# Funny questions you get as a bunny owner



## inasaga (Mar 23, 2013)

Like me, I am sure many of you get the strange looks and curious questions from others about what owning a rabbit is like.

I want to hear the funny questions you've been asked. Or if you have provided these curious folks with some funny answers.

I am always asked:

How did you litter train it? _-Put him the box, he figured it out from there._
Does it do tricks? _-Is this the main purpose of a pet?_
What is it like? A dog or a cat? _-Neither, it's a bunny. It may be a hybrid of the best qualities of a dog and cat._
Blank, confused stare. _-It's like a cat, but quiet, sweeter, not plotting your death, can't climb on as much furniture, and you can share vegetables with it._

So what have you been asked?


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## whitelop (Mar 23, 2013)

-You have what in your house? - a rabbit, small black and white, cute...
-Are you going to eat it? - no, she's a pet. 
-Does it get out of the cage? - yes, she free roams my kitchen. 
-Isn't it a rat? - nope, its a lagomorph not a rodent. 
-Does it poop everywhere? - no, she' litter trained, so she goes in the box like a cat. 
-So when are you going to eat it? - uhmm...we've gone over this already. 
-Why do you need so much hay? - I have a house rabbit whos main diet is hay. That person-blank stare - oh okay? A rabbit?
-Does it make any noise? - no, not much. She thumps and grunts sometimes but thats about it. 

I have chickens too so I get all kinds of crazy questions about them and the rabbit. Its unbelievable that people can't just google rabbits and learn some things. haha. I finally stopped telling people I have a rabbit.


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## agnesthelion (Mar 23, 2013)

I usually get judgement and it infuriates me!

"eww two rabbits? Dont they belong in a barn?"

"eww they smell"

Morgan, the eating thing is pretty funny. I usually get the jokes about rabbit stew, stuff like that.

Then people are always amazed they are free run a d litter trained.


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## Imbrium (Mar 23, 2013)

inasaga said:


> _-It's like a cat, but quiet, sweeter, not plotting your death, can't climb on as much furniture, and you can share vegetables with it._



I beg to differ. I've seen the looks I get after force-snuggling my bunnies and I'm pretty sure they're out to get me! 

I honestly can't remember anything odd I've been asked about rabbits... though I know I've gotten plenty of quizzical looks from Home Depot employees when I mentioned something was for my bunnies (particularly when building their agility course). to be fair, the weird bunny-related questions have been totally out-shined by the "what in god's name is THAT??" questions regarding gliders (especially when Lemmy starts crabbing in a store, lol). at least most people can associate bunnies with veggies no matter how little they know... but people don't even know that much about gliders because they're so rare.


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## PaGal (Mar 23, 2013)

I have only once had anyone ask me about owning a bunny. Every time I go and buy veggies I have to explain the bok choy. The store I but it from only has about four bunches available and no one ever knows the code which I have learned so that I can tell them instead of waiting while they ask others who do not know. The one incident was a worker who said she has always wanted one. She didn't ask anything funny but I did explain about litter training. That it is possible and that with Thump he took to it in a matter of days.

As far as eating them well in a way I can understand that question because so many people do. Or at least it seems that way. I found plenty of places when searching for a breeder that raise or sell meat rabbits. Not something I like to think about. My neighbor who is the definition of a country boy bought the two young teen kids each a bunny. His plan was if they bred, then eat the parents and keep the babies. I also try not to think about that.


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## PwnzorsNTittylwinks (Mar 23, 2013)

my top questions always seem to be 

"why do you give it such a big cage? its like a guinea pig. " -.- no. its not. 
"doesnt your entire apartment smell like a barn?" -.- no. it doesnt. 
and my favorite, 
"why do you take it so serioiusly? its not like its a dog or something". -.- this one gets to me the most because i dont see why people like to place dogs and cats at the top of the pet totem pole and everything else gets belittled. 

whats sad is 2 out of 3 of those came from a girl who said she used to own rabbits. im just glad it was a "used to"


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## Nancy McClelland (Mar 23, 2013)

Here's one for all the idiots that ask about cooking--making rabbit stew. Whenever someone says "I hear rabbits make good stew", I tell them my rabbits are lazy little layabouts and won't cook me a darned thing.


