It’s a dark, misty night. The moon is barely visible above the thick forest surrounding you. A chilling breeze blows against you and sends a shiver up your spine. It’s too quiet. You start to get the feeling you’re being followed. You look behind, but nothing’s there…….wait. Something is there. It’s hissing aggressively and is charging at you with astonishingly high speed. You stare petrified; totally helpless. Before you can defend yourself, it maliciously takes a chunk out of your hand. There is a terrible scramble, but finally you manage to kick it in the head. Instantly, it’s quiet again. Too quiet. You, trying not to breathe let alone make a sound, click on your flashlight. The ferocious beast? A five-pound bunny.
That’s right. “Bunnies are, indeed, fiercer than anyone but Monty Python has generally given them credit for.” For centuries, rabbits were universally believed to be sweet, cuddly furrballs that hopped around and munched carrots. Sure, they look innocent enough. Characters like Thumper, Bugs Bunny, and Peter Rabbit have thoroughly captured the hearts of kids (and adults) everywhere. Since rabbits are at the bottom of the foodchain, they are prey to just about any type of carnivore.
Throughout history there have been numerous cases where the term “vulnerable” did not apply to “rabbit.” Fulk, the king of Jerusalem during the twelfth century, was killed by a rabbit. Well, actually he was killed by falling off his horse, but the horse was spooked by a rabbit. Or, what about President Jimmy Carter, who was attacked by a swamp rabbit while fishing in Plains, Georgia. “The rabbit swam toward his boat, ‘hissing menacingly, its teeth flashing and nostrils flared.’ President Carter was forced to swat at the vicious beast with a canoe paddle, which apparently scared it away.” It may be surprising that rabbits can swim, but actually most mammals can. The Rabbit Handbook by David Taylor notes that “The Swamp rabbit loves paddling about in marshland.” Here is a third example. If you go to http://www.youtube.com and type in “rabbit kills snake,” you should find a real incident of a rabbit viciously attacking and biting a snake and then boldly chasing it up a tree. (You will also find incidents of snakes killing rabbits, but this is a time when the hunted gets the revenge!) Here is an interesting fact from the Rabbit Handbook by David Taylor. He writes, “A pub in Bristol employed an aggressive, indeed rather violent, rabbit called Loopylugs as a ‘guard-dog’. His son Loopylugs Junior took over after Loopylugs Senior was killed by intruders.” And finally, the phrase “mad as a March hare” is not merely a cute way of saying “you’re nuts.” It really does have a basis in rabbits acting in a peculiarly loco manner beginning in the month of February or March.
Even though these haunting examples are not really well-known, the Media has definitely picked up on the idea. The whole concept of a ferocious beast having such an innocent, unsuspecting appearance has currently been a tremendous hit. Some movies and TV shows are especially popular for the fact that they contain some instance of a “killer rabbit.” For instance, Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail has an incident with the notoriously violent rabbit called the “Rabbit of Caerbannog”. Another instance is the webcomic called “Sluggy Freelance” in which a fearsome rabbit named “Bun-Bun” carries a switchblade. Yet another movie is the Night of the Lepus, where a mob of giant rabbits completely demolish a town. A video directed more towards kids is the delightful Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Wererabbit. In this episode, an invention to keep rabbits out of everyone’s garden goes dreadfully wrong, and a giant rabbit emerges at night which gives damage to far greater things than vegetables.
Amazingly enough, most rabbits need much care and attention to keep them from becoming frightening animals with powerful, sharp teeth. In rabbit handbooks such as the one by David Taylor, there is a section about a rabbit who had been extremely mistreated and therefore became a focal point for a campaign against animal abuse during the 1970s. He bit sixteen people in his lifetime. It is quite astonishing to imagine a little, fuzzy furrball being able to do much damage to a human, but check this out: “Rabbit bites can go clear through fingers, bone and all. Rabbit scratches are worse than cat scratches. Some rabbits become so aggressive they will attack any person who enters a room, usually going for the ankles, and will chase, growl, chomp onto lower limbs and not let go.” Even though the author of this quote has realized the danger, Lucile Moore has been responsible in raising over 300 rabbits of more than 20 different breeds. She now lives with eight rabbits in her house in Flagstaff, Arizona.
What can be done (you might ask) to prevent or get rid of this surprising and terrifying behavior in rabbits? It literally takes love, care, and patience, patience, patience! Next time you consider buying an irresistibly cute, white bunny for your child for Easter, make sure you’ve got plenty of time on your hands to correctly shape its character. If you merely take it home and then let it remain in a wire cage for years, watch out. You may soon discover, too late, that Thumper has miraculously turned into Bunnicula!
If you would like information on raising rabbits to surrender their nasty behavior habits, visit the House Rabbit Society’s website at www.rabbit.org . They are very experienced at managing all varieties of bunny problems. If you are more interested in scary/funny rabbit stories, visit the Doombunny’s homepage at www.grendel.org/hunter/db/.
“Bunnies are, indeed, fiercer than anyone but Monty Python has generally given them credit for.” So, what is your next nightmare going to be about?
