATTERSALL
BRENT PICKETT

DIALOGUE EDITOR
SUE CONLEY

RE-RECORDING MIXER
LOU SOLAKOFSKI

ASSISTANT RE-RECORDING MIXER
JESSE FELLOWS

FOLEY ARTISTS
GORO KYOYAMA
SANDRA FOX
MARILEE YORSTON
ANDY MALCOLM

FOLEY RECORDING MIXERS
JACK HEEREN
KEVIN SCHULTZ

FOLEY EDITOR
CHELSEA BODY

SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR
DR. JOHN LITVAITIS

SCRIPT EDITOR
DAVID MORTIN

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
SUSAN FLEMING

FILMED ON LOCATION AT:
KLUANE LAKE RESEARCH STATION, YUKON, CANADA
SQUIRREL CAMP RESEARCH PROJECT, KLUANE RED SQUIRREL PROJECT, YUKON, CANADA
SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK, TUCSON, ARIZONA
THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT’S MAGGIE DALEY PARK, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MINGO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, PUXICO, MO
DUCK CREEK CONSERVATION AREA, MISSOURI DEPT. OF CONSERVATION, PUXICO, MO
SHELTER OF THE SCORPIONS, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
BILLESLEY MANOR HOTEL, BILLESLEY UK
TOWN OF CANMORE, ALBERTA, CANADA
AMERICAN RABBIT BREEDERS ASSOC. 2018 NATIONAL CONVENTION, WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA
GREAT BAY WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA
PORT ROWAN, ONTARIO, CANADA
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA

MUSIC RIGHTS CLEARANCE
ANN MAYALL

“ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO” (LIVE AT PHILHARMONIC HALL, NY, NY, OCT. 1964)
WRITTEN BY BOB DYLAN
COURTESY SPECIAL RIDER MUSIC (SESAC)
PERFORMED BY BOB DYLAN
COURTESY OF COLUMBIA RECORDS
BY ARRANGEMENT WITH SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

“FLOWER DUET”
WRITTEN BY LEO DELIBES AND PAUL PRITCHARD, COURTESY OF APM MUSIC

“BACH CELLO SUITE #1 IN G MAJOR” WRITTEN BY J.S. BACH PERFORMED BY CELLIST SARAH CUPIT

IMAGES OF RABBITS UNDERGROUND PROVIDED COURTESY OF
ROBERT MACGREGOR
IMAGES OF THE SONORAN DESERT PROVIDED COURTESY OF
THE ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
IMAGES OF PROTEST IN CANMORE, ALBERTA PROVIDED COURTESY OF TIFFANY MEYER

SPECIAL THANKS
YASMINE MAJCHRZAK
MICHAEL PEERS
SQUIRREL CAMP
HENRY & MICHELLE PENN
BOB O’NEILL
GRANT PARK CONSERVANCY
MCGEE CREEK OUTFITTERS
MICHAEL PLUNKETT
NICOLE WALKER
BRUCE HENRY
BRAD PENDLEY
STEVE BROWN
TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY, OSBORNE COLLECTION OF EARLY CHILDREN’S BOOKS

PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

FOR THE CBC
GENERAL MANAGER, PROGRAMMING
SALLY CATTO

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNSCRIPTED CONTENT
JENNIFER DETTMAN

SENIOR DIRECTOR, DOCUMENTARY
SANDRA KLEINFELD

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION, UNSCRIPTED CONTENT
ALEXANDRA LANE

WILDLIFE FILM CONSULTANT
CAROLINE UNDERWOOD

EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION
SUE DANDO

PRODUCED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF
THE CANADIAN FILM OR VIDEO PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT PROGRAM

THE ONTARIO MEDIA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION FILM AND TELEVISION TAX CREDITS

PRODUCED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
ROGERS TELEFUND

FOR NATURE

SERIES EDITOR
JANET HESS

SERIES POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
LAURA METZGER LYNCH

SERIES PROJECT MANAGER
JAYNE JUN

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
JAMES F. BURKE

LEGAL COUNSEL
BLANCHE ROBERTSON

DIGITAL LEAD
DANIELLE STEINBERG

DIGITAL ASSOCIATE
AMANDA SCHMIDT

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
KAREN HO

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
CHELSEY SAATKAMP

BUDGET CONTROLLER
JAYNE LISI

ONLINE EDITOR
CHRIS GUIDO

RE-RECORDING MIXER
JON BERMAN

ORIGINAL PRODUCTION FUNDING PROVIDED IN PART BY
Canada Media Fund
Rogers Documentary Fund
Gary and Christy Roeber
The M. & H. Sommer Foundation
The Arnhold Family
Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III
The Fairweather Foundation
Kate W. Cassidy Foundation
Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao
Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust
Charles Rosenblum
Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation
Rosalind P. Walter
Sandra Atlas Bass
Doris R. and Robert J. Thomas
Corporation for Public Broadcasting

EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION
BILL MURPHY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
FRED KAUFMAN

A PRODUCTION OF REMARKABLE RABBITS INC IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC AND THE CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION FOR WNET.

THIS PROGRAM WAS PRODUCED BY REMARKABLE RABBITS INC, WHICH IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CONTENT

© 2020 REMARKABLE RABBITS INC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

TRANSCRIPT

- [Narrator] These adorable, seemingly passive furballs are, in fact, the ultimate survivors.

Within their bite-size frame lies a fighter able to outwit the many predators that surround them.

(hawk screeching) From frozen forest to concrete jungles, we take you deep into their changing world.

We'll reveal just how remarkable rabbits really are.

(upbeat and pleasant rock music)

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