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## Toady (Mar 23, 2013)

This week I got a shocked looked from my psychologist when I told her that my 3 bunnies lived inside and she was amazed that Loki free-ranges during the day and I haven't had any messes as he goes back in his crate to do his business. 

I also get the 'they're almost ready to cook' from my stepfather (who's an a*&@hole anyway) about the girls, I've told him they wouldn't be the size of quail once dressed cause the girls are only about 1.7kgs (about 3 lbs)... but I'm never going to allow him anywhere near my bunnies... thankfully my mother has a severe allergy to rabbit meat (uncontrollable vomiting at the smell of it) so he won't get any as long as she's in the house.

As for smell I think that my cats smell more than the bunnies do, although cleaning Loki's scent glands this week (for the first time in months) was quite smelly!


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## PaGal (Mar 23, 2013)

Shoot my dog passes some horrible gas that at times gags us and it used to be worse!

Cat poop is one of the worst smelling things on the planet.

Thumper's urine is a bit strong but no where near the smell of the others I've listed.


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Mar 23, 2013)

Doing agility, there tend to be lots of odd questions and comments. Some common ones include:
Is that a rabbit? (It's not called the Canadian Rabbit Hopping Club because we use dogs).
Do they really run the course? (No, we just like to set it up and sit here for 6 hours). 
That one looks like a guinea pig. (Nope, it's a rabbit). 
Do you eat the losers? (Hard to stay polite with this one). 

There are other questions and comments about rabbits and how to care for them, many stories of rabbits people had that don't end well (I used to have a rabbit but...), comments about eating rabbits, comments about sending dogs after them to get them to run faster and many other annoying comments that I try to pretend not to hear. There are also some people who want to buy the rabbits.


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## Katielovesleo3 (Mar 23, 2013)

Does he eat carrots?
Omg rabbits stink you have it in your house?!
When is the BBQ?
And you're tellin me you taught your RABBIT tricks? I didn't think rabbits had much of a brain to do that.

The kids:
OH MY GAWD A BUNNYYYYYYY!!!!  
CAN I PET IT? WHY NOT? DOES HE BITE? I WANNA PET HIM!!!!

Me: no dang it!!!! Get outta here go play outside!


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## Imbrium (Mar 24, 2013)

Korr_and_Sophie said:


> Doing agility, there tend to be lots of odd questions and comments. Some common ones include:
> Is that a rabbit? (It's not called the Canadian Rabbit Hopping Club because we use dogs).
> Do they really run the course? (No, we just like to set it up and sit here for 6 hours).



yeah, people always seem to be shocked that bunnies can/will/like to run an agility course. someone started a thread in the off-topic section of the sugar glider forum I use asking if anyone else did agility with their dogs and I said that I didn't have any dogs but I did agility with my bunnies. people seemed really impressed that bunnies would run a course of their own accord.


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Mar 24, 2013)

Imbrium said:


> yeah, people always seem to be shocked that bunnies can/will/like to run an agility course. someone started a thread in the off-topic section of the sugar glider forum I use asking if anyone else did agility with their dogs and I said that I didn't have any dogs but I did agility with my bunnies. people seemed really impressed that bunnies would run a course of their own accord.



People seem impressed that rabbits do anything at all. Even having them hopping around fascinates some people. The rabbits hardly have to jump anything to get a reaction, but people to get more impressed if the rabbits run fast to jump high. 
It does kind of baffle me that many people don't know much about rabbits or have even been close to one. I guess dogs are out in public a lot and many people have cats, but rabbits tend to stay at home and aren't as popular or aren't around the house in the same way.


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## Imbrium (Mar 24, 2013)

and way too many live in cages


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## lyndym (Mar 24, 2013)

I typically get the same types of questions you guys do, but I got one particularly offensive question from a friend of mine shortly after my Dora passed away.. He actually asked me, "So what did you do with her, did you have her made into a hat or something?"


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## Imbrium (Mar 24, 2013)

you should've smacked him.


