One of the shingle plants not eaten by rabbits is viper’s bugloss… because it is covered in small, sharp, glassy spines - on the stem, the leaves and the flower buds. This also helps to deter people from picking the pretty blue flowers…
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If your life depends on a rare plant you are vulnerable to its disappearance. The Endangered flea beetle, Dibolia cynoglossi (3mm) is found on and eats red hempnettle (a BAP species), making characteristic scars on the leaf surface (see above). In the last few years rabbit grazing has reduced the amount of red hempnettle and the beetle, but they can still be found in good amounts in and around the rabbit exclosures - especially the small exclosure west of the Mary Stanford lifeboat house.