Arctic Hare - Inuit Tales - Arctic Hare Poem - Oats - Blow - News

On this weeks episode, we will be covering the Arctic Hare. The Arctic Hare is the largest Hare found in North America.

We have Inuit folktales about the Arctic Hare, as well as a poem about the arctic hare. Our plant of the week is Oats, and the word of the week is Blow! We will then conclude with the news. This episode is close to an hour, so we have a long episode this week, but I will not have an episode next week. I have some projects to work on the homestead, and it takes about 8 hours to put together an episode with research, recording, and editing.

If you like to be first, and who does not like to be first, we have a few chances for you to be first. You could be the first person to rate and review the show on whatever platform you are listening, such as Itunes. You could also be the first to support the podcast through Patreon/Hare of the Rabbit.

I would like to thank those that purchased from Amazon through the link at the HareoftheRabbit.com.

It looks like there was several purchases this month.

Arctic Hare
The Arctic Hare is the largest hare found in North America.
The Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus), or polar rabbit, is a species of hare which is highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra, and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up 20% of its body, and a thick coat of fur. It usually digs holes in the ground or under snow to keep warm and sleep. Arctic hares look like rabbits but have shorter ears, are taller when standing, and, unlike rabbits, can thrive in extreme cold. They can travel together with many other hares, sometimes huddling with dozens or more, but are usually found alone, taking, in some cases, more than one partner. The Arctic hare can run up to 60 kilometres per hour (40 mph).
The Arctic hare can achieve very fast speeds when the Arctic hare feels threatened. If the Arctic hare senses danger, the Arctic hare will stand on its hind legs and survey the area. If the Arctic hare feels threatened, the Arctic hare is capable of taking off at very fast speeds as the Arctic hare moves by hopping off its back legs in a similar way to a kangaroo. The Arctic hare runs erratically and leaps while running away from a predator to try and escape.
Predators
The Arctic hare is a vital component in the Arctic circle food chain, being one of the few smaller mammals able to thrive in such a harsh environment. The Arctic hare is therefore common prey for bigger animals of the Arctic tundra, such as Arctic wolves, foxes and polar bears.
Known predators of the Arctic hare are the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), gray wolf (Canis lupus), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), ermine (Mustela erminea), snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), grey falcon (Falco rusticolus), rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus), and humans (Homo sapiens).
The Arctic wolf is probably the most successful predator of the Arctic hare, and even young wolves in their first autumn can catch adult hares. Arctic foxes and ermines, which are smaller, typically prey on young hares. Grey falcon carry hares to their nests, cutting them in half first; grey falcons use hare bones and feet in the structure of their nests on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) also prey on Arctic hares in the southern end of the hares' range. The Snowy owls mainly targets young hare; the French common name of the species derives from Anglo-Saxon harfang ("hare-catcher").
Four groups of parasites have been known to use Arctic hares as a host: protozoans (Eimeria exigua, E. magna, E. perforans, and E. sculpta); nematodes (including Filaria and Oxyuris ambigua); lice (including Haemodipsus lyriocephalus and H. setoni) and fleas (including Hoplopsyllus glacialis, Euhoplopsyllus glacialis, and Megabothris groenlandicus. Fleas are more common than parasitic worms.
Range and habitat
The Arctic hare is predominantly found on the hillsides and rocky areas of Arctic tundra, where there is no tree cover. This species lives mostly on the ground, but will occasionally create dens or use natural shelters during times of cold weather. During winter, the Arctic hare has been known to move into forested habitats.
The Arctic hare is distributed over the northernmost regions of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands and Northern Canada, including Ellesmere Island, and further south in Labrador and Newfoundland. The Arctic hare is well-adapted to the conditions found in the tundras, plateaus and treeless coasts of this region, including cold weather and frozen precipitation. The Arctic hare may be found at elevations between 0 (sea level) and 900 m.
In Newfoundland and southern Labrador, the Arctic hare changes its coat color, molting and growing new fur, from brown or grey in the summer to white in the winter, like some other Arctic animals including ermine and ptarmigan, enabling it to remain camouflaged as their environments change. However, the Arctic hares in the far north of Canada, where summer is very short, remain white all year round.
Characteristics
Hares are a bit larger than rabbits, and they typically have taller hind legs and longer ears. Like other hares and rabbits, arctic hares are fast and can bound at speeds of up to 40 miles an hour. In winter, they sport a brilliant white coat that provides excellent camouflage in the land of ice and snow. In spring, the hare's colors change to blue-gray in approximation of local rocks and vegetation.
The Arctic hare is one of the largest living lagomorphs. On average, this species measures from 43 to 70 cm (17 to 28 in) long, not counting a tail length of 4.5–10 cm (1.8–3.9 in). The body mass of this species is typically between 2.5–5.5 kg (6–12 lb), though large individuals can weigh up to 7 kg (15 lb).
One of the world’s largest hares, the Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus) has a distinctive, uniformly white summer coat, aside from the tips of each ear, which are black. The thick white fur provides both warmth and camouflage against the Arctic hare’s snowy surroundings. After the spring molt, the fur of southern populations is replaced with a shorter grey-brown fur. More northerly populations also molt into shorter fur, but retain the white coloration year-round.
The time of shedding fur and the molting patterns vary with latitude. Not much is known about the molting pattern but it has been assumed that the annual molt starts in June. During his research at Sverdrup Pass on Ellesmere Island (now in Nunavut), biologist Dr. David Gray saw hares begin losing their winter coats in April, when temperatures still hover around -30°C (-22°F). Nursing females seem to molt later than other Arctic hares.
The molt into winter or summer pelage is dependent on the number of daylight hours. When the Arctic hare detects a change in the number of daylight hours, hormones are released which trigger the molt.
