Coco and Cosette relax in line.

Cosette and Coco show off some tail.

(In honor of Hans from Furrybutts, who recently passed away.)

We plucked our first head of lettuce from our garden and, after a thorough washing, gave it to Coco and Cosette. A few investigative sniffs led to a full on eating contest between the two. I’d have to say our homegrown lettuce was a hit.

Benny is a Flemish Giant house rabbit living in Oxfordshire, England.

Measuring 82 centimeters long (~32 inches), Benny is longer than the previous record holder, Amy, a Continental Giant who died last May who measured 81.5 cm.

Benny joined Martin and Sharon Heather’s household last year when Martin came across the large bunny at an animal sanctuary. Although sanctuary staff warned that Benny didn’t really warm to people, Benny took an instant liking to Martin. With that, the Flemish Giant was welcomed into the Heather family.

Benny enjoys the run of the house and is often found snuggling with the family dog on the sofa.

For more info: The Courier-Mail

Back in May we posted about Audrey taking a tour of New London. You can also read about it from the All About You Blog.

From Connecticut, the Audrey clone traveled across the country to Bow, Washington. You can read all about her adventures in the Pacific Northwest at A Houseful of Rabbits. Start from the beginning of her tour by clicking the following links:

June 6: Heeeer’s Audrey!!!
June 7: Audrey’s Settling In
June 8: Audrey’s Story
June 9: Audrey Takes a Road Trip
June 16: Audrey About the House

You should also check out another Audrey clone’s travels in Kuala Lumpur with the folks at Furrybutts.

May 27: Who Dat?!?
June 1: Lunch with Audrey

Amy, a Continental Giant rabbit, who measured 4 feet and weighed in at 42 pounds, died the night before a scheduled appearance on an Italian TV program. Thought to have died of a heart attack, the enormous rabbit had packed on pounds with a diet high on starches and sugars: two apples, a handful of carrots, half a cabbage, fresh hay and a dog-sized bowl of rabbit mix every day.

Although Annette Edwards, Amy’s owner, insists that Amy was not overweight and was fed a proper diet, I think Amy would have benefited from a more fibrous diet with limited starches. Hopefully, Ms. Edwards will learn from this experience and give a proper diet to Amy’s offspring, of which there are 32. But the outlook is grim, as Ms. Edwards speculates that Amy’s daughter Alice will set a new record for largest rabbit. According to Edwards, “We think Alice is two inches longer.”

For more info:
The Telegraph
The Sun
Natural Environment Blog

Inspired by rabbit show jumping videos on YouTube, two brothers, Mathew and Thomas Haslam, from Doncaster, England, have been training their two rabbits to participate in the rabbit agility competition at the Ultimate Pet Show in Birmingham. The two bunnies, Bubbles and Lilac, are a favorite to win the competition. To prep the rabbits for the contest, Mathew and Thomas set up obstacles in their backyard and initially used leashes to guide the rabbits over the fences.

For more info: The Daily Mail

At Pennywell Farm in Devon, England, an unusual friendship has blossomed between William, a miniature piglet, and Charles, a giant rabbit. According to Chris Murray of Pennywell Farm, “The cheeky piglet seems to have no fear of something so much bigger than he is and he will also help himself to any food that Charles has.”

For more info: news:lite

The rabbits sat by my computer chair yesterday afternoon (usually they rest under the coffee table), so I had a chance to capture a few of their sleepy poses on camera.

(Notice the tail being completely smooshed up.)

The following is a guest post by Dominika, owner of Hoppy and Clover (seen on the photo pages). Her story demonstrates the positive effect a pet rabbit can have on a family.

There is nothing like having a bunny friend, in the best of times and in the worst of times. My bun, Hoppy helped me get through a very difficult time in my life.

Two years ago my son, who was 13 months old at the time, became very ill. He had to stay at a hospital that was two hours from our home, and I stayed there with him. It was devastating not knowing what would happen with my baby, and my husband and other son could only come on the weekends to see us.

After a couple of weeks I was very depressed, and the hospital staff kept on asking what could they do to make me feel better. So I told them I would love to have my bunny stay with us, and to my surprise they allowed her to come over. At first it was going to be only for a few days but once they met her, she was allowed to stay for as long as we wanted and ended up living in our hospital room for over two months.

Having her with us was good not just for me but for everyone, all the nurses would stop by to visit with Hoppy, and some would bring other children to see her too. When my son was more sick and had to stay in the ICU, I had nurses and even doctors offer to take care of Hoppy for me and some wanted to take her home. It really was nice to have her with us.

One reason why I wanted to tell this story is that I have come across people who feel that they need to find a new home for their bunny because they are having a baby and believe that being around a rabbit would be harmful to the baby. Obviously that is not the case and even though my son takes medications that suppress his immune system, he is perfectly safe being around our (now two) bunnies.

My son is now three years old and loves his two bunnies. Hoppy is now six years old, and she has a new friend named Clover who is about four years old. Although bunnies are not recommended for children that young, I am very careful to always supervise, and my kids have been taught not to pick the rabbits up and to interact with them on the floor. The activity that both the kids and the bunnies enjoy the most is “treat time”.