Despite the excited throng of children huddled around cuddly bunnies at the National Western Stock Show, rabbits aren’t just for oohs, ahs and hiding Easter eggs.
Rabbits are a competitive hobby, a diversified industry and a way to teach children about caring for livestock, said Debe Bell of Arvada, superintendent of the wildly popular hands-on display in the Children’s Ranchland area.
“You can pet them, you can sell them, you can eat them, you can spin (their fur),” said Bell of the virtues of the bunny, a hobby she latched onto 24 years ago when her children raised them in 4-H.
Each year, about 200 children go home from the stock show with pet rabbits, many of them bred by 4-Hers, perhaps for future 4-Hers.
Rabbits aren’t for everyone, however.
“Ah, what a pretty bunny; I want him,” exclaimed 7-year-old Kimmie Jones of Fort Collins, after spotting the $35 price tag on an angora rabbit’s cage last weekend.
Her mother, Sharon, said no. “We have a sweet dog, but he eats squirrels,” she said. “Thirty-five bucks isn’t bad, but how much is the counseling going to cost when (Kimmie) watches Rex eat the bunny?”
Rabbit sellers also know the risk of families falling in love, then falling out when the bunny wears out its welcome.
“We tell everyone, ‘If you change your mind, just call us and we’ll take the rabbit back,’ ” Bell said, “no questions asked.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
By the numbers
200,000 producers yield 6 million to 8 million rabbits annually
10 million Pounds of meat provided
600,000 Rabbits a year used in labs for testing
0.02 The amount in pounds Americans eat per capita a year
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