In mid-summer, when their camouflage is not as effective, Arctic hares are wary and difficult to approach. In the High Arctic, where summers are short (six to eight weeks), a sandy brown or grey wash appears on the nose, forehead and ears, and occasionally on the back. The predominant color, however, remains the snowy white of winter, which makes High-Arctic Arctic hares starkly visible against a snow-free background and therefore more vulnerable to predators. In the more southern reaches of their range (including Baffin Island, Nunavut), where the summer is somewhat longer, the white coat changes to brown with blue-grey tones, while the tail and parts of the ears and legs remain white.
Arctic hares can be active all winter because of the insulating quality of their fur coat. A short, thick and warm under-fur is protected by the longer, silky top fur. A hare with fat for 20% of its body weight could live for 15 days at -24°C (11°F) on that stored fat alone because of this excellent insulation.
The female Arctic hare is larger than the male, and also begins to molt earlier in spring. Otherwise, males and females look so similar that they are difficult to tell apart at a distance. During the breeding season and the nursing period, males and females can be more easily identified by their behavior.
The arctic hare lives in the harsh environment of the North American tundra. These hares do not hibernate, but survive the dangerous cold with a number of behavioral and physiological adaptations. They sport thick fur and enjoy a low surface area to volume ratio that conserves body heat, most evident in their shortened ears.
The Arctic hare is mostly solitary. However, during winter months, this species may demonstrate ‘flocking’ behavior, sometimes gathering in large groups of up to 3,000 individuals. This unique behavior may offer the Arctic hare protection from predators such as the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) making it harder for predators to catch an individual without being seen. The ‘flock’ are synchronized with each other and are able to move, run and change direction at the same time.
The Arctic hare is always white in the far north where there is snow all year round. In parts of the Arctic circle that have seasons, the Arctic hare will go from white to a blue-grey color in the summer but is known to keep its white tail all year.
The Arctic hare has long claws which helps the Arctic hare when digging through icy and snowy conditions when the Arctic hare is searching for food or if the Arctic hare is digging a den. The paws are heavily padded with thick, coarse fur which helps the Arctic hare to walk on the surface of snow without sinking. The well adapted claws and incisors enable the Arctic hare to dig through snow and feed on the plants beneath.
Distress calls are made by hare and rabbit species when they are caught by predators, but all other communication is thought to be done by scent marking. The glands which secrete the scent are found underneath the chin and in the groin area.
Diet
Food can be scarce in the Arctic, but the hares survive by eating woody plants, mosses, and lichens which they may dig through the snow to find in winter. In other seasons they eat buds, berries, leaves, roots, and bark.
An omnivorous species, the Arctic hare’s diet is mostly composed of woody plants such as Arctic willow (Salix arctica), as well as grasses, herbs, berries, buds, shrubs and lichens. An opportunistic feeder, the Arctic hare may also eat small animals and carrion. This species has an acute sense of smell, which enables it to locate and dig for food in the snow.
Arctic hares feed primarily on woody plants, and willow constitutes 95 percent of their diet year-round. Arctic hares predominantly consume such as saxifrage, crowberry, and dwarf willow, but can also eat a variety of other foods, including lichens and mosses, blooms, other species' leaves, twigs and roots, mountain sorrel and macroalgae (seaweed). Arctic hare diets are more diverse in summer, but still primarily consists of willow, dryas and grasses. Arctic hare have been reported to occasionally eat meat, including fish and the stomach contents of eviscerated caribou. They eat snow to get water.
Breeding
Arctic hares are sometimes loners but they can also be found in groups of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of individuals. Unlike many mammals, arctic hare groups disperse rather than form during mating season. Animals pair off and define mating territories, though a male may take more than one female partner.
The breeding season of the Arctic hare begins in April or May, with the male pursuing the female and biting her neck, which often draws blood. The gestation period is around 53 days, with females usually giving birth to a litter of between 2 and 8 young hares, or ‘leverets’, in June or July. The female Arctic hare gives birth in a depression in the ground, which is lined with grass, moss and fur or sheltered under rocks.
Arctic hare leverets are born at an advanced stage of development, with fur and open eyes. The female returns to feed the leverets every 18 hours with highly nutritious milk, eventually leaving them to fend for themselves when they are fully weaned after 8 or 9 weeks.
Two to eight young hares grow quickly and by September resemble their parents. They will be ready to breed the following year. The leverets stay within the mother's home range until they are old enough to survive on their own.
There is little information on the lifespan of Arctic hare. Some anecdotal evidence suggests they live three to five years in the wild. Arctic hare do not survive well in captivity, living only a year and a half at most.
Traditionally, the arctic hare has been important to Native Americans. These fairly plentiful animals are hunted as a food resource and for their fur, which is used to make clothing.
Arctic hare threats
The Arctic hare is threatened by habitat loss in the southern part of its range, as well as by unrestricted hunting in certain areas. It may also come under threat in the future due to climate changes (whether those changes are man made, solar min/max changes or changes in the earths axis). However, the Arctic hare is not currently believed to be at high risk of extinction due to any of these factors.
Conservation
Some parts of the Arctic hare’s range have seasonal limits on the harvest levels of this species. There are not known to be any other specific conservation measures currently in place for the Arctic hare.
Subspecies
There are nine recognized subspecies of the Arctic hare:
⦁ Lepus arcticus andersoni,
⦁ Lepus arcticus arcticus,
⦁ Lepus arcticus bangsii,
⦁ Lepus arcticus banksicola,
⦁ Lepus arcticus groenlandicus,
⦁ Lepus arcticus hubbardi,
Lepus arcticus labradorius,
⦁ Lepus arcticus monstrabilis, and
⦁ Lepus arcticus porsildi.
The subspecies vary in range, molting behavior and appearance, with northern populations remaining white year-round.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/arctic-hare/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_hare
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/arctic-hare/
http://www.arkive.org/arctic-hare/lepus-arcticus/
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitLo.do;jsessionid=9111F3DC840DAB947DC1538CECB74E3A?method=preview&lang=EN&id=13762
http://interesting-animal-facts.com/Arctic-Animal-Facts/Arctic-Hare-Facts.html

