The Fierce, Bad Rabbit; Taming the Hormonal Bun

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He's Intact, He's Bad, He's Obnoxious,
and He's Not Happy

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Elvis, the King of Rock - Sneering Rocker & Rock's Original Bad Boy as a Rocker Rabbit Incarnation! A bunny rabbit!

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Elvis King of Rock Whimsical Sneering Rabbit Collectible Magazine Cover Rock's Original Bad Boy

Good evening folks, Thumper Thompson here. I know I've been away but now, I'm back for good. That's right, never gonna leave again. I'll take over the main posting authorship and instead of the farewell salutation of that Rabbit Photog, which looks like this:

Tread lightly,

-RP

You'll see me signing off thus:

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onward in the everlasting search of the rocker rabbit and those three chords,

TST

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I hope that's a satisfactory introduction to my assumption of full time writing duties as Senior Writer for Running Bun Magazine. Yeah, that's right, I have my own FaceBook page at the link there so why don't ya stop by and like my page while you're at it. That's cool, thanks man.

Now to the news. As you can see from the headline of this blog post, the first official cover for 2014 from Running Bun Magazine features Elvis Parsley, the King of Rock and Roll. He's featured as a young Elvis bun of the castor red mini rex rabbit variety. His press photo for the cover of Running Bun Magazine shows him sneering like an angry 50's rebel. This is young Elvis Parsley from before when Hollywood directors decided he should dye his hair black.

That would almost overshadow his other wise Scandinavian features which would normally be betrayed with the origin of the meaning of his name. Elvis, in short, means Elf, like in Santa Claus, the King of the Elves. But this is not Santa Claus, this is Elvis Parsley, the King of Rock in the Rocker Rabbit multi-verse.

I can't keep that stuff straight so let me cut to the chase, the big brouhaha of bunnies. Here's some publicity art to go with it that the graphics department gave me. Oh, right, I mean the photography department.

Here it is:

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Elvis King of Rock Whimsical Sneering Rabbit Collectible Magazine Cover Rock's Original Bad Boy

Running Bun Magazine Special Edition Rock's Original Bad Boy issue featuring Elvis Parsley rabbit. You remember don't you? The pelvis binkies that shook the world, scandalized television airwaves and probably also caused some of those fanquakes similar to Marshawn Lynch's beastquake (see blog link for more info: http://runningbunmagazine.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-secret-voice-of-rabbits-part-deux.html ).

Well here's the rocker rabbit who started it all: Elvis Parsley, the King of Rock.

This Special Edition's Running Bun Magazine headlines include a look at Jailhouse Rocker Rabbits, a gold record discography with such hit songs as "Don't Be Cruel to a Jailhouse Rocker Rabbit," an exposé of the famous Elvis entourage group, the Memphis Owsla, and last but best, Pelvis Binkies that Shook the World about those gyratin' bunny hips that shocked the world and even got a sneer out of Ed Sullivan.

Aside from all of these wonderful headlines from the rocker rabbit multi-verse, there is the gorgeously shot breathtakingly handsome and darling, wonderful rabbit photography of a castor red mini rex rabbit sneering at all the world as he responds to his photographer.

The spirit of Elvis Presley seems to be manifesting for a brief flash of a strobe moment on the adorable and highly whimsical fine art photograph of this lagomorph's visage. Shot against a background of capsicum spiked hot chocolate or a rustic amber, it is reminiscent of Elvis the Pelvis in the days before Hollywood dyed his strawberry blond hair to black. This is Elvis Parsley while still a ginger, really, in all his Southern glory. And that sneer, the signature gesture of Elvis for all time is right here perfectly embodied in the face of one of those famously disapproving rabbits like only mini rexes can do it. It's undeniable, just look at him!

So, for this glimpse into the rocker rabbit universe, Elvis Parsley is the King of Rock. And he's just as gloriously dashing as a red, shale colored castor mini rex bunny rabbit as you could ever imagine (now c'mon, you can imagine that right?) Good for you!

Covers are 10" x 14" and signed by the photographer/designer. They are printed on premium fine art 'velvet' paper made of 100% cotton. Printed on the world's premier gicléé printer.

We can't say enough about the stunningly better than lifelike quality of our photo prints produced in our shop. 100% handmade from eco friendly 100% cotton fine art paper.

