Warning: This post is mostly -- ok, entirely -- about rabbits, so any Australian visitors to this blog might want to go elsewhere. Sorry about that.
So we were at the beach the other day, and behind our hotel there was this old, nearly empty RV park (actually Tillamook County's Webb County Park, as it turns out). Nearly empty except for a huge colony of rabbits, that is. The hotel sold little baggies of rabbit food, so we figured, ok, why not, let's go feed the rabbits.
When you're walking down the street and half a dozen rabbits break cover and charge up to you, begging for handouts, well, that's an unusual experience. Delightful, and a bit alarming at the same time.
This is supposed to be a video of rabbits hopping around, whenever YouTube gets around to making it appear. If you just see a YouTube logo, or it says "no longer available", try checking back here later. The video's awfully cute. You'll probably like it, unless you don't like cute stuff.
Since this is a responsible grownup blog, this is the part where I note that the rabbits are probably abandoned pets, and descendants of abandoned pets, and anyone who would just abandon an unwanted pet outdoors is despicable.
I also doubt the bunnies are the absolute best thing for what's left of the local environment -- although they seem to subsist entirely on yard-style grass (also not native here) and handouts from visitors, avoiding the few remaining native plants. They don't seem to have any natural predators here, since the whole RV park is simply overrun with rabbits. You'd think all these rabbits would attract hawks, or coyotes, or possibly even cougars, but if it has, they aren't making much of a dent in the population. Contrast this with the continual struggle for survival facing the Northwest's own pygmy rabbit, which if anything is even cuter than these rabbits, but much more shy and fragile.
On the other hand, the surrounding area's rapidly being bulldozed and transformed into ultra-upscale beach houses and timeshares, so the bunny colony is maybe not the biggest environmental problem facing the area.
And you have to admit they're adorable. Just look at them. Awwwwwww.....
See? Here's a baby one. Just try to tell me it isn't cute. Just try. I dare you.
This photo sort of reminds me of Reservoir Dogs, for some reason. Or some sort of brooding indie-rock album cover. Except all cute-n-cuddly. Unless you think Steve Buscemi is cute-n-cuddly, in which case there's very little I can do to help you.
In case you were wondering, we've now entered the Irony portion of this post. Because making hip pop culture references and sneering at everything in sight is awfully sophisticated. Also, everything self-referential is awesome, including this sentence.
Liking stuff, on the other hand, is totally uncool. Probably your parents like stuff, and look how uncool they are. To further demonstrate my hip-n-cynical irony-meister credentials, here's a collection of rabbit recipes from BowHunting.net. Enjoy!
This one looks annoyed. Really annoyed. They charge from the underbrush, they assume the Reservoir Dogs stance, they start glaring... I've seen Night of the Lepus, so I think I know what happens next. Run away! Run away!!!!