Hares in Newfoundland
https://retrieverman.net/tag/arctic-hare/
One of the most interesting biological stories takes place on the island of Newfoundland. Before settlement, only Arctic hares could be found on Newfoundland. Its predators included the now extinct Newfoundland wolves and a very small population of Canada lynx.
Its population was small, mainly because Arctic hares use open habitats and they are always somewhat vulnerable to predation.
The small population of lynx that lived in Newfoundland were always at a bit of disadvantage. They are mostly adapted to eating snowshoe hares, which are creatures of the dense forest. However, before the 1860’s, there were no snowshoe hares on Newfoundland.
The Canada lynx that lived on the island had to live like bobcats– eating what prey species availed themselves. Bobcats and Eurasian lynx are better at hunting deer species than the Canada lynx, but the Canada lynx on Newfoundland occasionally hunted caribou, especially the young of the year.
But because there were no easily captured snowshoe hares for the Canada lynx to eat, their numbers remained quite small. The Canada lynx doesn’t do well as a bobcat.
In the 1860’s, the government of Newfoundland discovered it had a problem. Lots of people were going hungry. The forests and sea were not producing enough to feed them.
To rectify this problem, the Newfoundland government introduced the snowshoe hare, which is staple in the diet of many rural residents of the mainland. The hares fed the people, and they adapted well to Newfoundland’s environment.
And they spread. In the early 1900’s, there were tons of them on the island. They soon reached what ecologists call the “carrying capacity” and then many of them starved.
Then something else happened.
Arctic hares began to disappear, and the caribou numbers began to drop.
What caused the numbers of those species to drop?
Well, it has something to do with the Canada lynx.
What?
Well, as I said before, the Canada lynx is a snowshoe hare specialist. On the mainland, its population is directly linked to snowshoe hare populations. It lives almost exclusively on them, and it is very well adapted to hunting them.
When the population of snowshoe hares began to take off in Newfoundland, the native Canada lynx population could stop living like bobcats. They could return to their ancestral habits of hunting the snowshoes, the species they evolved to eat.
Things were fine until the snowshoe hares reached their carrying capacity and their population dropped off.
Then, the larger population of Canada lynx that had developed from eating those large number of snowshoe hares had to find something else to eat.
They slaughtered the Arctic hares, even though Arctic hares are much harder for the Canada lynx to hunt. With so many Canada lynx in Newfoundland looking for food, the poor Arctic hares had no respite from the predation. The predation was so intense that Arctic hares can be found only in remote areas the northern part of the island, where one cannot find Canada lynx or snowshoe hares.
On the mainland, Canada lynx, snowshoe hares, and Arctic hares are not found in the same spots. Arctic hares are always found to the north of prime Canada lynx and snowshoe hare habitat. It is likely that Canada lynx are the main reason why Arctic hares have a rather clearly demarcated southern limit to their range. They simply cannot live where Canada lynx and snowshoe hares do, because the Canada lynx will eat the Arctic hares when the snowshoe hares have their population crash.
Yes, snowshoe hares have a ten year cycle in which the population hits its carry capacity within ten years and then has a massive die off. Then it rebuilds after that die off until it hits its carry capacity ten years later. The Canada lynx is at the mercy of these ten year cycles. And so, it seems, is the Arctic hare.
The introduction of the snowshoe hare in Newfoundland had been a major disaster for the Arctic hare, even though the two species do not necessarily conflict with each other. They don’t even live in the same habitats, with Arctic hares preferring the open tundra and snowshoes preferring the forest. It is the rather strong predator-prey relationship that exists between the snowshoe hares and the Canada lynx that ultimately affected the Arctic hare.
Now, that is only part of the story.
Why did the caribou drop off?
Well, it is a very similar story.
When the Canada lynx population exploded with the introduced snowshoe hares, they generally left the moose and caribou alone. Canada lynx will eat snowshoe hares before they’ll touch any species of deer.
When the snowshoe hare population collapsed, the caribou and moose population began to suffer almost as badly as the Arctic hares.
The caribou population collapsed through the 1950s until there were just a few hundred caribou on the island.
It turned out that many of these caribou were dying as calves from a bacterial infection. Large numbers of calves were found dead. They had strange puss-filled marks on their throats, which were cultured and found to have the Pasturella multocida bacteria in those puss-filled marks. It was this bacteria that was killing them.
The caribou of Newfoundland prefer to calve in low-lying swampy areas on the island. They try to keep their calves out of the elements so they do not succumb to illnesses or the elements.
So why were they getting this bacterial infection? And what about the strange marks on the caribou calves’ throats?
Well, remember the earlier story about the Canada lynx and the snowshoe hares in Newfoundland?
It turns out that the Canada lynx were not only preying on Arctic hares when the snowshoe population crashed. They were also preying caribou calves. However, as I said before, Canada lynx are pikers when it comes to hunting any species of deer.
They often made a mess of it.
As you are aware, cats often kill by a bite to the throat. Canada lynx kill biting the throats of their prey. However, when they tried to kill caribou calves, they really didn’t do too well. They really don’t have the teeth of a big cat to really suffocate a large prey species like a young caribou. When they would have a young caribou on the ground biting its throat, the mother caribou would have time to run back and drive the lynx off its calf.
With that many lynx making failed attempts to kill young caribou, it didn’t take that long for lots of calves to get infected with nasty bacteria. And thus, they died.
Now, the discovery that Canada lynx were causing Arctic hare and caribou populations to drop was a major revelation in population ecology. The biologist who made this discovery was A.T. Bergerud.
Bergerud’s discoveries were a major afront to the accepted theory in wildlife management at the time. Before Bergerud, the accepted theory was that of Paul Errington. Errington’s theory is the classical predator-prey relationship. Prey species produce many offspring, usually far more than the habitat can handle, but these prey species are kept in check because they are eaten by the predators. The ones the predators catch are called the “doomed surplus.” Predators play a vital role keeping these prey species at healthy numbers. Because natural predators take the animals that are part of this doomed surplus, natural predators do not make prey species go extinct or make their populations drop precipitously.
Bergerud’s theory is quite different from that. It suggest that there are conditions in which predators actually can make a population drop really quickly.
I don’t think that it entirely negates the classical wildlife management theory on predator-prey relationships. However, there are exceptions to every rule, and the Canada lynx and snowshoe hare are pretty exceptional species. Not very many predators are so closely linked with a single prey species. It is also rather unusual to find a prey species with such clearly defined cycle to its population dynamics as the snowshoe hare.
And Newfoundland is a pretty strange place. It is an island that never had snowshoe hares on it. When prey species are introduced to an environment where they don’t have many predators, they will reproduce at an astounding rate. The doomed surplus doesn’t become doomed, and the population explodes until the ecosystem can handle no more. The small population of Canada lynx had been eking out an existence as a generalist predator until the snowshoe hares appeared like manna from heaven.
Yes, it is an unusual situation, but it proves that exceptions exist to every rule. And that’s why predators sometimes need to be managed to protect the prey species.

