For four days at the Indiana State Fair, rabbit breeders, novice pet owners and parents descend on the Poultry and Rabbit Building to showcase a year’s worth of preparation.
Most people entering the barn immediately see the action table, where 4-H members volunteer to answer questions and let visitors pet their rabbits and baby ducks. This is because the entrance was blocked by strollers and smartphone users, who had to get the perfect picture of the three rabbits on the table.
Krisha Griffith and her “bunny family” — Bailey Hale, 18, and Emma Patterson, 11 — helped out at the action table and told visitors what type of breeds they had as well as how they show bunnies.
Griffith kept her rabbit, Twerk, from jumping off the table as small children and curious adults swarmed, poked and prodded. An overly excited, face-painted kid said to his mom with big eyes, “I want a bunny because he feels like a cat.”
But the main attraction at the barn — at least for 4-H members — is the rabbit competition that lasted all day Aug. 2 for scores of different breeds of rabbit, from Flemish Giants who struggle to fit in the cage to the Hotot with mini ears and black mascara markings around their eyes.
Most 4-H participants live at the Poultry and Rabbit Barn, nursing Dr Peppers and tending to crockpots while playing card games from the time the barn opens at 7:30 a.m. until it closes at 9 p.m.
Some people use the word bunny, which is fuzzy and cute, but bunnies are not all always what they seem.
“I have a rabbit that bit the judge,” said Griffith, the 13-year-old 4-H rabbit ambassador. His name is Monster and has the coloring of a Rottweiler.
Interesting looking rabbits are often as quirky as their owners.
“I have a spindle at home, and I also crochet rabbit hair,” Hale said. “I’ve made hats, but I’m not very good at scarves, yet.”
The mark of rabbit owners comes in the form of red gashes along their forearms.
“Do you know how many times I’ve been sent to the guidance counselor’s office [for self-harm]? I tell them I just have rabbits,” Hale said.
Queso Blanco, a French Angora, is one of Hale’s favorites. She has an ear fetish and if you’re not careful, she will rip earrings off.
“That’s why you don’t wear earrings to a rabbit show,” Patterson said to her friend wearing dangly earrings.
While many are fond of the rabbits, almost all breeds can be eaten — children are raised to know which rabbits are friends and which are food. The first meat rabbit class was shown Aug. 1, and many of them will be auctioned off to be eaten or, if they are lucky, become new pets.
“We don’t name our meat rabbits,” Griffith said. “We named our last meat rabbits Dinner 1, Dinner 2 and Dinner 3.”
Griffith and her brother, Gage, have shown at the Indiana State Fair for two years and are presenting 17 rabbits. They have a total of 41 rabbits at home.
Most people think the Griffiths bunnies are cute enough to put in their pocket.
Griffith puts them in her apron pocket and says, “It’s fun until they pee.”
Kayla Crandall is a writer for BSU Journalism at the Fair, a Ball State University immersive-learning project placing 25 student journalists at the heart of the Midway to tell the weird and wonderful stories of the 2014 Indiana State Fair.
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