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The Rabbit Rainbow Coalition
and Earthquakes
Hello again and welcome to another installment of our Secret Voice of Rabbits series. I've been real busy with all of my many duties as RabbitPhotog of this Running Bun Magazine and it seems I've been abandoned by our illustrious "social critic" of the rabbit multi-verse, the eminent Dr. Thumper S. Thompson, so I'll just try to hold the fort down by myself. With all that's been going on in Colorado recently, I think it would be safe to bet that Thompson is hopping around at Owl Creek bleary-eyed and looking a bit like one of the red eyed whites than the handsome golden lilac lynx colored Netherland Dwarf rabbit. No doubt he is hopping in zig zaggy fashion all around the place and celebrating what he had hoped, oh so long ago, to help pass into law when he ran for election to the Owsla. As we know, he was narrowly defeated but helped pave the way for more progressive agenda in his county and also helped to rat out the big money influences which defeated him. So I don't begrudge him the celebrating over the recent legalization of his favorite grass hay in his home county. I just hope, for the sake of his neighbors, that he doesn't go around shooting poops out of his butt too much and maybe hurt himself, his butt, or anybun else.At some point, though, I know he will run out of money and no doubt come shyly hopping back to work as carrots aren't free and neither is that other stuff. Ya hear me doc? Don't forget about us, we will need you back in good time so hope you're having just that in the meanwhile.
Rocky Mountain Highs and Earthquakes on Mt. Rainier
There is a little known species of lagomorph I'd like to bring your attention to today as I think he has been making some news lately in the "real world" (and I say "real world" with a bit of a snort because, well, it just sounds like an oxymoron to those of us hopping from universe to universe here in the rabbit multi-verse.) It appears the extremely rare and elusive volcano rabbit may have been sighted at Mt. Rainier! And not only that, he may have caused a recent earthquake in Seattle! You've never heard of the volcano rabbit? Well hop on, dear reader, you know I'll gladly share that with you. |
| Romerolagus Diazi: The Volcano Rabbit |
Here is a nice photo of this very rare, unique rabbit from my good friends over at the Edge of Existence. They are a fantastic group of folks (as hoomins go) who do a lot to help endangered species and are also the folks who provide the awesome, fabulous iPhone app InstantWild (which is simply my fave!) It is an app which brings you live feeds from numerous wildlife camera traps around the world and is really kickin'. As an animal photographer, I love InstantWild and am rewarded now and then with the appearance of a rabbit or hare hamming it up for the wildlife cameras. Check it out and download the app, it's free and start helping endangered species today!
But I digress. You see in this photo above what is a species of real rabbit (as opposed to a hare mistaken, as usual, by most people to be a rabbit which is not the same species and can't even interbreed with them) that is the only rabbit in its genus. That means that it is a rabbit, it's in the rabbit family scientifically speaking but it's not related to your house rabbit or wild European rabbits or any other type of rabbit, and there are a number of other types of unrelated rabbit genus's or genera (proper form of plural genus).
This scrappy looking fellow looks kind of primitive, doesn't he? That's because he is a primitive type of rabbit which developed independently of the other genera of rabbits since way back when hares and rabbits had a common ancestor about, oh, 38 million years ago. Until now, the volcano rabbit has only been known to inhabit the volcanic highlands around Mexico City and nowhere else on Earth! Talk about a unique rabbit? Well you know what they say about unique rabbits, right? How do you catch them? You 'nique up on them, Mwah ha ha! (Hey look, I'm not the esteemed rabbit "social critic," he's up in his own highlands right now and I'm the only one tending the shop so can I have a break? Thanks.)
Here's another gorgeous photo of the volcano rabbit by Javier Lascurain over at Arkive.org - a fantastic wildlife photography charity! Pretty cool, huh? You bet! Isn't that a gorgeous little bunny even if he is pretty much the Fred Flintstone of bunnies? He really rather looks like a pika, don't you think? You might think why would these rabbits develop only around volcanos? Maybe they like it warm or maybe they like the exotic, nutrient rich grass grown in volcanic soil (calm down, Thumper S. Thompson! I can hear your excited thumps from here?)
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| Volcano Rabbit ©Javier Lascurain |
Volcano Rabbit Sighted at Mt. Rainier!
Time for a confession, dear reader. I am a huge Seattle Seahawks fan and I'm really hoping they pummel the San Francisco 49ers this coming weekend for the big playoff game, the NFC championship. Why am I a Seahawks fan when I live all the over on the East coast? It's just a lovely town with very sweet people, incredible coffee, salmon, and a music scene history like no other. Anyway, maybe you've heard about the record setting earthquakes that happen regularly out there due to the rabid fans? They happen during the Seahawks games, especially when Marshawn Lynch has a big play. There was one famous earthquake caused by Marshawn Lynch's big touchdown via the 12th Man (better known as Seahawks fans) shouting and stomping loudly at the play they call the "BeastQuake." This past weekend, Lynch caused yet another touchdown-related earthquake or "BeastQuake"! When Lynch scores big, it a rainbow of Skittles showers the stadium as the fans throw Lynch his favorite treat or "power pellet," as his mama calls them.But here's the secret behind all this. Marshawn Lynch and the 12th Man didn't cause those earthquakes near Mt. Rainer. A rabbit did. The extremely rare, highly endangered volcano rabbit whose gene pool is so depleted that this one lone volcano rabbit was born albino and not only that, he hopped a plane from Mexico City and settled down right inside the beautiful Mt. Rainer. It's just a coincidence that he is a Seahawks fan, too, and gets so excited when the 'Hawks score, like he did in this video. It's his celebratory snort and stomp which causes the Earthquake, not Marshawn. Sorry 'Hawks fans. It's not the 12th Man. But I guess you could call him the 12th Rabbit.
Sorry folks, I couldn't resist what with being a big Seahawks fan, and the whole BeastQuake thing. I promise I'll get back to business and get serious about this series, the Secret Voice of Rabbits. Promise! Until then,
Tread lightly,
-RP
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