FolkTale:
Arctic Hare stories from Voices of the Inuit from the Canadian Museum of Nature
Inuit—Stories of Long Ago
Oral Tradition: Between the Physical and the Spiritual Worlds
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/stories/020020-3100-e.html
According to Inuit tradition, human beings could travel between the physical and spiritual worlds. Humans could also transform into animals and animals could transform into human beings. As well, there were invisible spirits that were capable of changing into any form.
Inuit saw the world as having infinite possibilities. The titles of the stories varied from region to region. Even the names of main characters in stories sometimes varied according to different regions of the Arctic. Many legends were for entertainment and amusement, there were also stories that taught lessons to the listeners.
According to Inuit tradition, there was nothing but water when the world began. Suddenly, stones and rocks came down from the sky. Land was created! There was only darkness, and humans and animals lived together as one species. The animals and human beings took on each other's forms and shapes. Words were created and, because these words had never been used before, they contained very powerful magic. Whenever anyone used words, strange things would happen. For example, when Tiriganiaq, the fox, met Ukaliq, an Arctic hare, the fox said, "Taaq, taaq, taaq! 'Darkness, darkness, darkness!'" said the fox. It liked the dark when it was going out to steal from the caches of the humans.
"Ulluq, ulluq, ulluq! 'Day, day, day!'" said the hare. It wanted the light of day so that it could find a place to feed.
And suddenly it became as the hare wished it to be; its words were the most powerful. Day came and replaced night, and when night had gone day came again. And light and dark took turns with each other.
-Rasmussen 1931
Many other things, such as the concepts of good and bad, were created by the magical powers of words.
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitLo.do;jsessionid=49726EB7BBC409F8674F9AE248C20BBF?method=preview&lang=EN&id=14008
Inuit Oral Tradition
The stories told here about the Arctic hare originate in the oral tradition of Inuit culture. They were written down -- probably for the first time -- in the 20th century.
The Story of 'The Marriage of the Fox and the Hare'
"The tale of 'the fox and the hare' tells how a hare married a female fox, promising to provide her with all the prey she needed to eat. Sadly, however, he was unable to live up to his job and, full of shame, told her that they should separate since he was unable to look after her. Full of tears, she left him, mourning the loss of her hare husband".
-Randa 1994
The 'Two Rabbits Outsmart an Owl' Story
"An Owl saw two Rabbits playing close together, and seized them, one in each foot; but they were too strong for him and ran away. The Owl's wife shouted to him, 'let one of them go, and kill the other!' but he replied, 'The Moon will soon appear, and then we shall be hungry. We need both of them.' The Rabbits ran on; and when they came to a boulder, one ran to the right side, while the other ran to the left side, of it. The Owl was not able to let go quick enough, and was torn in two".
-Boas 1901
The Story of 'The Fox and The Rabbit'
"Once upon a time a Fox met a Rabbit, and asked him if he had recently caught any seal. The Rabbit became angry on account of this question, and said to the Fox, "Yes, if you just follow my tracks backward, you will find one I have just killed." The Fox went along the Rabbit's tracks, but, instead of finding a seal, he only found the place where the Rabbit had spent the time sleeping in the sun by the side of some rocks. He ran away and whenever he met an animal, he would tell him that the Rabbit was a great liar".
-Boas 1901

The Arctic Hare Poem
https://www.abctales.com/story/well-wisher/arctic-hare
By well-wisher

Now where is the hare?
Is it here or there?
With its coat so white,
it keeps out of sight.

And if not for that magic coat,
it’d be prey to fox or stoat,
the Arctic wolf or snowy owl
or polar bears out on the prowl.

Yet the hare can see what’s unseen;
smell willows underground
with twitching nose and, with its keen
ears, hear the slightest sound.

You glimpse a black tipped ear;
its eyes, jewels in the snow
but then it disappears.
Now where did that hare go?