Thank you for stopping by and if you made it this far and still want to know more about this rocker rabbit business, definitely check us out here: http://runningbunmagazine.blogspot.com because our esteemed social critic, Dr. Thumper S. Thompson, and staff photographer, Rabbit Photog, are always writing about their adventures. Tread lightly. -RP
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onward in the everlasting search of the rocker rabbit and those three chords,

TST

 -Thumper S. Thompson

All content and images © Running Bun Magazine. Use without permission prohibited.

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The Secret Voice of Rabbits, Part Deux

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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?)

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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Prelude to The Secret Voice of Rabbits

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Secret Voices of Animals and Math

Hello fellow rabbit lovers and animal lovers. It looks like publication is becoming more monthly. I think that is a better solution for this busy RabbitPhotog and her sidekick, social critic Thumper S. Thompson. We're very busy watching the waves of the future, you see, and picking out which ones of them we want to embrace in this particular rabbit multiverse. Handpicked parallel multiverses, curated for you by two very different, alternative personalities required to exist today in a totally schizo world full of gross injustice, social inequality, and speciesism. Hurrah!

Incredible New Technology

I wanted to make you aware of this new technology which analyzes the brain waves of dogs and uses some pretty heavy duty math to recognize the patterns and match them up to the thought involved. That's right. Hogwash, you might say but the technology exists right now to use thoughts to command machines through a computer interface. If you didn't know that, then you are behind the times. And it's beyond the scope of this one blog post to catch you up. But it's true.

Do You Hear What I Hear? 

And now a group of Scandinavian scientists are breaking a new barrier. But here, take a look at this ***ARTICLE AND WATCH THE VIDEO*** and then come back here, and I'll tell you how, as soon as I saw it, I knew they were about to change things forever.

Back? Ok, good. Now the part of the video when I knew they were really on to something was when they showed someone holding up one of those quote bubbles next to the dog's head and the quite was, "Who are you?" 

Many times, MagicMan and I will be sitting in our backyard on our swing while we are outside with our dogs to play fetch. Our brother and sister German Shepherds don't get along so they are never out at the same time. Our old collie mix, Macintosh and boy GSD, Rocky, come out together and then the girl GSD, Jessie, and her Schipperke mate, Felix, come out together. While Rocky and Mac are out, Jessie, whose inside waiting in her crate, will protest with sad howls until it's her turn to come out. Ever since we first rescued them, we have witnessed this drama. Jessie tries to imitate human speech just like the husky, Mischka, I told you about in a previous post. Correction, I shouldn't say she tries to 'imitate' human speech. I should say she attempts to enunciate English using the inadequate (for speech) muzzle of a German Shepherd. She does manage to get the message across though. She is clearly yelling to us, "I don't love you, I don't love you," over and over. You see, dogs live in the moment and when you appear to show favor to their rival, they don't love you at that moment.

Jessie's howls of this message sound sad rather than angry. And they make me sad to hear her declaring she doesn't love me. So as I throw the highly coveted Kong ball to her brother, I call back to her as imploringly as I can, trying to appeal to her higher dog self who is less jealous, "But Jessie, I love you and I love you so much and you know I'm going to throw ball for you next as long as you want. Don't you know I love you, Jessie?" Usually, she will start whimpering a little more softly and eventually stop with the harsh declarations of, "I don't love you!" And of course, then there are the times when she is about to come out to play and is loudly howling, "I love you! I love you!" which is great,

In this same manner, I have noticed after years of listening to the happy hour howl fest which goes on around our neighborhood, that the dogs are all barking a certain number of times, each which is a symbol for a word. They are barking I sets of four successive barks, "I don't know you! I don't know you!" much of the time as people walk by or a strange dog is being walked out on the street. But they also bark to each other quite regularly because they do know their neighboring dogs quite well. And that bark is just three successive barks, "I know you! I know you!" In days gone by, we had other dogs and other neighbors and those dogs all said the same thing. That's right, they "said" the same thing.

So do you think I'm nuts? Well, fine, I really am not worried about it, especially now since the folks at "No More Woof!" are going to prove I'm right. So if you do think I'm nuts, I suggest you enjoy your last days of ignorant bliss because, as Nostradamus said, "when the animals will be heard to speak," everything changes, everything.

And, yes, I have heard rabbits speak, too. So there. But I'll tell you about that later. Happy holidays and  Happy New Year.

