Funny questions people ask about rabbits...

[Bunnicula]

TinysSis wrote:

Bunnicula wrote:

All I can say to these people is..."Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." :nope:

-Mary Ellen

Hmm, I always say 'better to ask an ignorant question and become educated, than to stay silent and stay ignorant.

And yes, I know some people have no desire to learn. Others do. Sometimes the 'stupid' people are actually trying to learn. Ok?

No offense meant, TinysSis, questions are the way to learn. But this whole thread is about questions we can't believe we've gotten...and most of them haven't been asked to learn...but usually in a way that insinuates that what we believe or are doing is silly, stupid, or wrong. It's all in the way a question is asked.

Usually the "questions" mentioned here are more like opinions. Such as the person who responded to the fact that we have 10 cats and 3 rabbitswith, "How can you breathe?" Really, I can't imagine that that person was ACTUALLY asking about my process of respiration. She wasn't interested in how many litterboxes we have, how much time or effort it took to keep things clean, or whether or not having animals in the house aggravated my allergies. She was basically saying that I was crazy for sharing my home with so many animals.

So, yes, you should ask questions if you really want to learn and grow. And you shouldn't be afraid to sound like you don't know things. (That's why we ask questions in the first place.) When people are asked genuine questions they are usually more than happy to share their knowledge. That's not what's being addressed here...

So...sorry for offending...but I still feel that people who can't ask polite questions where they actually want an answer should consider not asking.

 

[TinysMom]

I'm actually going to quote the whole post and then answer the parts I've boldfaced.

I actually replied in this thread but my response was not based upon what you said the thread was about. The person who started this thread stated:


What are some funny bunny questions you've heard?

I didn't know this thread was about questions that we've received that we felt were insults. So like my daughter, perhaps I misunderstood the intent of the thread.

However, I want to point out something that may not occur to many folks - partly because of the generational difference (or regional differences) that we may have. For instance, I was brought up to ask questions to show interest in someone - even if I wasn't interested. It was part of being polite.

So for instance - let's say someone had a pit bull and I was afraid of them - but I wanted to make polite conversation. I might ask questions about pit bulls - like, "Aren't you afraid of someone getting hurt?" or "Has the dog ever bitten anyone or threatened to bite them?" and stuff like that.

I might even go so far after listening to them as to say something like, "Wow...I can't imagine having a pit bull in my house..." or something...just to share how new it is to me.

My point is this - many times people will ask 'stupid' questions or in ways that might be upsetting to us - but not mean it that way. It might be the way they were brought up to try and "connect" with someone.

I also want to point out that rabbits really haven't been "pets" all that long. When I had my first rabbit as a child - I think I was the ONLY one in my whole school that had a pet rabbit. Now you find more families getting rabbits and becoming more familiar with them.

We also have more resources now to educate people about rabbits and our love of them. The House Rabbit Society has great website information and there are email lists for probably most breeds of rabbits.

My husband's best friend will always look at Tiny and call him "Stew" or "Roast". However, I know him. I know he's joking and that is the only way he knows to connect with my rabbits because he was brought up where they are considered livestock. However, I also know that if I needed a ride to the vet's office in the middle of the night and had no other way to get there - he would probably help out - because he is a friend. I accept his teasing - just like he has asked me to tell him when to back off and he will.

Anyway - I'm sorry for hijacking this thread - that was not my intent. But I'm proud of my daughter for coming out of her shell. She's fought long and hard against shyness and her fear of people. I'd rather see her ask a stupid question than to be silent.

Peg

P.S. Gentle Giants - my boy/girl twins are 22 - Robin is one of them! Trust me - yours are young now but it gets even better!


Bunnicula wrote:

TinysSis wrote:

Bunnicula wrote:

All I can say to these people is..."Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." :nope:

-Mary Ellen

Hmm, I always say 'better to ask an ignorant question and become educated, than to stay silent and stay ignorant.

And yes, I know some people have no desire to learn. Others do. Sometimes the 'stupid' people are actually trying to learn. Ok?

No offense meant, TinysSis, questions are the way to learn. But this whole thread is about questions we can't believe we've gotten...and most of them haven't been asked to learn...but usually in a way that insinuates that what we believe or are doing is silly, stupid, or wrong. It's all in the way a question is asked.

Usually the "questions" mentioned here are more like opinions. Such as the person who responded to the fact that we have 10 cats and 3 rabbitswith, "How can you breathe?" Really, I can't imagine that that person was ACTUALLY asking about my process of respiration. She wasn't interested in how many litterboxes we have, how much time or effort it took to keep things clean, or whether or not having animals in the house aggravated my allergies. She was basically saying that I was crazy for sharing my home with so many animals.

So, yes, you should ask questions if you really want to learn and grow. And you shouldn't be afraid to sound like you don't know things. (That's why we ask questions in the first place.) When people are asked genuine questions they are usually more than happy to share their knowledge. That's not what's being addressed here...