News:
Vitakraft Sun Seed recalls rabbit and macaw foods
The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/vitakraft-sun-seed-recalls-rabbit-and-macaw-foods-062617.html
Vitakraft Sun Seed of Weston, Ohio, is recalling certain Sunseed Parrot Fruit & Vegetable diet and Sunseed SunSations Rabbit Food.
The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
There have been no report of any illnesses to date.
The following products, sold in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are being recalled:
ITEM DESCRIPTION LOT Best buy date
87535100597 SS PARROT FRT/VEG. 25# 104082 5/22/2019
87535360564 SS Sunsations Rabbit Food 3.5lb 6/C 104246 6/5/2019
70882077713 MJR PARROT FOOD 4LB 6/CA 103980 5/17/2019
70882077713 MJR PARROT FOOD 4LB 6/CA 103981 5/18/2019
73725732119 ALT Small Animal Apple Slices 1oz 24/CA 103435 4/28/2019
73725732119 ALT Small Animal Apple Slices 1oz 24/CA 103118 4/13/2019
73725749989 NG GUINEA PIG ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 103440 5/1/2019
73725749989 NG GUINEA PIG ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 104434 6/8/2019
73725749989 NG GUINEA PIG ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 103439 5/1/2019
73725750019 NG RABBIT ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 104436 6/8/2019
73725750019 NG RABBIT ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 103442 4/27/2019
73725750019 NG RABBIT ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 103444 4/27/2019
73725750019 NG RABBIT ENTRÉE 4lb 6/C 103443 4/27/2019
82514158955 DFS Premium Blend Macaw 5lb 5/C 104094 3/16/2020
82514158955 DFS Premium Blend Macaw 5lb 5/C 103741 2/19/2020
82514158955 DFS Premium Blend Macaw 5lb 5/C 103876 2/24/2020
What to do
Customers who purchased the recalled products may return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Consumers with questions may contact customer service at 1-800-221-6175, Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 5:00pm (EST).

Rabbits are hopping all over
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2017/06/28/forget-jackrabbit-bunnytown/cWn12dnTUCjdDUGS76xqXI/story.html
Lately, it seems, the city of Boston has been overrun by a collection of entitled youngsters, occupying the trendiest neighborhoods, adhering to strict vegetarian diets, and fornicating at a rate that would make Hugh Hefner blush.
Yes, exactly: rabbits.
No matter where you look these days, you’re bound to spot these cotton-tailed city dwellers making themselves comfortable in the city’s backyards, pathways, and streets. In recent weeks alone, they’ve been spied hopping near grassy lots in Southie, hiding under cars in Somerville, and strutting past red-brick townhomes in the Back Bay. They can regularly be found canoodling in Cambridge.
“It seems like there’s always a bunny around,” says Michelle Kweder, a Harvard Law School employee and Somerville resident who insists she is no longer surprised when she stumbles upon one.
Whether there’s been an actual surge in the number of rabbits is difficult to determine; due in part to their short lifespans, keeping tabs on the number of wild rabbits in any region can be nearly impossible.
Anecdotally, though, there seems to be a rash of rabbit-human run-ins around town, and one theory is that it’s simply that time of year.
The mating season for cottontails stretches from March to September, says Marion Larson, information and education chief for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, and each spring — as residents and homeowners inevitably spend more time outdoors — they’re bound to run into what she calls the “very prolific rabbit.”
“It’s a seasonal phenomenon,” says Larson.
Still, the rabbit has found itself in the news from time to time. In 2015, for instance, the federal government removed the New England cottontail rabbit from the list of endangered species. And some locals insist that the rabbits occupying their yards are more than temporary guests.
“These aren’t just random wanderers,” says John Byrne of Medford, who counted at least five or six rabbits during a recent bus commute to Somerville. “I can’t fairly call them tenants, because they don’t pay rent. But as far as they’re concerned, they’re home.”
They’ve become such a fixture during twice-daily walks with his dog, says Al Weisz, a Somerville-based architect and engineer, that he now notices when he doesn’t spot one.
“It’s the exception rather than the rule when I don’t see a rabbit,” he says.
But while the rabbits’ presence within city limits — and in the various surrounding suburbs — might seem curious, it’s not all that surprising.
For one thing, they don’t require much territory, according to Marj Rines, a naturalist with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. The two local rabbit species — New England cottontail and Eastern cottontail — can exist in a habitat as small as a half acre, she says, meaning that a single block of Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay would likely provide all the space and vegetation the small creatures would need.
For another thing, rabbits have developed something of a reputation for their rate of reproduction.
As Larson puts it: “When they say ‘breed like rabbits,’ it’s true.”
While some might worry about the bunnies’ penchant for mischief, others insist that concerns about the creatures have been overblown.
“In terms of the wildlife that we deal with, they’re relatively benign,” says Amanda Kennedy, director of animal care and control for the city of Boston. “And even the amount of damage they can do in your garden is typically less than what you’ll see for a skunk or squirrel.”
Which isn’t to say that they’re completely harmless.
“I was startled by one last weekend,” says Byrne. “I was doing some work in the yard, and there was a rabbit just sort of sitting on a dirt patch, kind of just blended right into the ground. I didn’t know it was there, and [then] he moved, and I just kind of recoiled a bit.”
Indeed, like squirrels before them, rabbits seem to be growing quite comfortable in the city’s streets.
“What’s surprising is how close me and my dog can get to it,” says Kweder. “This morning, the rabbit looked a little bit nervous, but also totally held her ground.”
For the most part, though, it has been a fairly peaceful cohabitation.
And despite their less-than-stellar reputations with gardens, the rabbits hordes have been kind enough to leave the city’s most prominent one unscathed.
“They’ve been all over Twitter, I’ve seen people posting pictures — but not us, unfortunately” says Susan Abell, director of communications and outreach for the Friends of the Public Garden.
“Or maybe,” she added, “fortunately.”

