Did You Know?...Interesting Rabbit Trivia

Hello there,

Just thought you might be interested in knowing a few interesting tidbits related to our friends of the lagomorph variety in the form of trivia.

1) Did you know that Hugh Hefner of Playboy Mansion fame and his famous Playboy Bunnies has a species of rabbit named after him? The Sylvilagus palustris hefneri is an endangered species of rabbit known that lives in Florida and is also called by the name of Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit.

Hugh Hefner's Namesake

2) Did you know the New England Cottontail Rabbit is facing extinction in the New England States of the United States? There are a few factors affecting this such as the Eastern Cottontail rabbit was brought in a long time ago for hunting. They are considered an invasive species. The Eastern Cottontail was brought in for hunting purposes. They are slightly bigger and move somewhat quicker in response to threats such as predators as well as moving in on the habit of their New England cousin. There has also been the resurgence of these predators due to the reintroduction of them into our woodland areas. The two biggest things affecting all the New England Cottontails and their predators is that they are losing their land/habitat to mankind's urban sprawl. We are eating up the land, environment and resources of all of our wild animal companions on this planet. Also, due to starting about 60 years ago, New England farmland which was abandoned was an ideal environment for these rabbits, but now much of that same land has become either reforested or has become urban or suburban sprawl. This has continued to eat away at their environment. There are some conservation efforts that have started, but we don't know if it's too late.Link to New England Cottontail dot com

New England Cottontail

3) Did you know that domesticated rabbits in the homes as pets in most countries that have them as pets are of European ancestry? They were brought over here from Europe.  They are the 3rd most popular house pet next to cats and dogs in England. Domesticated Rabbits are also rapidly becoming popular house pets in the United States as well.  They are social and can be easily litter-box trained.

I will probably add a bit more to these tidbits to flesh them out more, but I wanted to share these interesting things-some needing our attention. I will share more interesting trivia in the future in other posts. Hoping you enjoyed this information. Hope you are having a Bunderful Day and that you will share some of your thoughts, comments, suggestions or questions in the comment area below! Thanks for Hopping By!

Please "like" Rabbit Slippers Blog on Face Book to keep up with the latest postings and events.
You can also sign up by e-mail notices at the top right of the page. (Your privacy is important to Rabbit Slippers)
You can also follow through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs, both located in the right side bar.
Thank You!
Please visit the Rabbit Hop Shop at the following link (Rabbit Hop Shoppe link) for rabbit themed items and gifts!

Best Bunnies on You Tube

Here are some of the all time best bunnies on You Tube. Let me know what you think in the comments and feel free to share links to your favorites I might not have put here. I will share yours in another post!

Bunny Massage-I love near the end with the ears. The real bunny looks really calm like he is enjoying it. He must be really used to this. Lucky  Bunny.  This one I'm addicted to at the moment, watching it over and over and over!

Sleeping Baby Bunny- I love the music and the bunny. I can watch this over and over also.

The Cute Bunny Letter Opener

 

Cute Bunnies In A Cup- Irresistible.

The "Real" Energizer Bunny- Perfect Binky and Bunny 500 video perfectly edited set to music. This has got to be one of my all time favorites. 

Hope you enjoyed this collection. Please let me know what you think!  Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. Share links to your favorites also! Would love to see what you have to share.  I will put the favorites you share in another post and give you credit!

Thanks for visiting!
Mary Ellen


Please "like" Rabbit Slippers Blog on Face Book to keep up with the latest postings and events.
You can also sign up by e-mail notices at the top right of the page. (Your privacy is important to Rabbit Slippers)
You can also follow through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs, both located in the right side bar.
Thank You!
Please visit the Rabbit Hop Shop at the following link (Rabbit Hop Shoppe link) for rabbit themed items and gifts!

Exclusive Interview with Flat Bonnie!!!!!

Flat Bonnie & Poop friends Give Us the Scoop (Pun Intended) from the Litter Box!

Hi, I'm so excited! Today is the day for our exclusive interview with Flat Bonnie! For those who are not familiar with Flat Bonnie, she is a wonderful stuffed little bunny named "Flat Bonnie".  Flat Bonnie is handmade and is sold by some special people from California http://flatbonnie.com/, who create her to raise awareness about rescue rabbits, but to also raise funds for them, and also they donate her to Rabbit Rescue Shelters. A portion of Flat Bonnie proceeds go to Rabbit Rescues organizations 

Flat Bonnie was instantly popular with her cute good looks and sunny personality when she hit first the scene. She is not a flash in the pan celebrity either. Her following continues to grow while she continues to be her sweet self, untouched by the fame.  In fact, her presence and talents just seem to continue to amaze us.

We were lucky to get her to sit down with us for a brief interview during her busy schedule! Totally comfortable anywhere, this sweet bunny starlet sat  with us from her litterbox with a couple of friends (see interview photo above).