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## Azerane (Mar 24, 2013)

My very first rabbit that I owned was an agouti and looked much like any wild rabbit. My Uncle and Aunty (who own and run a farm) were over one day and my Uncle sees the rabbit in her hutch. He asked "Is that a normal rabbit?" At first I didn't know what on earth he meant because I wasn't aware there were normal and abnormal rabbits  But I realised he was asking about whether it was a domestic pet or a wild one that we'd happened to catch. Just the farmer's mentality.

Otherwise, people at work just give me funny looks when I go through the checkouts and I tell them that what I'm buying (shadecloth, foam mats, plastic containers etc) is for my rabbit. Sometimes I've gotten stories about other people's rabbits, and sometimes they just ask me why. Haven't had many crazy questions yet, my mum's partner always asks whether he's fat enough yet, but that's just his way.


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## kmaben (Mar 24, 2013)

My oddest question is "Is that a dog or a rabbit?" Usually in reference to Kai my German Giant. And he's a small German!

It's kind of funny when people are intimidated by him and he's a huge wuss who hides behind the three pound rabbit


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## coco_puffs (Mar 24, 2013)

lyndym said:


> I typically get the same types of questions you guys do, but I got one particularly offensive question from a friend of mine shortly after my Dora passed away.. He actually asked me, "So what did you do with her, did you have her made into a hat or something?"



That's horrible. Just because humans have the biggest brains, doesn't mean everyone uses theirs. I'm sorry you had to hear that


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## agnesthelion (Mar 24, 2013)

PwnzorsNTittylwinks said:


> "why do you take it so serioiusly? its not like its a dog or something". -.- this one gets to me the most because i dont see why people like to place dogs and cats at the top of the pet totem pole and everything else gets belittled.
> 
> to"



Yep this is what I get also. No one I know understands why I love my two so much. It's fine to love a dog or a cat, but not a rabbit. Uuuuuuuugh I hate that! That's what eventually led me to RO because I was like, I need to able to talk to someone about these two amazing creatures who have stolen my heart and who will understand!!!!!


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## coco_puffs (Mar 24, 2013)

I already know how I would counter a rude or insensitive question about cats/dogs vs. rabbit ownership. With a rabbit, you get the best of both a cat and a dog. You can cuddle, play with, train and share your food with a rabbit like a dog, but you don't have to walk it and it won't make you crazy with barking. It entertains itself like a cat and is not exceptionally needy or demanding of your time like a cat isn't. It's soft, fuzzy and snuggly like a cat, but it's pee and poop doesn't smell like a cat's. And *then* I would get into the characteristics unique to a rabbit  I always take an opportunity like that as a chance to educate. Kudos to those who keep their cool!


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## Chrisdoc (Mar 24, 2013)

OMG it is so frustrating, the main thing I get here is the strange looks that they actually live in the apartment and don´t smell. Well, that´s cos you look after them and clean their trays and they are really clean animals much more so than cats and dogs and so smart. I never thought I´d have rabbits but they have taught me so much and yes, one of the reasons we all come here is to talk about these wonderful animals and exchange ideas and views and give advice on how to enrich their lives...Rabbits rock and are I totally love mine to bits. And yes, the jokes about the casseroles wear a bit thin.. having said that, I loved rabbit but couldn´t eat it now if you paid me lol.


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## Zurrz (Mar 24, 2013)

Most of these are from my days of just having Cid, as Aly's only been in the for a little over a month.

"A rabbit?" I don't even know why I'm consistently asked this. No, not a rabbit. I was lying.
"Does it do tricks or anything?" Yup, he's especially good at training humans.
"When he dies... Are you gonna eat him?" Ugh. Just because we're in Maine doesn't mean you have to act like a total moron... When your dog dies are you going to eat her? On second thought, don't answer that. No. No I am not going to eat him.
"He's litterbox trained! How did that happen?" I'm not sure! One day he just came home with a litterbox and put it to good use!
"Does it bite?" Not me.
"Why would you fix a rabbit!! Such a waste of money!" 
"Can I borrow him on Easter." Just stop. 

Then there's the ones I got after getting Alex:
"Will you breed them so I can have their babies?"
"When are you breeding them?"
"If you put them together won't they have babies?" This one was from the same person that asked why I got Cid fixed.... 
"She's so much bigger than him! Aren't you afraid she'll eat him?" What?