The urban rabbit is the unofficial mascot of Chicago
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/urban-rabbits-bunnies/BestOf?oid=27092070
Three years ago my wife and I rented an old bungalow in Avondale, and when we moved in, we discovered the street was lousy with rabbits—the eastern cottontail, to be exact, one of the most common species in the U.S. On one side of our house lay a weedy area that the rabbits used for cover, and on the other side stood a grassy open plot that they treated as their personal country club. When I came home at night, there would always be one in our front yard, giving me the hard stare, twitching its nose if I spoke, and hopping away if I made a move askance. I remember some epic stare downs with those guys, and they always won.
After a while we came to think of the rabbits as our friends and neighbors, and we looked forward to seeing them when they came out to forage at dusk. Periodically we'd sit down for ceremonial viewings of the misbegotten 1972 horror movie Night of the Lepus, set in an Arizona town that's been overrun by rabbits after the townspeople have gotten rid of its coyote population. Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh are scientists who inject rabbits with a hormonal formula to stunt their breeding, and after one of the rabbits gets loose, authorities begin to find mutilated bodies of livestock and people. Eventually the scientists discover that their serum has created a mutant species of marauding bunnies the size of bears. Cheapo special-effects shots show live rabbits loping around miniature sets, though an actor in a rabbit suit fills in for the attack scenes.
Chicago rabbits may not be quite as big, but their numbers have risen dramatically since the 1990s, when Mayor Daley's various greening projects began to invite more woodland creatures into an urban environment. Drawn by the elevated heat level of the city, rabbits began spreading from parks into grassy areas like expressway ramps, and even made their way into the Loop. They eat any kind of vegetation, laying waste to people's gardens. When there's no greenery available, they'll chew the bark off a tree trunk.
Similar greening projects have brought population explosions in other cities. As a graduate student at University of Frankfurt and a doctoral candidate at Goethe University, ecologist Madlen Ziege has made comparative studies of rural and urban rabbits and finds that city rabbits are a lot like us. Out in the country, rabbits live communally in large, sprawling burrows, with multiple exits that offer escape from predators; as they move into the city, where predators are less common, their burrows become smaller, simpler, more private, and more uniformly spaced. Ziege has also discovered that urban rabbits establish communal latrines that they use to demarcate their territory from that of rival bunny gangs.
During the winter I'd come home after dark, find rabbits sitting in our snowy front yard, and marvel at what tough bastards they were. But according to Mason Fidino of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo, 70 percent of Chicago's rabbits die every winter. The population keeps growing only because they breed like crazy: with a gestation period of four weeks, females typically deliver 16 to 20 offspring a year. Apparently rabbits do nothing but eat, mate, defend their turf, cause property damage, and die. So, you know— typical Chicagoans.

Skype, Facetime, or Rabbit?: What’s The Best Way To Remotely Binge with Your Pals?
http://decider.com/2017/06/28/skype-facetime-rabbit-the-best-way-to-remotely-binge/
Rabbit: The Perfect Place to Co-Watch YouTube Videos
There is actually a company that has realized people want to watch content together from across the web, and they’ve kind of figured it out. Rabbit is essentially a free screen sharing site. Each user has a chat room, which is where you can watch anything from Hulu to YouTube by logging onto your account through a webpage on the site. From there, you can invite up to 25 of your friends to your chat room.
I tested rabbit with my best friend and her husband, and the two biggest issues I found with the service had to do with quality and privacy. The video quality of Rabbit is not good by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a choppier version of whatever video you’ve already found (I later found out that Rabbit has a high definition option that I was not using). Also, the way it interacts with paid services that already have your credit card information, like Netflix and Hulu, gives me pause. Since you have to re-enter your paid account information into Rabbit’s site, it’s unclear if the service has any additional privacy measures in place to protect that info. Even reading through Rabbit’s privacy policy didn’t remedy my concerns, and I’m not the only one who has been suspicious of the site. However, if the site’s privacy policy doesn’t concern you, Rabbit only requires one user to have an account. All of the other options on this list are contingent on both users having a Netflix or Hulu account.
That being said, Rabbit features text chat and audio chat while letting you successfully watch TV with 25 of your closest friends. No other option does that while perfectly syncing the video with all users. In my test trial, we found that the service works well for a branch of content that’s short, accessible to everyone, and is already all over the place quality-wise — YouTube videos. You’d be hard pressed to find a better service that lets you dive into the oddities of YouTube together.
UPDATE: After speaking to a representative from Rabbit, it seems as though there is a way to switch the streaming quality of the service. For this article, I was unknowingly streaming YouTube videos in Rabbit’s lowest quality setting, but there is a high definition option available in the bottom toolbar.
The same spokesperson also clarified Rabbit’s privacy policy. According to this representative, the site scrubs its service after users watch videos. Because of this, the site cannot see users’ private information. Basically, if you use Rabbit to log into Netflix, Rabbit will not be able to see the information you enter. Knowing this information, it now seems as though Rabbit is the ideal site for streaming with your friends.

Clevedon hospital rabbit goes missing
http://www.northsomersettimes.co.uk/news/clevedon-hospital-rabbit-goes-missing-1-5081595
Bigwig lived in the garden outside The Little Teapot café at the North Somerset Community Hospital in Old Street.
The rabbit, named after a character in Waterhship Down, is believed to have been taken from the hospital in early June.
Matt Croughan, clinical lead at the minor injury unit, said: “This is a hare-raising story of a kidnap and we are hoping Bigwig will hop back to us soon.
“But joking aside, we would really like whoever removed Bigwig to return him.
“He was a great addition to our beautiful garden, which is tended by volunteers, and it seems a shame someone has chosen to deprive the hospital of our Bigwig.”
The hospital’s inpatients unit is currently closed to undergo a refurbishment, and is expected to reopen in September.

