From left to right: Rabbit, Baby Rabbits and Mrs Rabbit
The Farthing Wood Rabbits are among the animals who travel from Farthing Wood to White Deer Park in both the books and the TV series.
Books[]
In the books, there are several families of rabbits, including Rabbit, who is the elected leader of the group. The rabbits all panic while trying to cross the river, which causes Fox and Badger to be swept away by a mass of debris. The baby rabbits are among the animals to be carried across the motorway by Whistler, but the adult rabbits are able to run across safely. All the rabbits make it to White Deer Park, but several of them perish during their first winter in the reserve, most due to the cold but one is killed by the poachers. Four rabbits are later killed by Scarface during Fox's Feud, one adult and three young children. All of the remaining rabbits that made the journey from Farthing Wood die of old age prior to The Siege of White Deer Park, leaving behind their collective offspring born within the park.
An unnamed rabbit dies after drinking from the poisoned stream during In the Path of the Storm, but it is unclear whether this rabbit is a descendant of the original Farthing Wood rabbits. This rabbit does not recognise Badger when they meet by the stream which suggests it is not, but it is possible they had simply not been introduced yet as most of the original rabbits' descendants lived among the other rabbits within the park.
The ancestors of the Farthing Wood rabbits appear in Farthing Wood: The Adventure Begins, the prequel set five years before the journey to White Deer Park. The rabbits have a very minor role in the book, mainly appearing as prey for the various foxes in Farthing Wood. As the humans move into Farthing Wood, the rabbits are forced to move from the downland into the wood and several of them are killed when a digger destroys one of their burrows.
TV series[]
In the TV series, there is only one family of rabbits that makes the journey; Rabbit, Mrs Rabbit and their two baby rabbits. During emergencies the rabbits will often shout "don't panic!" to their babies, although all the rabbits are very prone to panicking in these situations. One of the baby rabbits becomes caught in a snare during the journey and is later killed in a pheasant shoot. The rabbits have at least one more baby during the second series, but Mrs Rabbit is later killed in the attack by Scarface. Several rabbits appear in the third series.
The rabbit that dies after drinking from the poisoned stream appears in the third series, and seems to know Fox when asked about him by Shadow, which suggests that he is a descendant of the original Farthing Wood rabbits.
During the first two series, the rabbits are a grey colour, but in the third series they are more brown like the hares, making it much more difficult to tell the difference between the two species.
Trivia[]
- Their catchphrase "Don't panic!" may have been copied from Lance Corporal Jones' in the BBC comedy series "Dad's Army".