Random Rabbit pics(7)

[Anntann]

Last Summer/Fall some of you will remember that I posted about a wild "domestic" rabbit in our yard. Well...here he/she is again Solid medium brown, smallish ears, about 4? lbs. Someone's escaped pet.

A couple of months ago I got a trio of french angoras...wool in NOT good shape at all. They were also quite skinny...Here is Fiona..then/now. She's 2 lbs heavier, and her wool is coming in very nicely. She wasn't as bad as the other two (she's under a year..they're over a year old). Even her guard hairs are coming in nicely. The older doe has a LOT of guard hairs now, with loads of undercoat coming in nice and fine.

And finally the fuzzy butt kits The first three are Whitey's 3/4 french 1/4English (REWxBlack Himmy) at 2.5 weeks and then at 4 weeks. Followed by one of the French kits. born a solid dark chocolate (I thought) but obviously changing as wool comes in. cute as a button.

 

[Cattle Cait]

I'd bet a dollar that your feral bunny is a Havana, a quite nice looking one at that. Should catch it

 

[Anntann]

We tried to catch him last fall using live traps. Wiley little critter. Since he showed up again/still I think we'll try. Fresh food is still unavailable here, so he might REALLY like some fresh stuff!

 

[Farm Girl]

Ann STOP IT, quit showing us those adorable little Angoras. You are just plain mean. :lol: (I don't mean it, keep posting the pics)

What a beautiful little wild rabbit. Good thing the cottontails aren't that pretty, I wouldn't be able to hunt them.

Your Angora girl has certainly improved.Very nice looking.

 

[MaggieJ]

Too many pretty bunnies, Ann!

The last one, the one you thought was chocolate, is it a tort or some kind? Love the way the colours melt into each other.

 

[ladysown]

to me it looks like a polish/mini rex cross....but hey...I could be completely wrong.

and yeah...that last one looks tort.

 

[Random Rabbit]

Nice bunnies !!! Really like the first one.


( and i had to check out this thread... with a subject title like that :rotfl: )

 

[eco2pia]

Awww, I expected you to say "these are NOT my pics!!!" lol.

 

[Jasharia]

Verry nice looking buns you got there. I love baby angoras that is how we ended up with MR.Freeman he was just so darn cute. I felt babies on our Rew doe so we will have English angora babies soon I am so happy this is my first little of angoras.

 

[fuzzy9]

What a beautiful transformation with the angora! Wow!

Can I ask, not really knowing anything about angora rabbits, we used to raise alpacas, and from a fiber standpoint, the guard hairs were a bad thing. They are picky, pokey, and it's not something you want in your fiber from a finished product standpoint. Are guard hairs with angoras the same thing?

 

[Anntann]

well, Fuzzy...yup, pretty much! . They're kind of like Caucasian human hair. Straight..tend to be a bit heavier than the spinning fiber. Quite long.

If you pluck the fiber, you don't necessarily get the guard hairs. shearing, of course, you end up having to sort them out. HOWEVER...I've found that including guard hairs in a spinning project makes the yarn extremely strong. sigh...unfortunately, Angora has very little memory even with the GOOD stuff, so you really have to over-spin and set it to get it to stay linked.

French Angora have the most guard hairs. It's what keeps them from matting up badly. English Angora have little to no guard hairs. I think the German and the Satins are similar in this respect to the English.

 

[Pickles]

Cute! Cute! Cute!

 

[fuzzy9]

I see. My aunt still has her alpacas, and uses her fiber for knitting projects. I know she likes to blend the fiber with wool because (I believe) it's much like what you stated, it has no give to it. I never really got into the fiber part of it, other than shearing, and selling alpaca fiber socks. I much preferred the work part of it, and taking care of the animals. I had zero patience for sorting and cleaning fiber to send for processing. She has made some beautiful products with her own fiber though!

Do you make anything with your fiber, or do you only spin the yarn? Pictures to share?

 

[Anntann]

Mostly mine is blended with sheep's wool, although I've recently been dabbling with mohair (angora goats). I got a full fleece (huge thing...black/gray/silver colored) in exchange for some youngsters.

 

[mi_ku]

That brown rabbit is so pretty; I hope you catch her this year. Angora babies are so cute, I don't know how you can stand them.

 

[Anntann]

About the brown rabbit...I'm actually thinking I'll just let her/him be. It's in a quite safe area since she appears to live mostly in our fenced in back yard. We've got lots of cover here, and VERY few predators..a couple of cats that go out at night from the neighbor is about it..and they don't really go into the backyard because of Sadie, our dog....who just ignores the rabbits. She was pretty interested int he cottontail nest last year, but not in a predatory way.

anyway. tons of food here. and the rabbit seems quite happy. Obviously made if through the winter in fine shape. I may try to catch it just to be sure it's healthy..and if it has a tattoo I could try to find the owner..but otherwise...