I have more, I get a lot of terrible questions being in a place where they'll eat anything and everything without a second thought.


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## chorxley (Mar 25, 2013)

I had the funniest "is that a bunny?" question the other day. My family home is on a river and the only access to the property is by boat (have had a few random questions about living there as well!) so i went home to visit the other day and i have sitting on the wharf with mookie and she was running around me, looking over the edge at the waters, having a great time and this 20 something year old girl walks over to me and seriously asked me if she was a bunny... i just wanted to answer her with whoa what gave it away couldn't have been the ears and the hopping?!? anyway i answered with yes she is and then the girl walked away.. sometimes people are a worry!!


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## holtzchick (Mar 25, 2013)

I always get the puzzled look when I say I have two rabbits and they live in pens in my condo.. People are like "wow, don't they smell, I had one and it was awful.." or "Oh they poop and pee everywhere and they chew everything!!!" 

The best was my co-worker didn't like rabbits at all because she was under the same impression...After seeing my bunnies at home, she's in love with them and loves giving them treats  

I'm still disgusted that my boss would have bunnies in the store at this time of year ESPECIALLY at Easter!!! 
They get comments all the time, like people in the area who may not care much for bunnies but they are animal lovers and they rant about how horrible it is to have rabbits in the store at Easter time and how disgusting it is.... all I say to them is, I know you're right. It's all about turning a profit!


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## Kzbun (Mar 25, 2013)

I must admit that I was one of the people that asked a lot of these questions at first. My brother has a rabbit that runs the house, is never locked in his cage, and has his own room. Anyway, I used to ask my brother a whole bunch of things like, "You really potty trained him?" "He has the run of the house? AND his own room?" "Doesn't he destroy everything?" Yeah, I asked a lot of questions and was ultimately amazed by his answers. I didn't understand it until I decided to get mine, and now I COMPLETELY understand it. :3 So coming from both standpoints, it is an amazing thought about rabbits, because most people do think that they are just like a rodent and that they just stay in cages not doing anything. Just an extra mouth to feed, they think.


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## PwnzorsNTittylwinks (Mar 25, 2013)

forgot to add all the questions I got after telling people I was looking to bond him with a female! 
" why would you want to put two rabbits together, dont you know they multiply like crazy?" - they are both fixed.. "why would you fix your bunny? can you even do that?" - because its healthier for them..and no its illegal but i know a guy.. 
"you act like they are people who need to date. just throw them in the cage together theyll be fine"- ..yep thats why i need utility gloves when I put them together incase they fight. because theyll be "fine".. -.- 

i got laughed at i dont know how many times trying to explain how complex bonding is with rabbits. after a while i just gave up on talking about it to people. lol


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## mochajoe (Mar 25, 2013)

I have been really lucky I guess...I have never really been asked stupid questions! I have gotten funny looks a few times. You all think having pet rabbits get questions and looks...I also have pet rats! I get all kinds of questions and looks about owning rats! 

Several commented on getting questions about the "smell" I would rather have 15 bunnies and their litter boxes in my house than ONE cat litter box! As it is, we have 4 bunnies in the house!!! I love my cat (I bottle fed her and her brother and sister as they were orphaned at 2 weeks old and she is the last one left) she will be 19 in May...I will miss her terribly when she is gone...and I will so NOT miss her litter box!!


Some others commented on the noise...I also love my dog...however, she is a collie and she is a barker! Again, someday when she is gone...I will miss her but NOT her barking!!!


With all that said...I agree that bunnies are the best indoor pets!!!


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## Lorelei (Mar 26, 2013)

Since I walk mine in pet stores on a leash and harness, I get lots of double-takes and comments like "I didn't know rabbits could be leash-trained!" And when they find out he's a house rabbit: "Doesn't he pee all over the house?" Um, I get the odd bunny doot on the carpet, but he's been litter box trained since he was 8 weeks old, and he's never sprayed ONCE--even before I got him neutered. He has better house manners than my mother's Pomeranian.

And when I first got him, I got a lot of hasenpfeffer jokes from my German grandfather until I asked him to knock it off.