Tread lightly,

-RP

 -RabbitPhotog

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Bun Jovi: Keep the Faith

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The Evolution of the House Rabbit

Ancient History

The origin of keeping rabbits in the hutch came not long after their domestication about three thousand years ago to be a food source for the Romans. Ancient Phoenicians invading the area now known as Spain found such large numbers of these lagomorphs living on the hillsides, they christened this land 'Hispania' - which translates into the Latin word for rabbit.1 Through their conquests and seafaring, Roman domestication of these hardy mammals helped propagate the globe with descendants of the European lagomorpha.

The Kitchen Hutch 


The hutch design we think of today in its traditional form, with top-opening pitched lid and wire mesh bottom on stilts, was kept in the kitchen of large estate homes and palaces so kitchen staff would have the evening meal handy for the slaughter while probably also affording service staff and their children with a temporary pet. Eventually the hutch moved outside as homes got smaller during the rise of the Middle Class in the Victorian era. The idea of keeping rabbits as house pets probably began in this age as the fad of keeping pets in general became popular and possible for more people. No longer suffering from such vast social class division as they had in the age of aristocracies before the French revolution, Western society became more affluent and so did the rabbit's disposition amongst us. Around the beginning of the 20th century, we have evidence of the first house kept rabbit as pets in the West. The rabbit hutch is truly a vestige of the Dark Ages of rabbit history as a food and fur animal.

Generally speaking, backyard hutch rabbits are considered livestock and house rabbits are considered pets. In keeping with the livestock versus family member argument, perhaps the number one reason not to keep a rabbit confined in an outside hutch is due to an overall low quality of life. In the wild, the European rabbit from which all pet rabbits are descended live in very large (150 or more) social groups in complex, underground warrens much like prairie dog cities. In the tunnels of these deep earthen burrows, the temperature and humidity is fairly constant year round. Thus the rabbit is designed only to endure a controlled climate, so to speak.

These two rabbits share a salad on their warm spot on the hearth. They are cherished pets and will live to a ripe old age.

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In an outside hutch, the poor rabbit suffers through extremes of weather - especially in the summer. Nature's design for the rabbit to cool himself is through his huge, wafer thin upright earlobes. These earlobes have hence been genetically engineered, by chance or design, by humans to be smaller and shorter or even flop over as with lop breeds. Unable to cool himself naturally, the hutch rabbit is especially vulnerable to death by heatstroke. Similarly, in the winter, without multiple comrades to snuggle, he cannot keep sufficiently warm and may freeze to death or suffer frostbite of the extremities which ultimately also leads to death. And even if hutch bound with others of his kind, the hutch rabbit still does not have sufficient protection against wind and freezing rain like he would in an underground burrow.

Many people think our domesticated rabbits are the same species as American hares or cottontails and therefore they are well-suited for a life outdoors. They are not. The American hares, or cottontails, have evolved differently and lead vastly different lives having adapted in very different ways. The two species cannot interbreed with their European cousins and even if by some freak of nature they should be mate, the pairing would produce sterile offspring. Domestication has not only changed the body shape of the rabbit and affected his ability to run, defend, cool and warm himself, it has also caused a loss of vital natural instinct so critical for a rabbit to survive in his wild, natural state at the bottom of the food chain.

Terror from Above 


Extremes of weather are hardly the only peril of the hutch rabbit. Most rabbits will die of a heart attack at the mere sight or sound of a predator. And many people do not stop and think about just how many predators the rabbit attracts. Any breed of dog may be interpreted as a predator by the hutch rabbit even though many breeds of dogs can live happily and healthily beside the house rabbit with proper training. The same goes for felines. But the list does not stop there. The sound or sight of a hawk or owl overhead can cause a heart attack in these fragile prey animals. And don't think you don't have any raptors where you live. The peregrine falcon has made a huge comeback in recent years as well as the bald eagle and owls as well are thriving. Though rarely seen, in many urban and suburban areas, raptors are widespread.

Also ubiquitous now though also rarely seen is the dreaded coyote but the predators we are most familiar with and who pose the most dire and immediate threat in most cases is the raccoon. The raccoon is the most successful mammal in North America, even more so than humans as they outnumber us 6 to 1, 2 and they love to eat the toes of rabbits even if that's all they can reach through the wire mesh of a hutch. Raccoons, whose paws contain more nerve endings than our human eyes, 3 are highly intelligent and have been known to pry open many types of cages to steal their prey. In rural areas, garbage cans must be kept in padlocked cages to thwart the attempts of this crafty omnivore. Most hutch rabbits are not even kept as secure as garbage in these outlying areas! Badgers, skunks, rats, bobcats, bears, and weasels are just part of the list of enemies of the hutch rabbit. Can you possibly protect any animal from all of these successful and determined predators?