RS (Rabbit Slippers): You seem like such a positive, happy and friendly bunny Flat Bonnie, why is that?

FB (Flat Bonnie): It makes me happy when I can help my real bun friends living in shelters and rescues.  I also have many Flat Friends to hang out with at home.  I like exploring and discovering new things and places.  I am very curious, just like my real bun friends.

RS:  Even though you are sweet and adorable in your photos, your photos don't do you justice! Do you have any beauty secrets?

FB: Lots of beauty sleep, I take lots of naps.  I try to get as flat as possible when napping.  I also get a lot of exercise hopping around, binky-ing, posing for pictures, and keeping an eye on my real bun friends.  They can get into trouble sometimes.

Click on photo to view a larger view of Flat Bonnie's flawless beauty!

RS:  Why do you talk about adopting bunnies instead of buying bunnies in a pet store or from a breeder?

FB: Because there are many abandoned bunnies and other small animals in shelters that need forever homes.  There is nothing wrong with these buns, they just had bad humans.  Many people think that rescues and shelters just have dogs and cats, but there are many abandoned buns too.

Flat Bonnie can be customized to match a live rabbit! Just send photos of different sides of your live rabbits

RS:  Do you represent any particular organizations and could you tell us about them?

FB: I support any rescue or shelter that helps my real bun friends.  House Rabbit Society is one of those organizations.  They rescue buns and find them forever homes.  They help fund many shelters having trouble and educate humans about caring for bunnies.

Flat Bonnie can be found in many shades!

RS:  Do you have any other organizations that you recommend and why?

FB: I recommend "Make Mine Chocolate" because Easter Bunnies should not be real.  Many people give real buns to children at Easter, often they are soon abandoned.  Real buns are not toys.

Custom Flat Bonnie Lionhead Rabbit

RS:  Do you have anything specific you would like to share with our readers?

FB:  Hi!       Oh, and If you are lucky enough to have me in your home sometime, keep the camera ready.  I am always doing something cute, even if it is just napping!

(Editor's Note: Flat Bonnie has been seen all over the world and photos of her are posted on Facebook showing  how far-reaching Flat Bonnie has been. People who have the honor of adopting Flat Bonnie into their lives are encouraged to share their pictures of Flat Bonnie. See my own in this blog post and see Flat Bonnie's Face Book page here.)

RS: Thank you so much Flat Bonnie for taking the time to share with us during this interview.

FB: Thank you for interviewing me today, hop to see you soon.  Now can someone show me to the treats?

Flat Bonnie donates a portion of the sales to bunny/animal rescue organizations.

Please check out Flat Bonnie at her website! http://FlatBonnie.com

There are big links on that page for adopting a Flat Bonnie or to check out her blog!

I adopted this sweet Dutch Flat Bonnie after my other Flat Bonnie decide to live at the Rabbit Hill Inn

I am not receiving any compensation monetary or otherwise for this interview! I just love Flat Bonnie that much!   
Please "like" Rabbit Slippers Blog on Face Book to keep up with the latest postings and events.
You can also sign up by e-mail notices at the top right of the page. (Your privacy is important to Rabbit Slippers)
You can also follow through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs, both located in the right side bar.
Thank You.

Please visit the Rabbit Hop Shoppe for Rabbit-themed items and gifts!

Custom Agouti patterned Flat Bonnies

Little Lost Rabbit

Last fall, my husband was feeding some of our outdoor rabbits.  He felt movement at his feet as some of the extra rabbit pellets, hay and other goodies were falling from the containers in his hands.  He looked down and thought at first that a rabbit had escaped.  Down by his sandals, he felt and saw a tiny little black, gray and brown ball of fur moving about his feet.  He put down the food containers and went to pick up this little dark fluff that was beginning to display small rabbit ears!  He picked up the little bunny and quickly looked her over, just to make sure it wasn't one of ours, not being sure if I may have sneaked one in on him! 

The little ball of fluff seemed healthy, but hungry. Little Ball of Fluff was put in a carrier with a generous bowl of food, hay and water which the furball went right after voraciously. The little bunny seemed like it might be a Lion-head breed or Jersey Wooly by looks, or perhaps a combination. This rabbit was a sweet little creature, affectionate and seemingly grateful for the food and shelter at the moment. I checked her to see what her gender was revealing she was a female.  I took a walk around my neighborhood and nearby streets to see if anyone was missing a rabbit.  Behind my backyard, divided by a huge wood stockade fence, is a park with a playground, picnic area, a stream , baseball fields, tennis courts, and basketball court.  Needless to say, this area covers a vast amount of land.  There are some known predators in the area as well. I was trying to figure out if that is the direction the bunny may have come from. It didn't seem possible.  There weren't too many rabbit owners in the area. 

