August 2009 Newsletter


The August World Of Rabbits

The word "august" means inspiring admiration, but the month of August is actually named for Augustus Caesar.  Since Augustus' great uncle Julius Caesar had a month named for him, the Roman Senate saw fit to name one for their conqueror of Egypt, Augustus. 

In the world of rabbits, this August has been a time of inspiring admiration for the rabbit rescuers in the San Jose, California area where hundreds of rabbits were released at a charter school in the Moreland school district.  Besides the rescuers having to get special liability insurance in order to legally go onto the school property to capture these domestic rabbits, there was also a criminal element to deal with who were shooting rabbits with pellet guns.  Read all about it in the Save A Bunny article (which includes a three minute video of the rescue), and please consider making a donation to support this "august" effort: Save A Bunny

Speaking Of Summer Heat

Our friends at BunSpace.com ran a contest for the best picture of a bunny trying to beat the heat.  Here are the top two winners; 

Bunny Boy                                                                    Winston   


The Annual Animal Rescue Site Rewards

Each year The Animal Rescue Site in conjunction with the great people at PetFinder.com give out $100,000 to animal shelters.  The money is earned by having the supporters of each rescue group vote for their favorite rescuers.  This year's contest results are in and can be viewed online.  Congratulations to the House Rabbit Network of Massachusetts and to the Minnesota Champion Rabbit Society for each being awarded $1,000.  See results at:  Results are in

More About Rabbits On Campus

The University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada has long been know for its feral rabbits that live on campus.  But of late, with people abandoning their rabbits at the campus, the school is having to develop a public awareness campaign.  You can view a one minute video of the rabbits on campus at: Rabbits on Campus  and read the article about this at:  Victoria Rabbits 

Pika - The Rock Rabbit

Maybe the cutest creature on the planet is the Pika, a cousin to the rabbit.  This little lagomorph lives high up in the mountains.  Our monthly article features this unique animal, along with a video of the famous Pika bark.  Go here to learn more:  The Rock Rabbit

On A Darker Note: North Korea

North Korea has been in the news lately as we all rejoiced over the release of two United States journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee.  What most people do not know is in North Korea every family is required to raise rabbits and give four rabbit furs a year to the government.  If people do not have the furs they must buy them.  As a result the military has helped set up rabbit farms all over the country.  When we consider the way the North Korean government treats its own people, we can only imagine the horrible conditions that exist on their rabbit farms.

On A Lighter Note

If you like jigsaw puzzles, you are going to love the rabbit jigsaw puzzles found at Monkey & Marmalade's website (that is the name of the bunnies).  The puzzles start out easy, and then progressively get more difficult.  On one of them you can mix up the pieces as much as you want before starting the puzzle.  Here's the link to the easiest one:  Mini's Easy Puzzle .  If you are brave enough for the harder rabbit puzzles then go here and hit the links on the right hand side of the page:  Harder Puzzles

Puzzling Days

This year the August air has been filled with rheoric about multiple Health Care Reforms plans, some promising this and some promising that.  It is puzzling to figure out what all this will mean for us in the end.  And with all the stress and anxiety over an ecomony in recession, we house rabbit guardians can take solace in watching our little friends take their lives one day at a time.  Meditating on a "flopped" bunny will help put things into perspective and make us realize that a lot of our problems are caused merely from a lack of sleep and good rest. 

Wishing you a restful month - until next time,

David & Linda
Mid-South Bunny Museum