Geograph - photograph every grid square

Dead rabbit, near Cuckoo's Knob

Found on a footpath east of Cuckoo's Knob, this young rabbit appears to have died of myxomatosis, a viral disease affecting rabbits and hares. The disease presents in European rabbits as lumps or tumours called 'myxomata' on the head and genitals. Secondary bacterial infections often follow the onset of the viral symptoms causing pneumonia. In cases where a rabbit is not resistant to the virus death occurs after about 14 days on average. The disease was first discovered in South America in the 1890s. It was introduced into Australia in 1938 as a means of controlling the rabbit population which was, at the time, a staggering 600 million in number. Initially successful - the population was reduced by 80% within 2 years - resistance built up in the population and rabbits are still to be found in considerable numbers down under. In the UK the disease arrived in 1953 from France where it had been released by a scientist the year before. By 1955 95% of British rabbits had died of myxomatosis. Sufficient rabbits survived to become resistant and rabbits are a common sight both in rural areas and on urban fringes. As viruses do, the myxoma virus has mutated and rabbits can still be infected with strains to which resistance has yet to be acquired. For a closer look at the lesions on this rabbit's head see this image Link