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## Nancy McClelland (Mar 30, 2013)

Kate, the next time and idiot asks if you eat the losers, tell them "Sure, wanna race?"


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## Spikethebunny (Apr 1, 2013)

I think the one that upsets me the most is, "can I eat it for dinner?". I usually counter with, "only if I can eat your cat or dog". It bothers me so much that people don't see him as a pet the same way they would a cat or dog. Asking if you can eat my bunny is NOT okay. It is not funny or playful. He is my family, and you cannot eat my family.

I do get a lot of questions about the smell. People are pretty surprised when I explain about litter training and the fact that he is the cleanliest little guy ever. Even our vet can't get over how clean he always is. Other than his hay, he keeps all his stuff piled in a corner and hates if you move his neat little pile.

The rest is asking why I give him so much room. Cause he needs it. Cause I need it. Cause there is nothing more amazing than having that little dude follow me everywhere and curl up in my pj pants to sleep, or sit on my feet as I am brushing my teeth. Or seeing him wait at the door when he knows it is time for my husband to come home.

Other than the first one, I have no problem answering questions about Spike. Because usually people are amazed at the answer. They realize bunnies are smarter and more social (and more work!) than they thought!


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## MikeScone (Apr 1, 2013)

I once had someone in to do the annual furnace cleaning, and Scone hopped in to see what was happening. The service guy did a double-take and said, "was that a RABBIT???" 

I felt like saying, "I have rabbits? That's awful. The mice were bad enough..."


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## Imbrium (Apr 1, 2013)

I actually find it a little odd that no one that's come to my house to fix something or whatever has ever really seemed fazed by the fact that my entire living room is one big bunny pen. maybe because the pen makes them seem "caged" which is somehow less surprising than free-range even if the cage is ginormous?


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## Hkok (Apr 1, 2013)

I have write that I have Erslev running free in my cv under "hobbies". So I have been to a few jobinterwievs were the following questions more or less are asked (I am a teacher) 
Do you really let him run around ? 
Well he jumps, but yes. 
Really? 
Yes, he is litter trained and are a bit like a cat only he don't eat mice.


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## existenziell (Apr 2, 2013)

I haven't gotten a question about eating any of mine. Mostly people want to see pictures and ask me about why I have a rabbit and not a cat or something. I usually just say that I am allergic to cats and then they quiet down. Usually the "why a rabbit?" question gives me the opportunity to explain that they are really clean animals, don't smell, can be trained, are really fun to watch and interact with, don't make noise, etc. The question I get asked most is about my litter box training and also whether the rabbits smell. Then I just explain that the rabbits themselves don't smell and that I clean the litter boxes daily. 

It's been my experience that people are more curious about rabbits and admit their ignorance right off. It's nice.


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## Anaira (Apr 3, 2013)

'Can I eat it?' 
'Can I see if he'll attack my dog?'(after his fame of attacking cats/dogs/everything near him that moved spread)

The ones that pop to mind.


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## WhyMista (Apr 7, 2013)

I just usual "Don't they stink" or "Aren't they expensive" or the best "Why do you have a two string bale of hay in your house" lol


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## Kizza (Apr 20, 2013)

I have had some interesting questions and comments:

"Rabbits shouldn't only eat carrots"... I got a sarcastic "Well what are they meant to eat then?".... omg really?

" I had a rabbit once... it tasted like chicken"

When telling someone that my bunny rolls on his back when we lays down to sleep sometimes and its funny, they replied with "but their backs are curved, wouldn't they just roll if they tried to lay down?"...... Probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

"What do you mean you 'play' with your rabbits? rabbits don't play, they aren't dogs"

"How can a rabbit have a personality"

When taking the day off work to take Rocky to get the snip..."Can you even get a rabbit desexed?"

"Aren't they like rats?"... um, no. just, no.

At the supermarket when buying a fair bit of bok choy... "Wow you really like your bok choy..", me: "It's actually for my rabbits"... "rabbits? geez! they eat better than me!" or "what a waste of money, it's just a rabbit..." 

The list goes on, people really get on my nerves sometimes. It's one thing to not know about bunnies it's another thing to be an idiot that has no desire to learn and tries to argue with someone who actually has bunnies and looks after them properly.

