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When we drove up to the Kalamazoo Expo Center on Saturday I noticed the events sign outside reading, among other things, 'American Satin Show - Sunday'. This caught my imagination, sure, but it also misled us. We were corrected when we entered. The Satin show was Saturday and Sunday. And it was satin rabbits. Yes, there was a bunny show going on in the other part of the hall from Pinball At The Zoo. (There was also a stamp show going on, one of the things that's always sharing the weekend with Pinball At The Zoo. Also, on Sunday, the record show we always observe exists without attending.)
And so we had our leitmotif for Saturday. Anyone talking to us for the first time asked if we had seen the rabbits. This didn't just last the rest of the pinball tournament; it extended to the afterparty at MJS's polebarn, and also to Lansing Pinball League the following Tuesday. There's an excellent chance we'll be asked about it at pinball league next Tuesday.
We were glad to say yes, of course, and would go out to the show to look at rabbits whenever we needed a break from pinball not treating us as well as we wanted. This despite some mixed feelings. The show was a breeder's show, and as awe-inspiring it is to walk through ... what, fifteen hundred rabbits? ... it's also to look at rabbits as a business, and competition. It's neat to watch a judge go down a line of Californian, all looking something like our poor lost Penelope, feeling ears and tugging forepaws and patting rumps. It's always neat watching people at work, and seeing what people think of as The Desirable qualities of a breed of rabbits. But it's also a reminder that the more we humans breed animals the more we screw them up. And I say this despite having, for just over a week now, a wonderful large rabbit, as I know he's going to suffer arthritis and movement difficulties if he lives a life that's (most likely) years shorter than he'd have if he were half this size. As with Japan's 'Rabbit Island' it's hard not to feel ambivalence at these things humans have done with bunnies.
Still, there is something very comforting in walking down aisle after aisle of rabbits, all with gorgeous coats, some coming up to the edge of the cage hoping for your attention, some sniffing at their neighbors, some huddled down as ANGY CLOUDS as far as they can get from anyone and anything. Or set up in a row for judging, peeking over the edges of the judging pens and threatening to mess up their order. And overhearing announcements about where the fanciers' dinner would be or what events were coming up, or seeing prizes for more events than we knew were out there, or merchandise or such. It was a neat parallel world to the competitive pinball going on next door. And, yes, we would overhear rabbit people amazed by the idea of a pinball tournament, though they were unhappy that there was a charge to just go in and wander around. There was no such fee to go look at rabbits, but on the other paw, the rabbits weren't set on free play.
Those bunnies are for future pictures. Here's bunnies for today's pictures, which are from Sunday at Motor City Furry Con as part of the Pipsqueakery's setup. Enjoy!
The big floor with so many of the rabbits and a couple of caretakers and also a goat for the reasons. Way in back are Patagonian cavies, this time separated from the rabbits by a fence.
I love this picture of the rabbit with one forepaw in the food dish, making sure it doesn't get away.
Another heap of rabbits in one of the litter bins, well outside petting range from passers-by.
That bin had even more rabbits than you thought in there! Also, see in back a bunny going to warp speed.
Bunny was running to this other bin full of rabbits. You know how it is.
And here's a bunny without ears. Not an optical illusion; a common affliction in new rabbit mothers is over-grooming infants to the point that their ears get rubbed off. A shame; the bunny's so handsome and well-formed otherwise.
Trivia: An 1853 ordinance banned cattle drives in New York City south of 42nd Street, at least during daytime. Source: Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Edwin G Burrows, Mike Wallace.
Currently Reading: Railroads for Michigan, Graydon M Meints. ``Trains [ on the Detroit & Pontiac ] were reputed to be so slow that one story has it that a middle-age man going to Pontiac died of extreme old age during the ride. Another claimed there were so few prisoners at the Pontic penitentiary because those who were sent there by train completed their sentence before they arrived''.
