We started getting Angora rabbits in 2003. It started with 2 white Giant Angora rabbits from the Olympic Peninsula and 2 red Satin Angora rabbits from Ontario. This is the first buck we had flown to us from Boxcar Menagerie in Canada.
Red
Then we started breeding them. There is nothing cuter than a baby bunny.
My favorite bunny photo:
Red bunnies
But the bunnies also need extra care at times.
Tom and bunny
Bottle feeding bunny
One of the heart breaks was Tail Dragger. He was a bunny that was attacked by his mother and paralyzed. We tried to take care of him and got attached before he died.
Tail Dragger
I tried to give our bunnies good lives. I would put them in the pasture sometimes when it was sunny.
rabbits in outdoor pen
And when they could get along, they could share a pen.
rabbits in pen
But often they could not get along, particularly the bucks, so spent time in one of the large rabbit hutches we got from a retiring rabbit breeder being forced off her little farm by “development”.
canine country rabbitry sign
painted hutches
Scooby was the last rabbit who died today. He was born in April 2010, one day after Tail Dragger and was his half-brother.
Scoobie
We decided not to breed rabbits anymore but kept him for his fiber.
Scoobie color
He was not friendly rabbit, but he put up with my fussing with his coat well.
scoobie
I tried to make things interesting and comfortable for him, particularly after he became the last rabbit. He lived 8 years which is a decent lifespan for an Angora rabbit. This was a very rough morning for me to find him dead. I hope he had an OK life with us.
I do have lots of Angora bunny fiber to remember our rabbits by.
some bunny wool
Aww, Donna! I’m sorry about your Scoobie. Even if he wasn’t the most friendly, I’m sure you were attached to him. All of your rabbits were beautiful. Do they require a lot of work for the amount of fiber you get from them? We have a friend here who thinks she wants to raise angoras. I’m doubtful about the whole idea. She doesn’t have much money.
Thanks Jeanne! They are a lot of work, especially for the amount of fiber and it is not fun work either. Each of those baggies is one year of work per rabbit.
And if you do not do the fiber work on the rabbit about monthly, they suffer.
I’m sorry for this end of an era, Donna.
Thanks Michelle! It is hard but we are trying to downsize.
Sorry to read more sad news here. I’ve had a couple of house rabbits (rexes) and bunnies have wonderful personalities, but they are fragile. 8 years is a good long time for a rabbit. Sweet pictures.
Thanks. You can see by some of the photos we also had a mini rex that Tom’s caught couldn’t keep. They are fragile creatures, particularly the Angoras I think. They will be missed though.
Even if they are a lot of work, etc at least you have some beautiful fluff to remember them by!
I have spun some angora before and really like the results. Nothing fancy but very snuggly 😁
I do have beautiful fluff. I do love it as well.
Hi from Costa Rica.
I came across your post while trying to find pictures of the type of rabbits I had in Canada. I was BoxCar Menagerie before moving to this Spanish country and becoming Aurora.
Then last December, when looking to buy meat rabbits , there were some ratty “English angoras” in the barn, and now I find myself back into the fibre community.
I am sorry about your loss of Scoobi. I hope they were a joy while you had them. They look beautiful in their group picture.
Take care, thanks for the memories,
Aurora’s Animals of Costa Rica.
Nice to hear from you ex-Boxcar Menageries now Aurora!!! I miss having rabbits and remember my excitement on getting Cherry Blossom from you. It is the end of an era when Scoobie died but I still have fiber stashed away I can play with. Take care!