It occurred to me that some of you might beinterested in Flopsy's story. I'm copying this over from theinformation I found out about him. It's kind of a cute story, so Ithought I'd post it here.http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/The thought came to me while I was on the old Rabbits Only forum andyou'll see that Buck Jones was a huge inspiration for me to researchFlopsy's history.
I hope you enjoy!
-Carolyn
* * * * * * * * * * *
I just got off the phone with the man that raised Flopsy, the Guinness Book of World Records' Oldest Rabbit.
Flopsy was a wild rabbit, dug up by one of the dogs. They lived inKilton (sp?) Australia at the time, and Flopsy lived in a cage on theside of the garage. The cage had a wire mesh on the sides and a woodenfloor. Flopsy urinated and pooped on the straw in his cage. Theycleaned the cage once a week. They would bring him in the house andplay with him.
The coldest it gets in Australia is -4, and Flopsy was left outside inthe cage without a cover. He was given 2 apples a week in addition topelleted food and green grass.
He asked me to ring him again on Saturday, Friday night our time, andspeak to "Mum" because she really knew everything about Flopsy andwould be delighted to give me the details. She still misses Flopsy andis very proud of him, so to talk to America would really be exciting.
My Conversation with "Mum":
The Walkers are farmers. One day, their dog dug up a burrow with a nestof rabbits. By the time Mr. Walker had yelled at the dog, there was onerabbit alive. The rabbit was about 4-days old. Mrs. Walker fed it withmilk in an eye-dropper and a little liquid vitamins for the first 6months. She fed it "until it was satisfied."
They named this rabbit "Flopsy" because of an English writer named EnidBlyton. She wrote a children's book about 3 rabbits: Mopsy, Cottontail,and Flopsy. Mrs. Walker's favorite rabbit in the book was Flopsy.
Flopsy grew to be 5-6 lbs. He had brown eyes. He was never bredbecause, "Rabbits were a problem that had gotten out of control. Wedidn't encourage the breeding. In those days, the rabbits bred veryeasily. He was never neutered."
He lived in a cage that Mr. Walker had built. "It was 3' x 2.6'. Thebottom of the cage was part wooden/part wired. You could move thewooden floor piece around. Flopsy went to the bathroom in one place andwe cleaned it a lot more than once a week!" The cage had wire allaround the sides and top. The temperature can get down to -4 degreesCelsius.
Mrs. Walker: "I would take Flopsy into the vegetable garden with me,and the sheep, dogs, or cats wouldn't bother with him at all becausethey knew he was special. They didn't fight it at all."
They never had to take him to the veterinarians. He was nevervaccinated nor given any vitamins (barring the liquid vitamins he'dgotten with his milk, as mentioned above.) He was a very healthy bunny.No runny noses, no sniffles. They fed him vegetables sometimes, butpelleted food mainly. (That was wrong. Pelleted food wasn'tavailable at that time as later mentioned in a letter that I quote onpage 2 of this thread.) The '2 apples a week' was actually 2-3 halfapples a week, plus his green grass and clover.
As he grew older, there were no geriatric signs of his aging other thanhis hair turning gray. He hopped around as usual up until the day hedied. He was a bit less vigorous, but still hopping around.
She used to cut his nails with scissors. He'd lay in her arms like acat. "It didn't worry him a bit!" She was his Mum from 4-days old andshe could do anything to him.
Mrs. Walker attributes the longevity of his life "1) Wild rabbits aretougher than human-produced rabbits. 2) He had no sicknesses orstrains. 3) He had no fear. He lived in a very relaxed atmosphere withno worries of food. He was very loved by the children and he knew it."
"Flopsy would come in the house and wander around. He used to like tochew on the wallpaper. I think it was because of the glue." When Iasked her how he was with a litterbox in the house, she said, "Everynow and then, we'd put him outside and hoped that we got it right!"
A few other things I picked up from my notes with Mrs. Walker.
Mrs. Walker: "Flopsy never tried to escape because here was his home.He didn't know he was a rabbit. He thought he was human, really. Helived in a very relaxed atmosphere."
"Having been farmers all of our lives, we've treated a lot of differentanimals. I've treated a lot of wild birds, ducks, and wild animals. Ourfarm is down to 60 acres. That's as retired as a farmer can be. We havesheep and chickens, chicks, and sheepdogs. Our parrot just died. Helived a very long life."
"The Department of Agriculture took Flopsy when he died and theymeasured his bones and checked the rings around his eyes. They agreedhe was old, but weren't able to confirm the actual number of years. Itwas then that we had gotten neighbors, family, and friends to attestthat he was that old. I had my son that year, and I certainly knew howold he was; but we still had to get people to sign letters and swearthat he came to us the day he did to prove it. We had to prove his age,and we did."
In the question of geriatric changes, her exact words were: "He had a lustered look, didn't shine as readily."
As to the vegetables, they mainly stuck to carrots; for fruit, they went with apples.
He was also never treated for earmites.