Vancouver City Council weighs limits on rabbits, hens, cats
City may put cap on pets per household
http://www.columbian.com/news/2017/jun/27/vancouver-city-council-weighs-limits-on-rabbits-hens-cats/
Residents of Vancouver may soon be limited in how many cats, hens or rabbits they can keep on their property.
On Monday, Vancouver City Council voted to advance an ordinance that would prohibit residents from keeping more than five adult cats, five adult hens or five adults rabbits on their property. Residential properties larger than 10,000 square feet would be allowed an additional hen or rabbit for each 1,000 square feet, under the ordinance.
According to a staff report, the city’s current code limits the number of adult dogs allowed on private residences to three and prohibits roosters and peacocks. The ordinance, which has been in the works since earlier this year and will be heard and voted on July 10, is intended to discourage hoarding while also addressing noise, odor and property destruction concerns.
The council was provided with two different versions of the ordinance and opted for one that allows residents to have up to 10 adults cats if they are participating in a foster program run by a nonprofit.
During the meeting, the council heard from Sherry Mowatt, a resident of the Hough neighborhood, who said that she has a flock of a dozen hens. She said she cares for them responsibly and expressed concern about the ordinance. Bryan Snodgrass, principal planner in the city’s Community and Economic Development Department, explained that people like Mowatt would effectively be grand- fathered in.
But Councilor Alishia Topper expressed reservations about the ordinance, specifically how the number of animals the measure allows for was chosen “randomly,” and how it could adversely affect responsible animal owners.
“It’s like we are penalizing the people who are being good because of the people who are behaving poorly,” she said. Topper suggested creating some sort of permit for people to own more animals.
Councilor Ty Stober said that the ordinance was crafted partially in response to a resident who was raising in a “suspect fashion” rabbits and chickens on their property.
“We are a city,” he said. “We are not unincorporated Clark County.”

From donut sandwiches to rabbit sausage, these are the weirdest foods in Lawrence
http://www.kansan.com/arts_and_culture/from-donut-sandwiches-to-rabbit-sausage-these-are-the-weirdest/article_a0627cc2-583b-11e7-9f00-9f2a7a6f7b78.html
Lawrence is a place that lends itself to weird and unusual pieces of Midwestern culture. A massive part of that, undoubtedly, is the food throughout town.
Foods from almost any place in the world, or from any culture, can find a niché in Lawrence. The Kansan found some of the most unique dishes in the Lawrence community and learned the stories behind them.
Harold’s Chicken, Whiskey and Donuts, located at 918 Massachusetts Street, serves a Grilled Do-nut Burger and a Grilled Glazer Sandwich, both served on glazed donuts.
Harold’s was created for lovers of chicken, whiskey, and donuts. So it’s no surprise that one of the restaurant's weirdest and most popular food items includes two other menu options.
The Grilled Glazer Sandwich is made up of a piece of fried chicken, cheddar cheese, Harold’s secret sauce and, to top it off, it all goes in between two glazed donuts.
Harold’s also has a Double Do-nut Burger which has two hamburger patties, cheddar cheese, Harold’s secret sauce and it’s placed between two glazed donuts.
Katie Chamberlin, assistant manager at Harold’s, said that these two items are some of their top sellers. She said the taste of the burger patty and do-nut bun is a good combination of sweet and salty.
“People are surprised,” Chamberlin said. “They would never ordinarily order something like that, but almost everyone loves it.”
Customers also receive a side with their sandwich or burger, including fries, mac and cheese, or mashed potatoes and gravy.
Luckily for customers, these menu items are around all year long.
Hank's Rabbit Sausage and Toast
Hank’s Charcuterie has been and Lawrence for three years. Its seasonal menu items might catch customers' eye of people dining in, especially an item on its current menu: rabbit sausage and bone marrow toast.
Jamie Everett, chef de cuisine at Hank’s, said that the idea to place the item on the menu occurred after the restaurant served it at an event and the response from people was really good.
Everett said that the dish includes bread from 1900 Barker Bakery, wooly rind cheese, spicy spring greens mustard vinaigrette, rabbit jus, and rabbit sausage.
“We get in local rabbits, break it down, and grind it up with a little bit of pork fat, roasted garlic and herbs, slice it real thin and sear it off in a pan,” he said.
Everett said that the rabbit sausage has a very mild flavor and that a lot of people say it tastes like chicken.
As for the bone marrow, Everett said that they roast meat bones off and save the marrow and put it on top of the dish, which adds a savory flavor.
“Everybody loves it,” Everett said. “We sell quite a few and there is nothing super game-y in it.”
One of Wake the Dead's interesting cocktails.
Contributed Photo/Wake The Dead
Wake the Dead's Death Star Sandwich and bizarre cocktails
Wake the Dead likes to follow the motto "coffee until cocktails."
Dante Colombo, manager of Wake the Dead, said that they want people to have coffee until they are ready for something stronger.
But Wake the Dead doesn’t just serve drinks, they also serve breakfast for dinner, including the Death Star Sandwich.
The Death Star Sandwich is an egg sandwich with a twist. It includes egg, fontina cheese, a choice of ham or bacon, lettuce, tomato, and the chef’s special sauce. The whole thing is placed between a un-glazed do-nut.
Deanna Vierling, an employee at Wake the Dead, said that the sandwich is really popular among customers.
“I have had a few people tell me they get it every time they come in, but a lot of people are like oh I have to try it,” she said.
As for unique drinks, Wake the Dead also has Cereal Killer Cocktails, with flavors including fruit loops, frosted flakes, and cinnamon toast crunch.
Vierling said that the cinnamon toast crunch cocktail is the most popular and that it tastes a lot like the leftover milk from the cereal.
“I have had people order them and they will drink one and say, ‘This is really good, it’s really sweet so I’m not going to stick with it but I’m really happy I tried it,’” she said.
Colombo said a lot of their menu items are based off of the concept of doing something fun that Lawrence hasn’t seen before.
“We are one of Lawrence’s only downtown do-nut shops, but we wanted to focus a large part of our food menu on donuts,” he said.
Colombo said that it’s a fun place and fun idea.
“We wanted something that was Instagram-able and kind of fun so we wanted to play off the bar vibe and keep the energy rolling,” he said.