I can tolerate some people, but when they come out with the rabbit stew comments or a random story about one that has died I get really mad. grrr lol


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## Anaira (Apr 20, 2013)

My rabbits eat better than me.


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## Imbrium (Apr 21, 2013)

Kizza said:


> "How can a rabbit have a personality"



what... the... f*ck...??

that's gotta be the dumbest question I've ever heard of. I don't know of any animal that DOESN'T have a personality. hell, even fish and sh*t have personalities.


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## existenziell (Apr 22, 2013)

Admittedly, my dad questioned immediately what fun a rabbit could possibly be when I first got Hegel and told me I shouldn't have gotten one because they aren't as fun as dogs. But all that has changed. My dad took care of Hegel for a couple months and he has completely changed his tune. He doesn't see Hegel much anymore as my bun is now back living with me, but every time I talk to my dad he asks how Hegel is and he says he misses him. 

Truth be told, I had never been around rabbits really before I got Hegel and hadn't imagined how much fun it would be to have him around. Nor did I imagine that he would be as outgoing, friendly, and playful as he is. I think people's ignorance stems from the fact that they just haven't been around rabbits, which leads to, unfortunately, stupid questions.


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## inasaga (Apr 23, 2013)

existenziell said:


> But all that has changed. My dad took care of Hegel for a couple months and he has completely changed his tune. He doesn't see Hegel much anymore as my bun is now back living with me, but every time I talk to my dad he asks how Hegel is and he says he misses him.



Ha! Ever since my dad watched my rabbit, he's been waiting for an opportunity to do it again. Everyone loves bunnies once they meet them.


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## Azerane (Apr 23, 2013)

Agreed that people don't get it. On a sort of related topic, I grew up with cats, but a lot of my friends who never owned cats didn't really like my cats or cats in general, and I feel like it's not so much a dislike of cats, but it's a lack of knowledge and experience with the body language of a cat. To a cat owner, a tail flick can be an obvious sign that the cat is unhappy being petted, but people who have never been around cats don't know that. Dogs are more obvious, every kid seems to know that a happy dog wags its tail. It's the same with rabbits, their body language tends to be more subtle (to the untrained eye) so people who've never owned or been around rabbits don't understand them. Plus, there's the whole stigma of if you own a rabbit it's kept in a hutch in the backyard and you just go out and feed it and occasionally pick it up. Fortunately, that seems to be changing somewhat.

At work a couple of days ago I noticed we had seagrass baskets on sale, so after my shift I went to buy one for Bandit. One of the people I work with was there and said "buy them all" but I said I probably only needed one for now. She asked if I was using it for a rubbish bin, but I told her I was going to give it to my rabbit. She then ended up talking to me about her sister's rabbit that she felt bad for because her sister never let it out of it's cage to run around and the cage wasn't big enough and we talked about why I was buying the seagrass basket and that you can give them to buns in addition to the seagrass mats that we sell. She found all that really interesting and said she would probably buy one for her sister's rabbit to give it something to do


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## MikeScone (Apr 23, 2013)

Azerane said:


> It's the same with rabbits, their body language tends to be more subtle (to the untrained eye) so people who've never owned or been around rabbits don't understand them.



That is so true. It took me quite a while after I started to get to know Scone, my first rabbit, before I could interpret his body language. Once I knew the clues, he was just as expressive as any dog, just different. Natasha is even more expressive than Scone was. 

I find it interesting that when I post a picture to this forum, people will comment on Natasha's personality or mood, but when non-rabbit people see the same photo, all they see is a cute rabbit. For example, this picture just says grumpiness and annoyance to me (I was plucking Natasha's shed fur):







My mother looked at the picture, and just saw me petting the rabbit.


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## Imbrium (Apr 23, 2013)

that says a lot more than just "grumpy", lol... one of the top "disapproving rabbit" photos I've seen - she is unmistakably displeased!


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## Morquinn (Apr 23, 2013)

I get a lot of "Im gonna cook your wabbits" and "Hopefully Elmer doesnt come over" and I just reply, go ahead and try to cook my rabbits cuz they'll scratch the *bleep* outta you if you try to pick them up! lol


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