In preparation for our move to acreage, I decided to acquire French Angora Rabbits so that I can harvest their angora fiber (which does not harm the rabbit in any way) and spin it into angora yarn. No, I don't know how to spin fiber into yarn but I figure YouTube is the teacher of all things great and small and weird. If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears!
This is Minerva McGonagall. She has beautiful, long silky hair that is chocolate colored (her color is called a chocolate sable). But she is cranky and has bitten us three times. In other words, don't pet her; she's not our favorite pet. But her hair quality is tremendous!
Next up is Sirius Black. He is a young buck and the resident sweetheart. If a child gets a hankerin' to hold a rabbit like a baby, this is your guy. His color is broken black, meaning he is white with black splotches.
And then there's Albus Dumbledore who is Sirius's uncle by way of his mother. Albus is also a buck and his color is albino. He's also very cuddly but he's bigger with a little more weight on him. Don't tell him but he's going to go on a diet next month.
That's the classic view these days: girl cuddling the rabbits while boy kicks his soccer ball.
As a late Easter photo shoot I wanted the children to carry the rabbits in Easter baskets like last year. We tried two to a basket (boys in one and girls in the other lest we have any spring fever mayhem) but they hopped out quick as can be. After chasing four rabbits around the yard, I decided it was a very, very bad idea. We settled for just two rabbits.
Sadly, not all of the photos uploaded to my camera and I, unknowingly, deleted them. The best are gone forever. These are all I had left.
My daughter has Gingersnap in her basket. Gingersnap is our new girl. I suggested "Hermione Granger" then "Ginny Weasley" when my ideas got shut down. Since the young, friendly girl rabbit is really for my daughter (come on, you didn't think it was for me?!), she got the naming rights. Gingersnap it is then! Gingnersnap's color is a black tort (which is short for tortoiseshell). She's a sweet girl but not quite as lovable as the boys. But maybe that will come in time as it did with the boys.
I wish I hadn't deleted the rest of the photos where the children are laughing because Sirius hopped out of his basket to go check out the girl action in the basket next door. Priceless moments that I'd like to remember forever.
And just to make sure you are convinced these rabbits will not be harmed when their hair is harvested for yarn, here is a YouTube video that helped inspire me to get these rabbits. The rabbit in the video is an English Angora rabbit which is why it's hairy all over its face and ears, unlike the French breed. Cute little furballs!