"Is The Order a Rabbit?" Hops Into Japanese Theaters in November
Limited theatrical release was originally scheduled for Spring of 2017
http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2017/06/25/is-the-order-a-rabbit-hops-into-japanese-theaters-in-november
The Rabbit House cafe is back in business, because the Is The Order a Rabbit? ~Dear My Sister~ special episode once again has an official theatrical release date for a limited run at 40 movie theaters in Japan beginning on November 11, 2017. The special was originally scheduled to debut in Spring of 2017, but the release was delayed due to unspecified "production circumstances".
The main staff for the special episode includes:
Director: Hiroyuki Hashimoto
Original work, screenplay: Koi, Hiroyuki Hashimoto
Character design: Yousuke Okuda
Music: Ruka Kawada
Animation production: production doA
Additionally, it was also announced that the official theme song CD for Is The Order a Rabbit? ~Dear My Sister~ will be released on November 11, 2017, and that a new character song CD will be released in October of 2017.
The original Is the Order a Rabbit? manga by Koi is serialized in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Max seinen manga magazine. The previous two seasons of Is the Order a Rabbit? are directed by Hiroyuki Hashimoto and feature animation by White Fox and Kinema Citrus. Crunchyroll describes the series as follows:
Kokoa arrives in a new town in spring to start high school. She gets lost and pops into a coffee shop called "Rabbit House", which turns out to be where she will live. All the characters are so cute - tiny but cool Chino, soldierly Lize, gentle and Japanese Chiyo, sophisticated but down-to-earth Sharo. They are joined by Chino's class mates Maya and Megu, and a regular at the shop, Mr. Blue-Mountain Aoyama. Everything is so cute every day at Rabbit House!

Warrior rabbit is a winner for Kieran
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/entertainment/warrior-rabbit-is-a-winner-for-kieran-315553.aspx
A ONE-EARED rabbit has won Island author Kieran Larwood the Blue Peter Book Award.
The book, Podkin One-Ear, has also been named Waterstones’ Book of the Month.
The adventure tale, inspired by The Hobbit, is the legendary tale of Podkin, ‘a fearsome warrior rabbit whose reputation for cunning and triumph in battle has traveled the ages’.
Kieran is an early years leader at Wroxall Primary School.
He won The Times children’s fiction competition in 2011 with his debut novel, Freaks.
The Blue Peter Book Award celebrates children’s books published in the past year in two categories — the best story and the best book with facts.
Around 400 children were sent a copy of the short list, asked to read them and select their favourite.
Kieran said: “It was quite special to win something judged by a young audience. It really was amazing — I was thrilled because I didn’t expect to win.”
Podkin One-Ear is the first in a trilogy, with the second book due out in September.
Kieran has been signing books at Waterstones across the country and will be signing an exclusive edition copy, with a special cover, tomorrow (Saturday) from 2pm to 4pm at Waterstones, Newport.

Bunny Park revamp to enter next stage
http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1547987/bunny-park-revamp-enter-next-stage/
The estimated cost of Phase 1 was R3.7 million.
Phase 1 of the Bunny Park’s revamp will be concluded at the end of June, reports the Benoni City Times.
According to Themba Gadebe, Ekurhuleni metro spokesperson, the second phase will commence on July 1 and last until the end of June next year.
The facility will remain closed to the public until at least the end of Phase Two.
“About R8 million has been set aside for the second phase of revamping of the park,” Gadebe said.
“This will include the upgrading of the gazebos, installation of playground equipment, upgrade of the bunny shelters and installation of new park furniture.
“Work in the park during the second phase will also include construction of mini-bridges, a new pump house, fencing around the animal shelters and the addition of gabions.”
The estimated cost of Phase One was R3.7 million.
It was focused on dredging two of the park’s three dams and connecting them through canals, to ensure the water doesn’t become stagnant.
Gadebe said after the construction period, vegetation will be planted and allowed to grow before any animals are brought back to the park.
The material dredged from the dams will be used as a natural fertilizer for the vegetation.
The cows, sheep, goats, some birds and one pig were moved to temporary foster homes by mid-May, where they will remain for the duration of the revamp.

Local breeder's rabbits win best in show thanks to tender, loving care
http://www.swvatoday.com/news/article_f474e21b-50a6-593d-9429-f8745d72a175.html
ABINGDON, Va. — Nina Cipriani has had hare-raising experiences ever since she was a child.
Known in the community as the “rabbit lady,” the Abingdon woman learned a lot about rabbits when she was growing up in town. Her first pet rabbit was Butterscotch, a New Zealand Red.
“I’ve always had at least one rabbit since then,” she said.
Now, her Abingdon farm, Rattle Creek Rabbitry, is home to 45 of the cute and fluffy animals, most of which are Rhinelander and Jersey Wooly show rabbits.
Each year, Cipriani is a judge of rabbits entered in the agricultural show at the Washington County Fair in Abingdon. She also speaks to students about raising rabbits at local 4-H meetings during the school year.
Cipriani’s granddaughter, Hattie Galbreath, is carrying on the family tradition.
The grandchild recently received Best in Show in the youth category at a competition where she showed a retired Jersey Wooly, a calm and good beginner rabbit for children.
“Now, she has two rabbits of her own. It’s a good start for her,” said Cipriani.
Throughout her life, Cipriani has gone different directions with rabbits.
She raises them for their wool. Cipriani collects wool from her Angora rabbits by clipping or brushing them every three months. She has spun yarn from the rabbit wool and plans to make something from the yarn.
She raises rabbits for their meat. “It’s one of the healthiest meats you can eat. The majority of my New Zealand white rabbits are sold to people to produce a healthy meat source for their families,” she said.
But raising pet and show rabbits has got to be a favorite hobby for her.
The couple spends at least an hour each day feeding and watering the rabbits, two hours each week grooming and one day every two weeks focusing on cleaning and maintenance.
Cipriani and Charlie Sutherland, a friend in Blacksburg, Virginia, discussed how there were no rabbit shows in the area. Within six months, the friends developed the Southwest Virginia Rabbit Association (SWVARA), an incorporated chapter with the American Rabbit Breeders Association.
Their first show was held a year ago in a small metal building in Christiansburg, but since then the shows have been moved to a spacious livestock arena at Virginia Tech.
Cipriani said anyone interested in learning more about rabbits can visit the upcoming SWVARA show on Nov. 11 at the livestock arena in Blacksburg, Virginia.