It was so amazing to me and to my husband that this little bunny found her way to our yard. I wonder if she could smell the bunnies we had, or the food and hay.  It really was quite a miracle that she found a safe haven in us out of other possibilities. Then I started thinking, that perhaps she was some type of gift, escaping a bad situation.

I was quickly becoming very attached to this bunny and hoping selfishly no one would claim her.  She was sweet and playful. I did bring her outside to see if my neighbor, who loved and sometimes rescued animals, had seen anyone looking for a bunny or if Little Ball of Fluff looked familiar to him.  No luck. My neighbor can be talkative, but I didn't mind standing in-between our houses listening to some of his extra talking because of the sweet little bunny I was holding, cuddling and trying to make feel safe.

Only through the corner of my eye, did I see a mini-van driving slowly by, but kept going.  Several more talkative minutes later did the mini-van pull up to near where my neighbor and I were standing. The woman in the passengers seat rolled down her window and asked if we saw or heard anyone mention anything about a little bunny in the area.  My heart sank as I walked closer and a little boy stuck his nose to the glass of the rear passenger side window. He looked very happy, opened the window and cried out, "Sable!!!".

He came out and took the bunny from my hands without saying a word to me. The woman explained that they'd been looking for days and they lived far on the other side of the huge park. I informed the woman of the bunny being fed, watered and taken care of. She didn't seem to care and rolled up her window. She gave a slight look as they pulled away.

As happy as I was that the little boy found his bunny, I felt saddened that the bunny was gone for I had fallen in love quickly. A thank you maybe would have helped me feel a little better too.  The family's rudeness was left not as noticed because of the trust that little bunny put in trying out our home area to find safety and refuge in. It was an honor to be chosen by the Little Lost Rabbit.



Please share your thoughts, stories, suggestions and  comments in the comments section below!

Please "like" our Facebook Page to keep up with new posts or to post more comments!
Please check out the Rabbit Hop Shoppe for Bunny Related items!
Thank You!

Things Don't Always Go As Planned...But that's okay! and some News!

Hello,

I wanted this post in the chronology of posts here to be one that was a follow-up to my anticipation of the trip to the Durham Fair, a wonderful agricultural fair. Well, I went and had a wonderful time...But...my camera case disappeared with equipment I have for downloading from camera to the computer to the blog.  I waited a couple of days after the fair hoping that the people that run the fair would tell me someone turned it in. Well, it didn't happen...to keep a long story short.

I will post later this week about the fair when that becomes a possibility (when I can add the photos!).  Although John Lennon is credited with saying it, I know the basic idea of the saying is an older one- Life is what happens, while you're busy making plans.  So, I wanted to share with you that there is going to be an all exclusive interview with Flat Bonnie herself!  This interview will be soon and I will give you notice! There is also a possibility of a follow-up interview with "Flat-Bonnie's CareTaker". That part is still in the works. I will let you know as soon as I can.  For a look at Flat Bonnie, she is featured in a former blog post.

I am also trying to set up some interviews with various groups and people who would be interest. I will let you know about these as they come up also! If you have any suggestions for people or groups you'd like to see on here, please let me know! If there is perhaps something you want to know more about, please let me know!
You can write about it in the comments or send me an e-mail at maryellen1163@gmail.com.  Please give me your imput.

Just as I had to adjust to life's mishaps, I thought I would leave by sharing this thought. Things don't always go as planned. Sometimes we have to look at it as a gift, an opportunity.  Sometimes things turn out much more pleasant or better than we anticipated or sometimes things go nothing like we want. We can have pleasant surprises or what seems like disappointments. One thing I have learned is that there is often a lesson in there somewhere. Not necessarily a moral lesson, but even some small insight that can be big later on.  I personally think some of my best lessons learned came from plans that didn't work out. It doesn't always hit you right away, but not until sometime later.It has helped me keep a more even and balanced look at things.

I hope that you have more of those gifts in those moments when you do experience them.
All the best,
Mary Ellen
 Please Visit the Rabbit Hop Shoppe!

Visit the Rabbit Hop Shoppe!

Looking forward to the Durham Fair...even in all the rain!

Durham Fair 2009

Hello again! 

Just wanted to share my enthusiasm for the Durham Fair, which is the largest Agricultural Fair in Connecticut!

I wrote about it a couple of years ago and wanted to share how excited I am this year to be going also. It makes me feel like a little kid!  I enjoy the feel of a simpler day and age, lots of homemade foods (local groups do a lot of fundraiser booths, unlike many other fairs!) as well as the regular fare of the fair.  I love the agricultural stuff such as big giant 300 pound  pumpkins and seeing wool being spun into yarn. It is supposed to rain every day of the fair and , in fact, all next week after the fair is over. But this won't dampen my spirits.  Funny, but one gets so distracted that one hardly notices the weather. There are so many tents and buildings that there is lots of shelter.  I don't remember the rain from other years it rained, but I do remember that it did rain because I remember talking about it.  One year, I do recall, they had to pull up the tents, put down huge pieces of gravel, to help promote drainage because there was that much torrential rain.