Mrs. Walker: "I fed Flopsy the whole milk and liquid vitamins in theeye-dropper until he could eat grass and things a few weeks later. Icontinued to give him doses of the milk and vitamins for about thefirst 6 months though."
I hope you enjoy!
-Carolyn
* * * * * * * * * * *
I just got off the phone with the man that raised Flopsy, the Guinness Book of World Records' Oldest Rabbit.
Flopsy was a wild rabbit, dug up by one of the dogs. They lived inKilton (sp?) Australia at the time, and Flopsy lived in a cage on theside of the garage. The cage had a wire mesh on the sides and a woodenfloor. Flopsy urinated and pooped on the straw in his cage. Theycleaned the cage once a week. They would bring him in the house andplay with him.
The coldest it gets in Australia is -4, and Flopsy was left outside inthe cage without a cover. He was given 2 apples a week in addition topelleted food and green grass.
He asked me to ring him again on Saturday, Friday night our time, andspeak to "Mum" because she really knew everything about Flopsy andwould be delighted to give me the details. She still misses Flopsy andis very proud of him, so to talk to America would really be exciting.
My Conversation with "Mum":
The Walkers are farmers. One day, their dog dug up a burrow with a nestof rabbits. By the time Mr. Walker had yelled at the dog, there was onerabbit alive. The rabbit was about 4-days old. Mrs. Walker fed it withmilk in an eye-dropper and a little liquid vitamins for the first 6months. She fed it "until it was satisfied."
They named this rabbit "Flopsy" because of an English writer named EnidBlyton. She wrote a children's book about 3 rabbits: Mopsy, Cottontail,and Flopsy. Mrs. Walker's favorite rabbit in the book was Flopsy.
Flopsy grew to be 5-6 lbs. He had brown eyes. He was never bredbecause, "Rabbits were a problem that had gotten out of control. Wedidn't encourage the breeding. In those days, the rabbits bred veryeasily. He was never neutered."
He lived in a cage that Mr. Walker had built. "It was 3' x 2.6'. Thebottom of the cage was part wooden/part wired. You could move thewooden floor piece around. Flopsy went to the bathroom in one place andwe cleaned it a lot more than once a week!" The cage had wire allaround the sides and top. The temperature can get down to -4 degreesCelsius.
Mrs. Walker: "I would take Flopsy into the vegetable garden with me,and the sheep, dogs, or cats wouldn't bother with him at all becausethey knew he was special. They didn't fight it at all."
They never had to take him to the veterinarians. He was nevervaccinated nor given any vitamins (barring the liquid vitamins he'dgotten with his milk, as mentioned above.) He was a very healthy bunny.No runny noses, no sniffles. They fed him vegetables sometimes, butpelleted food mainly. (That was wrong. Pelleted food wasn'tavailable at that time as later mentioned in a letter that I quote onpage 2 of this thread.) The '2 apples a week' was actually 2-3 halfapples a week, plus his green grass and clover.
As he grew older, there were no geriatric signs of his aging other thanhis hair turning gray. He hopped around as usual up until the day hedied. He was a bit less vigorous, but still hopping around.
She used to cut his nails with scissors. He'd lay in her arms like acat. "It didn't worry him a bit!" She was his Mum from 4-days old andshe could do anything to him.
Mrs. Walker attributes the longevity of his life "1) Wild rabbits aretougher than human-produced rabbits. 2) He had no sicknesses orstrains. 3) He had no fear. He lived in a very relaxed atmosphere withno worries of food. He was very loved by the children and he knew it."
"Flopsy would come in the house and wander around. He used to like tochew on the wallpaper. I think it was because of the glue." When Iasked her how he was with a litterbox in the house, she said, "Everynow and then, we'd put him outside and hoped that we got it right!"
A few other things I picked up from my notes with Mrs. Walker.
Mrs. Walker: "Flopsy never tried to escape because here was his home.He didn't know he was a rabbit. He thought he was human, really. Helived in a very relaxed atmosphere."
"Having been farmers all of our lives, we've treated a lot of differentanimals. I've treated a lot of wild birds, ducks, and wild animals. Ourfarm is down to 60 acres. That's as retired as a farmer can be. We havesheep and chickens, chicks, and sheepdogs. Our parrot just died. Helived a very long life."
"The Department of Agriculture took Flopsy when he died and theymeasured his bones and checked the rings around his eyes. They agreedhe was old, but weren't able to confirm the actual number of years. Itwas then that we had gotten neighbors, family, and friends to attestthat he was that old. I had my son that year, and I certainly knew howold he was; but we still had to get people to sign letters and swearthat he came to us the day he did to prove it. We had to prove his age,and we did."
In the question of geriatric changes, her exact words were: "He had a lustered look, didn't shine as readily."
As to the vegetables, they mainly stuck to carrots; for fruit, they went with apples.
He was also never treated for earmites.
Mrs. Walker: "I fed Flopsy the whole milk and liquid vitamins in theeye-dropper until he could eat grass and things a few weeks later. Icontinued to give him doses of the milk and vitamins for about thefirst 6 months though."
