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| Awww the Easter Bunny. Well, one of the many resident bunnies from Jericho Beach Sailing Club anyway. |
When I think back to the easters of my childhood, I don't think we were as big on the whole Easter Bunny aspect to it as seems to be the case in North America. We generally got an easter egg on the Sunday, but there was never a big 'egg hunt' or huge inflatable bunnies and ducklings out on the front lawn, like I've seen here. In fact, as a child, the thought of a sasquatch-sized pink/white rabbit stomping around the place and hiding eggs would probably have frightened the living daylights out of me.
Also, easter eggs have long since been a big thing in England - for every type of chocolate bar you can think of, there's a massive egg-shaped equivalent, full of mini versions. Shelves at the local corner store, newsagent or supermarket would be lined choc-full (excuse the pun) with all the variations you could possibly think of. Woolworths, especially, was The place to go.
Also, easter eggs have long since been a big thing in England - for every type of chocolate bar you can think of, there's a massive egg-shaped equivalent, full of mini versions. Shelves at the local corner store, newsagent or supermarket would be lined choc-full (excuse the pun) with all the variations you could possibly think of. Woolworths, especially, was The place to go.
Another easter treat we enjoyed back in the UK, that I struggled for many years to find anywhere in Vancouver, is hot cross buns (accompanied by that repetitive chime/nursery rhyme, "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns. One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.") At least not until the Australian bakery company, Cobs, first opened up here. And their hot cross buns really are deeelicious!
Anyhoooo, to get back the the little fluffy bunny photographed above, my sentiments are a mix of 'awww what a cute little rabbit' and 'how can people just abandon their pets?' since the majority of rabbits that roam a good portion of Jericho Beach, in and around the sailing club, are the direct result of lazy, heartless and despicable owners who, tired of their rabbit or whose kids couldn't care less about it anymore, simply take their once-loved pet(s) to the beach and dump them off, leaving them to fend for themselves - against coyotes, eagles (as we've seen by my pics), hawks and other predators, some of whom I suspect are humans. In fact, just as I took photographs of this little guy, I noticed huge chunks of bunny fluff scattered about nearby. Clearly something had ripped apart and eaten one of its relatives a day or two before. And the sad thing is, it's not just pet rabbits that get so heartlessly abandoned there, but hamsters, gerbils, dogs and such as well. I remember a few years ago, over-hearing two kids talk about a big fluffy Chow dog that passed us at the beach. The girl nonchalantly said to her friend, "We used to have a dog like that." "Really?" asked the other. "Yeah, but my parents left him at the beach one day because he barked too much." Just like that. As if it was no big deal! What the f***!
So while it's a sweet photo of a cute and fluffy bunny, I suspect the back story as to how it even got there is not nearly as endearing. And unfortunately, it's likely to find a few extra friends around in the days and weeks following easter.
Anyhoooo, to get back the the little fluffy bunny photographed above, my sentiments are a mix of 'awww what a cute little rabbit' and 'how can people just abandon their pets?' since the majority of rabbits that roam a good portion of Jericho Beach, in and around the sailing club, are the direct result of lazy, heartless and despicable owners who, tired of their rabbit or whose kids couldn't care less about it anymore, simply take their once-loved pet(s) to the beach and dump them off, leaving them to fend for themselves - against coyotes, eagles (as we've seen by my pics), hawks and other predators, some of whom I suspect are humans. In fact, just as I took photographs of this little guy, I noticed huge chunks of bunny fluff scattered about nearby. Clearly something had ripped apart and eaten one of its relatives a day or two before. And the sad thing is, it's not just pet rabbits that get so heartlessly abandoned there, but hamsters, gerbils, dogs and such as well. I remember a few years ago, over-hearing two kids talk about a big fluffy Chow dog that passed us at the beach. The girl nonchalantly said to her friend, "We used to have a dog like that." "Really?" asked the other. "Yeah, but my parents left him at the beach one day because he barked too much." Just like that. As if it was no big deal! What the f***!
So while it's a sweet photo of a cute and fluffy bunny, I suspect the back story as to how it even got there is not nearly as endearing. And unfortunately, it's likely to find a few extra friends around in the days and weeks following easter.
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