Here’s a video shot back in 1954 of a Mrs. Irene Burton from Orpington in Kent, who could apparently hypnotize her pet dwarf rabbits to astonishing effect. Admittedly I was shocked when I saw the video. I thought she had some sort superpower over her rabbits. I had a pet rabbit myself growing up, and I recall seeing him do this once or twice. And no, I wasn’t trying to hypnotize him, he just did it.
After watching the video, I started to question Mrs. Irene Burton’s hypnotizing capabilities over rabbits. Could she really be this good? According to what I’ve read online this trance-like state is called “Tonic Immobility” or “TI,” and it’s actually a defense mechanism motivated by fear.
TI is considered a last attempt for prey to escape being eaten by a predator. When rabbits are tranced, they are at the highest possible fear level, and they can possibly die from fear.
So, yeah, Mrs. Irene Burton wasn’t actually hypnotizing her rabbits at all, but basically scaring the living shit out of them. That’s not nice, Irene!
The wildlife of NYC is much maligned, and yet every honest-to-God New Yorker knows these scrappy, hard-bitten creatures are an integral part of experiencing the city. Maybe you saw a rat as big as Corgi attack a Corgi the size of a slightly smaller Corgi!? Perhaps you encountered a roach trying to sell you a Rolex? I was mugged at knifepoint by a Central Park squirrel–-we all have our stories! But is this delicate ecosystem ready for a new player?
Meet the Gowanus Bunnies—the roughest rabbits you’ll ever meet and the latest addition to the brutal fauna of the five boroughs. In a Brooklyn neighborhood best known for the opaquely polluted waters of the Gowanus Canal, these flinty Leporidae found a home in a dirt alley next to a tire shop, and while their fuzzy-wuzzy cuteness hasn’t gone completely unappreciated by the neighborhood, the urban bunnies may be becoming a problem.
For one, they reproduce in accordance with stereotype, and their famed fecundity has bolstered the colony’s ranks into a verging swarm. That may not sound very threatening, but rabbits burrow, and a lot of important and delicate stuff goes on underground in New York, including electrical work and the foundations of some very old rotting buildings. Others fear a more Night of the Lepus situation, noting the rabbits seem to have developed a taste for chicken wings (could human flesh be much further down the road?!?).
Local Joel Bukiewicz, who owns a knife shop across the street from the rabbits, has seen the bunnies fighting viciously:
“I think of rabbits as friendly, innocent and sweet,” Bukiewicz said. “These are angry, hardened city rabbits and possibly carnivorous. These are Gowanus rabbits. I wouldn’t want to bring one home.”
Of course attached to all of this is a “New York person”—30-something piano teacher Dorota Trec, who calls her pets “erotic,” and maintains that there’s nothing unsavory, dangerous or unethical about her rapidly multiplying herd. Animal welfare advocates disagree, and Trec is currently facing potential action from the health department who are probably rightly concerned about an animal hoarder who appears to be ground zero for a new pest epidemic. I hope they get them all spayed, but I don’t hold out too much hope for adoption—I’m not sure these rabbits can be rehabilitated back into society.
If you thought rabbits were just cuddly bundles of fun then more fool you. For underneath that cute, furry exterior is a ruthless psychopath just twitching to wreak bloody vengeance with swords and axes. Ask any academic and they will tell you, those who fail to learn from history are cursed to repeat it. Take these panels from medieval manuscripts which clearly prove giant killer rabbits did once roam the Earth battling humans for its control—and you thought Monty Python and the Holy Grail‘s “killer bunny” was a joke?
Yes, we were warned by these medieval writers long, long ago, and warned more recently by Bugs Bunny, and The Night of the Lepus—which as we now know, was not just a bad trashy B-movie horror but a guide to saving the world from giant killer bunny rabbits!
Rabbits lay in wait for the human to kill their dreaded enemy the dragon, before killing the brave knight.
The rabbits prepared for battle.
They were led by the evil killer Thumper.
The giant killer rabbits showed the humans no mercy.
An advertisement for a Swiss shopping mall has been condemned by an animal rights’ group for promoting bestiality. The Easter poster campaign for the St. Jakob Park shopping mall has a red g-string superimposed on a rabbit. Critics claim the poster sexualizes the animal, which links to bestiality and animal abuse.
Daniel Bader from the Swiss animal protection group told Tages Anzeiger:
“From our point of view, the respect of the rabbit has been badly damaged.
“This is a clear sexualisation of an animal. As far as I’m concerned, it heads in the direction of bestiality and it stinks of promoting animal sex and the sexual abuse of animals.”
I wonder what Herr Bader would make of Brian Griffin, Disneyland, Jessica Rabbit, or those annoying dogs that always hump your leg? Clearly, Fritz the Cat would give him a heart attack,
The manager of the shopping mall told Central European News that the images of attractive women “in bunny ears and fluffy tails were clichéd,” and he wanted to create something more humorous with a real rabbit.
However, according to The Independent, Swiss PR guru Klaus J. Stoehlker said the image was far more damaging to the lingerie company.
“If I was the boss of that Italian lingerie company I would take action over this advertising,” he said.
“I mean, who wants to see their sexy underwear stuck on such a fat rabbit backside?”
Redditor “Picklemick” spotted this perfect little “nugbunny” in his bud. He says: “Guys, I just saw this and made it in paint.” I’m still waiting for the herbal image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. Maybe if I smoke enough?
