Rabbit

Rabbits are small animals commonly found in Grasslands and Savannas. They provide a steady source of food by dropping morsels when killed. Rabbits are passive creatures and will run towards their holes when the character gets too close. They are considered innocent creatures and killing one adds 1 point to the player's naughtiness level, which can cause Krampus to appear. Rabbits take one blast from the Ice Staff to be frozen.

Rabbit Holes
All rabbits are linked to a nearby rabbit hole. Rabbits run back to their holes at dusk, or when they are frightened. When a rabbit is captured or killed it will respawn in its hole after a short delay. A rabbit hole can be dug up with a shovel to force the rabbit out; however this will destroy the hole preventing future rabbits from spawning there. If a rabbit is caught outside its hole after dark for any reason it will fall asleep.

Hunting
Probably the cheapest method in terms of prerequisite resources:
 * One vegetable (e.g. a Carrot, Berries)
 * A weapon (e.g. an Axe)
 * Place a vegetable as close to the target rabbit(s) as possible while not scaring it.
 * Move some distance away.
 * Wait till it hops around to the bait and starts to nibble it.
 * Close in and kill it with a swift strike. The rabbit won't know what killed it. And the bait is kept.

Other hunting methods involve using traps:
 * A trap can be placed directly above a rabbit hole. The rabbit will be trapped as soon as it sticks its little nose out. This method is practical when it is planned to check traps regularly, such as near a base camp.


 * Other trapping method is more useful on the move - place a trap and chase a rabbit to it. It will get trapped most of the time. Placing more than one trap in its way guarantees the catch.


 * If all fails, it is of course possible to just bait the trap with a vegetable to lure a rabbit in. But the bait would be consumed on a successful catch.

Rabbits caught in traps become live inventory items. While they do not stack, they also do not perish and thus can be safely stored for long periods of time. Captured rabbits can be killed in inventory by pressing RMB to get morsels, or be cooked straight into cooked morsels on fire.

Beardlings
When character's Sanity drops below 80 (60 for Wes) all rabbits will turn into Beardlings. They behave just like normal rabbits but are covered with black Beard Hair. They can be killed to acquire Beard Hair, Monster Meat and Nightmare Fuel, or cooked on fire to get only Cooked Monster Meat. Beardlings do not drop Morsels. Killing Beardlings is the only way to get Beard Hair when playing as a character other than Wilson. All rabbits, including those already captured and stored (inventory, backpacks, chests) will become Beardlings.

Known Bugs

 * Sometimes when a rabbit is caught in a trap Wilson will pick it up and retrieve only the trap with no rabbit in it, even though the trap was wiggling like it was full before.


 * Rabbits in inventory and chests sometimes ‘escape’ and disappear for no apparent reason.
 * Rabbits and Beardlings will sometimes co-exist for a very brief moment when the player becomes (in)sane enough for them to change.

Trivia

 * The animal's original name was "Jackalope". A jackalope is a joke-mythical creature invented by taxidermists which consists of an ordinary rabbit or hare with small antlers growing out of its head.


 * Upon examining a rabbit in the inventory Wilson asks, "Do you like science?" As a reference to the use of animals in experiments.


 * The rabbit can also be dropped on the ground and it will be asleep if it is night, just as with a sleep dart, so it can't run.
 * Rabbits turn white in the winter.