Among the many pets, both domestic and wild animals we had growing up, the most prolific was no doubt rabbits. We started to raise rabbits when our Uncle Dave in Norwalk “got out of the rabbit business.” He used to raise Dutch Rabbits but eventually got out of it when he was older. (He probably got tired of trying to get them to wear those little wooden shoes, plus costs probably “wind milled” out of control. On the other hand, maybe he couldn’t get any baby bunnies because the Dutch Rabbits were all “Dikes,” or maybe both their “tulips” got diseased. Or maybe their feed was substandard and he had to take the rabbit food company to a”pellet” court).((HMMM, I think I forgot to take my evening medication – does it show???)) For whatever reason, Tim and I inherited his elaborate rabbit hutches our grandfather “Gus” built for him. They were really neat because they were 2 story and each “rabbit apartment” was comfortably large and each contained a wooden “rabbit house” painted white with a round entrance hole (see sketch below). It took 2 trips to haul them to our place with the old red International pickup truck. We put them along the back of the woodshed and immediately started to buy various breeds of rabbits. We had Checkered Giants, Flemish, a few Dutch, and some brown. My favorites were the kind that looked just like “wild rabbits,” only they were domestic types. We read up and got advice from all the local “experts” in the fine art of raising domestic rabbits. Soon some of our does were starting to have their own litters. We knew they were about to “have babies” as soon as the hair on their front was starting to look “splotchy” since they pulled their hair out to line the nest for the “baby bunnies”. In no time, we had more rabbits than we knew what to do with! They were really presenting a “harey” situation and really started to get in our “hare”! We built more hutches and FINALLY wised up and ceased putting the bucks into the does’ area for midnight trysts. After the population finally stabilized due to our population control with forced abstinence of all the bucks, we could finally stop our expansion building projects and settle in to “raise and sell rabbits for pets or meat.” We would spend a lot of time playing with the rabbits. Tim would often go out, get one, and bring it into the house to cuddle against his abdomen under the covers while we watched T.V. In good weather we had to give them some exercise, especially the horny bucks that were no doubt “up tight” from being totally separated from the “hot does”. We had a little portable wire enclosure without a top or bottom that we would set out in the grass then put a few rabbits (no mixed couples) in it and they would have fun in the sun eating grass and romping around. I always liked to hear them “thump” their back legs on the ground. I guess that’s how so many rabbits got the name “Thumper.” We later started to put them in the old “play pen” enclosure in the side yard. It was a fenced in area with small-grid fence and round fence posts painted white. It was, my best fuzzy memory guess is, about 15 X 25 or so with a locking gate. It was actually used for Tim and I when we were little as our giant “play corral”! Our younger sister Sue was “turned out” in it too. (Check out the pic of the “play corral” below). Our grandmother used to tell us that when Tim and I were “enclosed” in it, that our mother’s German Shepherd, “Duke” would patrol the outside perimeter to prevent us from “breaking out”! (Duke would NEVER have ever bitten us!). This old enclosure, which was still intact, worked well to put all the rabbits (in shifts after our population control program) in it for a few days of outdoor exercise and fresh grass dining! One time we had all the “horny bucks” in the large enclosure and enjoyed watching them thump, run, hop, and on occasion fight. After a few days, we noticed that one of them was missing! We closely checked for any hole in the fence, but found nothing until we noticed a “rabbit hole” in the inside wire that faced the house. After several days, the tunneling rabbit popped up at the edge of the concrete porch apron! We figured it hit the thick concrete and had to go vertically up to get out! That was, according to my estimation, at least a 30 – 35 feet tunnel! WOW! Since that was probably the days before “Playboy Bunnies,” THAT buck was REALLY HORNY to dig an escape tunnel that long to get to the “hot does”! AHHHHH, those were the “Good Ole Days”, when BOTH the rabbits and US had an abundance of testosterone!