Bertha and Vincent (The Big Red Rabbits)They really are big and red. Bertha, on the left, is about 14 lbs and Vincent is around 10 lbs.Rabbits make very interesting and affectionate pets. They bond closely both with other bunnies and to humans. |
Bertha
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Vinnie
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You may have noticed the strong similarities between these rabbits and potatoes. Like potatoes, the rabbits are often found on couches. The rabbits' rotund form and russet color are also remarkably like a spud. European wild rabbits, the ancestors of all domestic rabbits, live in large colonies called "warrens" --- read "Watership Down" for a fanciful glimpse of life in a warren. Similarly, potatoes are often found in large colonies called "sacks." One difference, of course, is the sense organs. Potatoes have many small, irregular eyes, while bunnies have two large, bilaterally symmetric ears designed to receive television broadcasts. You may be concluding that rabbits are closely related, phylogenetically, to potatoes, but molecular data shows that this is not the case. The similarities may be due to similar ecological niches. Both rabbits and potatoes are found underground in fields. Biologists call this ``convergent evolution.'' |
Bunnies in loveBertha and Vincent are totally devoted to each other. They rarely are more than a few feet apart, and this is a typical pose. |
Rabbit heavenThe big bunnies love this porch. They stay indoors at night, but every morning they wait patiently for me to let them go out (together of course). |
Bertha, December 2004Sadly, Bertha is no longer with us. This is one of the last photos of her. |
Foster Rabbits
| When I got Bertha and Vincent in January 2001, friends said "if you get a pair of rabbits, then soon you will have a whole houseful." I thought "how can that happen? Afterall, Bertha has been spayed and Vincent was neutered." Well, my friends were right. | It's four months later, and now I have six rabbits. Besides B & V, there are four foster rabbits. First there was Black Bart who came to the SPCA with five friends. I thought, "sure I can take in one more bunny." | Two weeks later Daphne and her kids (Cleo and Cole) showed up at the shelter. They were living in a small ferret cage in a room full of cats and dogs. The babies were so cute and Daphne was such a friendly bunny | that I thought "I can't leave them at the shelter. They need a better place." Daphne, Cleo, and Cole trained themselves to use a litter box on the first day, so they have been allowed the free run of my home office. |
Black Bart |
Black Bart |
Daphne and baby Cleo
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Daphne and baby Cole
Cole looks a little like a mouse, though I wouldn't tell Cole that.
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Cleo and Cole
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Cleo and Cole nursing
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Cleo and Cole in ecstasy
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Daphne and Cole
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Dinner time
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After dinner relaxation
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Blackberry
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Blackberry
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In June 2001, Bart went to a permanent home where
he has a girlfriend named "Bunny". Blackberry has taken Bart's
place. Blackberry is all black except for a white left front foot
and a touch of white on her right front foot. She is one of the world's
truly great lap rabbits.
Cleo
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Emmy
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Clarence
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Clarence was rescued rescued from a terrible cruelty case in Syracuse last summer, 187 animals in a 2 bedroom apartment in stifling heat. He stayed with a fosterer in Syracuse until she moved in December. Then I kept him until February when he back up to Syracuse, this time to a permanent home. He is a very affectionate bunny that loved to relax in my lap -- he was a great reading companion. |
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Clarence and ChloeHere's Clarence in his new home with his best friend Chloe. They love to play together. What a cute couple! I hope that Clarence will eventually grow into those ears. |
Upstate NY House Rabbit Society (I'm the web master.) Check out the "adoptions page".
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