There is one more predator, however, from which the hutch rabbit is entirely indefensible. Flies. Several species of flies will attack the rabbit and burrow into his flesh to lay eggs. Maggots are born shortly afterward and feast on the flesh of the rabbit causing infection, abscess, and certain death without immediate medical attention. The signs of this type of infestation are extremely difficult to detect in the early stages and few if any children (and some adults) possess the powers of observation to note this condition. Perhaps there is no more ignoble demise than flystrike during a searing summer when the rabbit becomes a living corpse. Wire-bottomed cages and hutches invariably produce sore hock conditions on the rabbit's feet which is a perfect entry point for fly infestation. Sore hocks alone can cause bone infection and result in the need for amputation.

Even more difficult to detect than this are blood parasites thought to be carried by all rabbits which strike opportunistically when the immune system is compromised. A hutch bound, depressed, and lonely rabbit's immune system is compromised by default and this is the perfect victim for microbial takeover by the dreaded protozoan e. cuniculi or the bacteria pasteurella, to name but a few.

This is Fiona. She was originally a hutch rabbit and then went into rabbit rescue for several years. She was adopted and spent her golden years lounging on a warm hearth in a household where she was loved by all.

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A Warm Spot on the Hearth, A Warm Place in Your Heart 


Even if a hutch bound rabbit should be kept in the nicest barn or garage or sundeck, the social needs of the rabbit cannot be met even if kept in groups of two, three, or more. The space required for any mammal to properly socialize cannot be provided with any cage and the ability to properly socialize with humans cannot be achieved through these remote living conditions. To be a part of the family and accept and trust humans, rabbits should be kept under the same roof as you. Cohabitation of a shelter structure such as a house is the greatest evidence of love and acceptance and the very definition of a pet. A companion animal is one with whom you live in your house not one for whom you have to put on snow boots and a parka to visit in your backyard. So with all of these considerations, what is your relationship with your rabbit? Is he livestock or a companion? If you asked him, what do you think he would say?

1 McBride, A. (1998) Why Does My Rabbit? Chapter 2, p. 24. Souvenir Press 

2 Life of Mammals, David Attenborough 
3 ibid.


 -RabbitPhotog
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The Secret Voice of Rabbits

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Nightmares and Parrot Wannabe's

Late, Like a White Rabbit

Hello again bunny peeps! It's me, RP, RabbitPhotog, and sorry for being so slow to get back to this series; The Secret Voice of Rabbits. I was getting ready to write this post right before Halloween but got delayed. So the day after Halloween, or rather on November 2, the Day of the Dead, or All Soul's Day, I had an eerie reminder to do it.

You see here at our little bunny photography studio, MagicMan (my photography assistant, rabbit handler, keeper, and spousal unit) and I noticed a long time ago that bunny rabbits love  movies. Oh, they love some TV shows, too, but mostly they love movies. They like the kind of movies in which the people talk to each other a lot. Not argumentative characters arguing a lot (although when done just so by top Hollywood talent, they do seem to love a good argument) but characters just having good, genuine conversations. One example is Miss Potter! But you know, we'll come back to that as I just know my esteemed bunny social critic, Thumper S. Thompson will want to weigh on that and he'd be upset with me for blazing any trails on that topic. So look for that down the road, folks.

A scene from "Miss Potter," (left) and Beatrix Potter's original pencil drawing from which this scene is taken.

So we have TV's with DVD players spread about the place so the bunnies can view some great entertainment. Mostly, it's horse movies like Seabiscuit, Secretariat, and War Horse, and literally a dozen others (after all, TST says horses are just really big bunnies!). But, as usual, I digress. The point in mentioning this was that on Halloween night, we watched a good Halloween movie, Fright Night. MagicMan likes it because he's a huge Dr. Who fan. Along with Colin Farrell, Fright Night stars David Tennant, who, MagicMan says played the best Dr. Who. I have to agree as I think he's probably the best actor to yet play that part.

