Giant Rabbits

Status: Real
A lot of people have been emailing me these two pictures of giant rabbits, wanting to know if they're real. (Even my wife emailed them to me.) So I figure I better post something about them.

image   image

I state in Hippo Eats Dwarf that "The bigger the animal, the taller the tale you're likely being fed." So most of the time if you see pictures of animals that are grossly oversized (such as these big roosters), the pictures are fake. But these rabbits are an exception to that rule, because they're real. They're giant rabbits, specially bred for size. They can reach weights of up to 20lbs. The rabbit on the left is called Herman, and the one on the right is Robert. Robert is the current record holder for world's largest rabbit.

It seems like there's been a flurry of stories about giant rabbits in the news recently. There was the story about a Devil Rabbit that's been decimating vegetable patches in Felton. As well as the one about a marriage of two giant rabbits that was condemned by the RSPCA. Rabbit stories must be proliferating now because of the approach of Easter.

Related Post:
November 6, 2003: British Giant Rabbits

Animals

Posted on Thu Apr 13, 2006


Comments

I certainly hope they don't escape into the wild and proliferate. That would be bad, bad, news for a lotta gardens.
Posted by PlantPerson  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  04:44 AM
Not if we've got Wallace and Gromit on the case!
Posted by outeast  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  06:04 AM
I knew "Night of the Lepus" wasn't just the greatest horror movie of all time. IT'S REAL
Posted by booch  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  11:34 AM
I want one like that!!
Posted by Emily  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  02:13 PM
Aw, how cute. :D
Posted by Sakano  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  02:46 PM
I am, as a true Gromit fan, fascinated by real were-rabbit story. I saw this picture in National geographic and learned this huge thing really exists. Still I was not sure Robert were dead or alive (it looks like dead in the picture). So I am relieved to learn he is actually alive, isn
Posted by t.kurione  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  03:33 PM
...remember...near... and far away...these ones
are near...close up...those ...out there...they're far away...
Posted by chris morrell  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  06:50 PM
Shhhh! Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits........OH MY GAWD!!!
Posted by Lonewatchman  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  09:21 PM
They're called Flemish Giant rabbits. I've seen one, and they really are gigantic. Their bodies are about as long as your entire arm, and that's when they're NOT stretched out completely. It was laying in a cage with a mesh bottom and it did have absorbant litter under the mesh... But when it peed, it flooded the bottom of the cage and it spilled off two sides of the table the cage was on.

And, since rabbit urine is quite possibly the most disgusting urine smell in the world due to really high levels of ammonia, they're not really pleasant to own unless they're outdoor rabbits on a farm.
Posted by Tracey  on  Fri Apr 14, 2006  at  10:09 PM
RSPCA spokeswoman Joanna Barr said: "This puts the wrong message across. Animals are not toys to be dressed up."

Now, if only someone would bother to say that about children...
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Sat Apr 15, 2006  at  03:10 AM
... and women.
Posted by Big Gary in Falfurrias, Texas  on  Sun Apr 16, 2006  at  12:54 PM
Rabbits like this are the ones used, I am told, on the Teletubbies so they don't look out of proportion to the adults in the Teletubby costumes.
Posted by cvirtue  on  Sun Apr 16, 2006  at  01:44 PM
I can just see the headline now...TELETUBBIES' GIANT RABBIT TERRORIZES ENGLISH VEGETABLE GARDENS!! That would do more damage to the Teletubbies' reputation than Jerry Falwell could ever attempt!
Posted by KerBearRN  on  Mon May 22, 2006  at  01:21 PM
my gid thats thats just plain odd
Posted by mandlore  on  Mon Jul 03, 2006  at  08:06 AM
I'm dissapointed. I found your site today and thought it would be better than Snopes, but no dice. The rabbit is real. It is really big. But the photo is FAKE!!!!!!!

If you want to see how big the rabbit really is, here's one of the only photos that hasn't been altered either due to camera trickery or photoshop:

http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g&assetid=73001995&text=giant+rabbit
Posted by Jeremy Duffy  on  Wed Aug 06, 2008  at  06:34 AM
Monster rabbit ?
Posted by RRj  on  Wed Jul 08, 2009  at  09:11 AM
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