So...sorry for offending...but I still feel that people who can't ask polite questions where they actually want an answer should consider not asking.

 

[Gordon]

Good points everybody! I certainly meant this thread to be lighthearted and fun, but I also know things can touch a nerve sometimes, so it's all in good spirit to me.



Gordon

 

[lagadvocate]

I've gotten a variety of questions/comments over the years about my buns. Some are genuine and are opportunities to educate about rabbits. Sadly, many are just ignorant comments such as the guy waiting at my vet's office. He saw my girl and said "Wow! I have a couple of retired Greyhounds at home who would love to have a go at that one!" Oh puh-leeeeease. Grin and bear it, right?:whatever

 

[Bunnicula]

Thanks, TinysMom, for your perspective. You are right...the original question was about funny questions...

I suppose as I read the posts that my interpretation (based on most of the "questions" and how those questioned felt about them) was sharing unusual questions...ones that left us with our mouths open.

I apologize if I misinterpreted the intent...

Guess what we all call a "funny" question is open to our interpretation. And one of the pitfalls of things like emails and forums is that we can't be face-to-face and hear voice inflection, see body language, and clarify people's comments/questions. Further, most of us don't have the privilege of knowing eachother well if at all...so we can't begin to know how those reading our posts will respond to what we say.

I, too, have certainly asked questions of people that they thought were funny or even "stupid"...I do it on a daily basis because I always want to learn more...

And TinysSis should be proud of working past her shyness...part of which is evidenced by her speaking out in this thread when she felt offended by theproverb I quoted. Most of us would just seethe and not speak our minds. I appreciate her doing so.

And you are right, we've managed to hijack this thread to discuss something a bit off topic (though it came from the topic...and discussion is always good...if we listen to and learn from eachother we are bound to become better people).

So, enough said...let's get back to funny bunny questions.

Anybunny? :bunny18

 

[Bunnicula]

TinysMom wrote:

My husband's best friend will always look at Tiny and call him "Stew" or "Roast". However, I know him. I know he's joking and that is the only way he knows to connect with my rabbits because he was brought up where they are considered livestock.We actually had a bunny named Stewart...and (in our own home) we often called him Bunny Stew...

Funny thing is that no one EVER questioned why we would name him that. Go figure!

 

[Bunnicula]

Bunnicula wrote:

TinysMom wrote:

My husband's best friend will always look at Tiny and call him "Stew" or "Roast". However, I know him. I know he's joking and that is the only way he knows to connect with my rabbits because he was brought up where they are considered livestock.We actually had a bunny named Stewart...and (in our own home) we often called him Bunny Stew...

Funny thing is that no one EVER questioned why we would name him that. Go figure!

Oops! Accidentally lost the first part of my post. It was:

We actually once had a rabbit named Stewart (who we sometimes jokingly referred to as Bunny Stew).

And no one ever questioned why we chose to name him that. Perhaps it's because we live in an agricultural area...and people do make stew... :shock2:

 

[jojo4411]

my mom takes the cake on this one... she asked if emily had a tongue...:\ (after she had been licked)

 

[Gordon]

jojo4411 wrote:

my mom takes the cake on this one... she asked if emily had a tongue...: (after she had been licked)

Now that's funny. That sounds like the person who asked me if bunnies have teeth.

 

[Aliena]

I think that the worst question I ever had was from a vet (not actually my usual vet). My friend found two tiny wild baby buns at Uni far away from the nest, one was dead so she brought the other one to me (thinking 'she's a rabbit person, she'll know what to do' not that I really did). I knew the basics like how many times a rabbit fed from mum, etc. but not much else and I went up to the uni vet clinic to get some milk powder and ask if they had any advice.

Well, I was greeted with...

'What is that???'

I got that same question from about three different staff members, only one knew it was a rabbit. I know they don't look quite like fully grown rabbits but the majority of the students in my class at Uni even recognised it was a rabbit so you would think a vet would surely?

They then tried to tell me that I would have to feed him every two or three hours and all through the night and when I pointed out that does only feed their kits around twice a day they were completely surprised (although I did end up having to feed him extra than a doe would because the milk he was getting wasn't as good as rabbit milk).

 

[ani-lover]

my conversation goes like this.

is that a dog or a cat? a rabbit

can i pet it? depends (i choose)

does it bite?no most dont bite

how old is it? insert age__

i thought they only live a year or two. or i had one and it lived to be 5- 8 years.

i usually say my other rabbit that passed in january was 15.

they say 15 like they are so astonished. kind of gets annoying after a while.

 

[EiuGirl316]

Yeah I had someone call and ask the average life expectancy of a rabbit the other day. They thought it was only like 2-3 years. OMG, why do people like that own pets?