Bonnie,
I am sorry for your loss. While we have none right now, My wife and I have had many rabbit pets over the years: Rabbit 1 (New Zealand), Rabbit II (Black Satin), Little One ( New Zealand), Peter, (Flemish Giant),
Zorro (New Zealand), Ciarro, (Himalayan) and last, but not in the least, Chester, (Brown Dutch). The average life span of pet rabbits is 6 to 8 years, depending on breed. Chester, beat the odds, living to the ripe old age of 13 years 9 months. The longest record of longevity for rabbits of any breed is 15 years. Chester was a real exceptional rabbit.
For the record, here is a picture of Peter, the Flemish Giant (25 pounds) with my wife, Karen taken in spring, 1969.
Our interest in rabbits extended to collectable rabbit figurines, of which we have many.
Once the subject of rabbits is brought up, I must relate two true stories, hopefully one will make you feel a little better in this time of your loss.
Story number one (True).
Around 1969 the following news item I personally heard on WLS radio out of Chicago (I was then living in Champaign, Illinois): " An employee of Argonne National Laboratories, where experiments were being made with growth hormones on rabbits, transporting a specimen rabbit on which studies had been completed to the Brookfield zoo, was injured when the rabbit he was carrying in his lap was startled by a backfireing truck and began kicking him. The rabbit weighed 48 pounds."
Story number 2: (I swear it to be true).
A friend related this story to me:
The neighbors had a pet rabbit, Muffins, upon which they doted, especially their 10 year old daughter. One day, while these neighbors were away, my friend noticed their dog Buster playing with something. A closer inspection revealed to their aghast that their dog's plaything was MUFFIN! Muffin had undeniably seen the "black rabbit of Inle and had crossed over ( see Watership Down). What to do?!!! Thoughts of the neighbor's 10 year old daughter blaming buster for her pet rabbit's demise clouded his thought process. Regaining coherence, he carefully cleaned up and replaced Muffin in her hutch, and tied up Buster, hoping the neighbor would assume Muffin had died of natural causes.
All was well..... until, upon his neighbor's return, he got a knock on the door. You guessed.. the neighbor.
"Bob", the neighbor began, "I've got the most amazing mystery, regarding Muffin!" Bob's heart sank. Before he could begin to apologise, his neighbor continued.... "Muffin died last week. We buried her in the woods . But she has reappeared in her hutch, all cleaned up... What on earth could account for this?????????
