Hair

Giant compound hair follicles

Normally, these tufts are found around the rabbit's cheek and jaw area.

From Whiteley's article Giant Compound Hair Follicles in the Skin of the Rabbit:

As the hair shafts reach the surface the compound follicle is subdivided by fibrous septa into smaller groups which surround the large outer-coat hair. Each of these smaller groups of undercoat hairs penetrate the skin through a common follicle opening, whereas the outercoat hair has a separate opening.

Examples:

Max sporting a tuft.

Baxter's tufts.

A few tufts from x.

A handful of tufts from Toasty.

Rorschach's tuft.

A tuft from Howdy, the rescued Continental Giant.

Rabbits fur for birds to build nests

DO NOT offer yarn, string or human hair for birds to build nests!

Info from Wildlife Rescue Nests @ FB

A warning about offering pet hair. Many of our pets are treated with specialty shampoos or tick/lice treatments which stay on the hair and can be harmful to birds collecting it for nesting material. DO NOT offer pet hair that has been exposed to any shampoo treatments or chemicals.

Please DO NOT offer yarn, string or human hair for birds to build nests! Every year we see both young and adult birds being admitted to wildlife rehabilitators due to this. It can sometimes result in the bird losing their foot or entire leg from the yarn/string/hair slowly tightening and cutting off circulation .

DO NOT offer laundry dryer lint either. The lint collected in your dryer filter may seem like ideal nesting material, but it isn’t. It will soak up water and may be steeped with chemicals unhealthy for birds, such as remnants of detergent and softener.

See also

• Fur loss