 

The Scream

During Fright Night, as in any vampire movie, there's lots of screaming by the women victims. And then the night after watching it, we woke up in terror when we heard one if these screams right next to us! Imagine, we woke to hear a rabbit screaming! Rabbits only ever scream when they think their life is in danger, what was going on! I could tell it was coming from MagicMan's favorite little kooky, goofball buddy rabbit, Magic (yes, MagicMan's favorite bunny's name is Magic, coinkydink?). Was he having a nightmare? Did the movie we'd just watched the night before give him nightmares? We would never want him to watch anything that gave him nightmares!

No, Magic wasn't having a nightmare. He was wide awake when he let out his scream, although it wasn't a really loud one, a rabbit scream is truly loud and this was not. It was...almost like a mimic of a scream, a taunting type of sound. In his younger years, when he first came to us, this quirky little albino bunny did used to have nightmares and he did used to sometimes wake up screaming from those nightmares which, you can imagine, scared the bejesus out of us. So why was he taunting us and purposely scaring us?

A Rabbit Parody of Edvard Munch's The Scream

Magic had come from a very scary situation where someone had over 100 rabbits running around a small, suburban home breeding out of control. Almost all the rabbits taken from that situation were albino and the rest solid black as this is what happens with severe inbreeding. Many had parts of their ears missing as well, but for the most part, they were all in good health, probably because they were still pretty young. 

So here Magic came. He no longer had to fight over food with other rabbits, no longer had to fight over territory or anything. He has his own spacious custom-designed domain and a human who dotes on him like the way Tom Waits' character in Seven Psychopaths dotes on his albino rabbit. His nightmares lingered for a while after first coming here but then as he acclimated to the sound of several large parrots in the next room, the nightmares went away.

MagicMan and MagicRabbit cuddle on the bed.
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In becoming part of a family of avid movie fans, he, along with the other bunnies, watched lots of movies and TV shows and was carefully desensitized to them. Part of my background as an animal photographer includes an advanced understanding of operant conditioning, i.e., animal behavior, so the bunnies were carefully desensitized to scary movies over time. Movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy with the Orcs, Uruk Hai, and whatnot, were part of that program. This went beautifully and many hilarious stories arose from the experience. 

Of Mimicry and Puppetry

All the bunnies became quickly aware that there is a very real thing such as talking animals. Not only that, but the ones who talk, do so very loudly. And if you think parrots don't know what they're talking about, then I suggest you read up on Alex the African Grey and free your mind, man (as TST would say). Don't think that your bunnies don't know what's going on either. Just last year, the top minds in science declared that animals are as aware as humans. With that comes a certain species jealousy which develops when an animal is first confronted with an intelligent, vocal parrot. When one of my parents' dogs first met my then young Amazon parrot, and was greeted with a hearty "Hello!", the dog, a highly intelligent poodle, looked shocked, ran off and sat in the corner facing the wall like he would do whenever he was being ridiculed. I felt sorry for the little fellow as I could sense his embarrassment and shame for not having a mouth which could easily speak words. But there are dogs that talk, too, and quite well. Like Mischka, the husky. Maybe you've even seen Mischka in one of her TV commercials for a bank!

The bunnies are no different. They listen and absorb what's going on around them and try to tell us things. Little Magic bunny has told us a couple of times now that he does have a pretty good sense of humor, and that he is completely desensitized to scary movies but that he also knows we are not desensitized to scary bunnies! So he will, very seldom, scare the pantaloons off of us with a fake scare by mimicking a scream now and then. We've noticed it's usually a day or two after we watch a scary movie (as we are not in the habit of watching this genre) but then, again, maybe he's being a movie critic, of sorts, in doing this. Or maybe he just gets a big kick out of scaring us! We know he has a great sense of humor, as many rabbits do, because of the way he uses his ceramic pellet and water crocks to imitate our Tibetan Singing Bowls alarm clock if we haven't set it. Yea, and he knows exactly when it would have gone off if, indeed, it had been set. I digress again! The point is, Magic Rabbit is a pretty magical guy with a wicked sense of humor. ¹

The point is, rabbits scream. But they may not just scream when they think they're about to be killed. Sometimes, if they feel very secure in their environment, and if it's a very stimulating environment in which they must really exude their personality to compete with showy and show off parrots, they may scream just to have fun watching your reaction. Or, maybe it's to get even with those loud birds. Maybe. The birds all love the bunnies, and the largest of our parrots even used to have a bunny as a pet. The bunny would sleep every night in the bottom of the parrot's cage and the parrot would very carefully do his business in a far corner of the cage. He would toss her some of his pellets, too.