There is so much to enjoy. There are many educational things at this fair ranging from farmland trusts, to wildlife rehabilitation, to various crafts, to far-out stuff as well. There's the musical acts and vendors of crafts, vinyl siding and other stuff I don't need. There's also people that sell really odd curiousities and neat things as well. Also, I have been paid a dollar or two to sit and take a survey at a booth for Yale University Research. Geuss that is one way that get those "random samples" I studied about in Methods of Social Research and Research Methods classes.

There's big name musical acts and smaller venues as well.  I was excited to REO Speedwagon (not high quality picture on video) last year This year is Blues Traveler and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. All really neat stuff.  You really get a lot of bang for your buck. Granted some of the food can get costly, so I'll probably eat something before I go and pick out something that's a treat there that I don't get too often.  For fifteen dollars I'm getting a lot of entertainment and experiences in one place. It's a pretty good deal compared to the cost of a movie. I can spend as much or little time there as I want.  If I don't like one thing, I can go somewhere else and not feel disappointed as if I wasted any money.

I really look forward to sharing some of my experiences with you from there. Here is a link to the post I wrote a couple of years ago about the fair with some pictures.  There is a cute video near the end of it also with some baby pigs and their mom dealing with getting enough food.  Enjoy.

Please share with me about fairs that you go to. I would love to hear about exciting or interesting things below in the comments section!

I hope you join me again soon. Thanks for dropping by!
Mary Ellen

A Peek at A Few of the Rabbits at Rabbit Hill Inn

Hello,
If you are a Bunn-a-holic like myself, you are in for a treat of getting a peek of some of the rabbits from the Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, Vermont.  Almost anything rabbit-related in the form of adornment or decoration can be found in almost every nook and cranny of every room of the Inn. Everything about Rabbit Hill Inn is magical anyway. The memories of my stay there in August will stay with me forever. I am not getting paid to say this or anything else positive about this place. I will post about my actual stay there soon-it is probably going to be prime season for staying there very soon for leaf-peeping season.  Today, I will show you some of the bunnies I saw.

Even after a week of staying there, I know I did not catch all of those mystical long-earred creature representations there. I remember commenting to Brian Mulcahy (one of the innkeepers), once, there about how I keep finding more there every time I turn around.  He just smiled and said, "There are a lot and they keep multiplying!".  The truth is- they do!  Several figurines and stuffed animals have names on their bottoms or on a tag of people who were so inspired to give a gift of a bunny to the inn. These are everywhere!  On shelves, tables, at meals (even rabbit-shaped butter pats!), beds, on the walls (wait til you see the wallpaper photo!), statues, benches, in the sidewalk!  I even gave one of my prized rabbits to this multiplying collection.

Well, here they are: The ones I actually caught on film! Click on any photo to see it larger!

Bunny in the sidewalk up entryway

The black silhouette bunny that greeted us after a wearily long trip

A pewter bunny napkin ring

Click to enlarge

See all the bunnies at the buffet part of breakfast

Rabbit picture behind lantern

Rabbit under deer

A gift shop area for bunn-a-holics

A gift shop area for bunn-a-holics

A gift shop area for bunn-a-holics

A gift shop area for bunn-a-holics w/creamers and other great bunny things

A Lace Bunny

Cutout Bunnies

Rabbit Illustration

Watering Can

The Wallpaper!

The Garden Bunny Bench

Bunny to right of Dining Room Fireplace

Another view of the bunny bench.

Top bunny we "gifted" to Rabbit Hill Inn &a friend!

Bunny next to the Rabbit Hill Inn Sign

A copy of children's book "Rabbit Hill"

Some of my bunnies look like this.

Pewter Napkin Ring on it's own.

One of my favorites

A food mold of some sort?

I do have some more which I may show in a future post when sharing about the wonderful stay there, but I hope you enjoyed meeting some of the multitudes of multipliers! Going through that place everyday made it difficult to not stop and look at a bunny.  It is a bunderful place to visit and stay, even if you don't care one way or the other about bunnies.

Please share what you think about the bunnies or if you stayed there in the comments section. Do you have a rabbit collection or collection of anything that reflects a passion? Have you ever encountered a collection of rabbits somewhere else?  I would love to hear your story or comment! Please share in the comments below!

Hope you are having a Hoppy Day!
Mary Ellen
 Please "like" this blog on Facebook

Please visit The Rabbit Hop Shoppe   and  Lifescapes