Easter bunny horror stories are a post holiday tradition, say animal control officials across the US. The cute gifts ? rabbits, ducks, chicks ? suddenly get abandoned or maltreated because they were impulse buys. Pubescent bunny behavior is not cute; and the fowl mess can be a rude surprise.
Easter bunny horror stories are a post-Easter tradition in the US, say animal control and rescue officials who see an uptick in abandoned rabbits, ducklings, and chicks at Easter and advise against impulse buys. A Muscovy duck named Quasimodo watches two Pekin ducks play in a pool at The Lucky Duck Rescue & Sanctuary in Sun Valley, Calif., August 2011.
Lydia Yasuda/AP
EnlargeFor Easter, when Lindsay Durfee?s sister-in-law Kelley was young and sweet and wide-eyed, her parents bought her a team of ducklings. Kelley and her family, Ms. Durfee says, lived on a lake in Orlando, Fla., populated with different species of wildlife.?
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So, shouldering a video camera to record it, young Kelley marched her Easter ducklings to the water like a drum major. But nature was ahead of her: before she and the ducks reached the edge of the lake, a large bird ? probably a heron? swooped down and made off with a duckling by its neck. The gory detail of what happened next is PG-13; but suffice to say, says Durfee, the videotape captured it and Kelley's scream.?
?It's one of those stories that comes up every year,? Durfee wrote in an e-mail to the Monitor. To this day, says Durfee, "My husband and I laugh until we cry over how appalling it is!??
Pet horror stories are a staple of the post-Easter season in the United States, day animal control and rescue officials. The Easter holiday brings out the duckling, chick, and baby bunny lovers in people. They make an impulse buy, the recipient goes wild with joy for a day, but the honeymoon soon ends and parents scramble to surrender the animals.
Animal rescue staff, traditionally inundated with calls from regretful parents immediately following Easter, are asking consumers to stop and think before buying an animal for Easter, and with good reason.
If, and it?s a big if, the animal doesn?t die from all that Easter excitement, now there?s a growing and soon-to-be mature duck, chicken (worse, a rooster), and rabbit on your hands.
A pubescent rabbit is not one to cuddle. Females are prone to running in circles, lunging, and grunting, says Anne Martin, shelter director for House Rabbit Society?s headquarters in Richmond, Calif. And if you purchased a male? ?The boys will spray urine ... all over the place,? says Ms. Martin, who owns six rabbits and adds that a mature rabbit is a fantastic pet. But they can be quite alarming for a new pet owner whose supplier did not warn them.
Suppliers are also known for selling bunnies that have been taken away from their mothers too soon, says Mary Cotter, vice president of the House Rabbit Society. ???
Ducklings and chicks have their own drawbacks, says Susie Coston director of the Farm Sanctuary shelter.
Like bunnies, ducklings and chicks are extremely fragile. If a child plays with them like a toy instead of fine china, they are likely to die from over-handling, Ms. Coston says.
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