But that's another story for another day. In my next post in this series, The Secret Voice of Rabbits, I'll talk about just one of the secret things you can tell your rabbit to help the both of you make a much better bunny photo. And I still haven't even gotten to the part about their secret voices! All in good time. Meanwhile, I'm pretty busy bonding some bunnies right now so I know Thumper S. Thompson will step in here to pinch hit for me with another post soon.

Until then, tread lightly!

-RP


¹ "Anthropomorphism is a theory which presupposes its own validity." -Dr. Donald R. Griffin, Animal Minds

 -RabbitPhotog

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Enter the Rabbit Hole

RabbitPhotog here, stepping in yet again for Thumper S. Thompson, Senior Writer of Running Bun Magazine. Where the heck is TST? Is he in Las Vegas? Hiding in the shadows of Owl Farm? Lurking around the campaign trail? Or maybe protecting Jimmy Carter from swamp rabbits down in Georgia? 

Let me take a brief segué here to mention he might very well be protecting Prez Jimmy Carter from swamp rabbits down Georgia way. You know he loves Jimmy Carter, ever since he heard the man quote Bob Dylan in a campaign speech all those years ago. It's not every day politicians quote folk singers, much less the heir to Woody Guthrie's soulfire found smouldering in the personage of Robert Zimmerman. But maybe you didn't know about all the glowing embers the swamp rabbit drenched during that story? Rest assured, TST will enlighten you later down the road on those twisted tales.

President Jimmy Carter shoos off a swamp rabbit attack (far upper right)

Suffice it to say, TST is indisposed until later this month until after his favorite holiday, which also starts with a T and during which he devours huge amounts of that avian meat analog known as Tofurky. It can be hard to find the Tofurky Vegan Feast this time of year, and so perhaps, he is out there rooting and snooting for it. Yea, that's it.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, me, RabbitPhotog, owes you dear reader, another tome promised in the series which is coming to be known as The Secret Voice of Rabbits. So let us enter the rabbit hole.

Oh, but wait! This is a perfect time to mention our 2014 Official Running Bun Magazine calendar! We are even treated here to a glimpse of the cover which features a rabbit hole entrance with hulky looking Mini Rex bunny rabbit peering down into it from the grassy plains above. These fantastic calendars feature a different rock star rabbit each month as they appeared on the cover of Running Bun Magazine. There are also some out take shots from each if the photo shoots of that month's rock star rabbit. And found only here in this calendar, each rock star rabbit's bio and stats. That means their real life name before entering rock star rabbitdom, the sad story from whence they came, and the tantalizing tidbits of their personal happily ever after. 

January features the incomparable Buno of U2. February has the beautiful Bunoncé's cover and headlines about her being Dangerously in Love with Bun-Z and out take shots of her onstage dance moves. March takes a look at a modern day Fierce, Bad Rabbit á la Beatrix Potter's famous tale. April is the mouth watering Mr. Chocolate who melts on your wall and not in your hands. 

May is drop dead gorgeous Bink!(y), the fabulous animal welfare advocate with her gentle, loppy gaze. June is awesomely magical with The Gloved One (do we really need to say which bun is this?) showing out take shots of him dancing the MoonHop! 

July is the dapper and dashing crooner, Harry Bunnick, Jr. who also starred in the legendary science fiction thriller, Independence Day. August features the angelic empress rabbit rescue icon, Glenna the Good, whose tragic tale still evokes tears from some and inspires others (like myself, her photographer). September's Back to School cover has none other than our own Thumper S. Thompson with the only ever photographic stop action thump shot! Truly legendary! October's cover is the original down and dirty rock star rabbit, Muck Digger of the Running Buns sticking out his tongue in total irreverence. November mellows out with Splash of Buns n Noses as he awaits the cold November rain and last but never, ever least is Bun Jovi just in time for a holiday prayer as in Livin' on a Prayer!

How can you resist? Currently, we only have five of these in stock, so get yours before they're gone. Thanks! And the proceeds will all go towards helping us help our rock star rabbits! And we do a lot for them. 

So as the calendar cover says, Follow Me, let's go down the rabbit hole together. And I will have to continue this post later in the week. That's when I'll talk about the secret to getting that scared rabbit's ear up from being flat on his head to standing up tall and proud. 

 -RabbitPhotog
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