LOP-EARED BUNNIES

The Year of the Rabbit will be over before we know it, which is why I'd better get busy telling you about a few more kinds of rabbits.  Today I'm going to talk about bunnies with lop ears, which means that their ears hang down, kind of like a hound dog's ears.  Nobody seems to know where the word lop came from or why it means to droop.  It can also mean to chop off, but I'm not going to talk about cutting any rabbit ears off, so don't be alarmed!


It turns out that there are a bunch of different rabbit breeds that have lop ears.  Some of these rabbits are large and some are very small.  They are all pretty darned cute, and I'm guessing that they all have soft fur.  Also they are probably tasty to eat, but I am not going to talk about eating rabbits because I don't want to upset my friend Trouble, the bunny.  Or my other bunny friend, Lucky.

Okay, well, the biggest lop-eared rabbit is the French Lop, which weighs 12 pounds or more.  This breed was invented in the 19th century in France by crossing the English Lop with the Flemish Giant.  The ears of the French Lop aren't as long as the ears of an English Lop.

French Lops are good-natured and if they are socialized when they are young, they make excellent family pets.  They get along well with other species of animals, but what they like most is to have another rabbit as a companion.  This is because they are very social bunnies.

The next-biggest lop-eared rabbit is the English Lop, which can weigh as much as 10 or 11 pounds.  They have really long ears, so you have to keep them in a hutch that is big enough for them to move around without walking on their ears.

These rabbits are easy to groom because they have short fur.  They are calm and very friendly, and they can live for five years or more.

The Mini Lop is smaller, and it only grows to about 6 pounds.  This breed has a compact, muscular body.  During the shedding season, it gets a little messy, so you will need good grooming tools.  Mini Lops are usually friendly and playful.

They are also smart and can be trained to do tricks and to use the litter box.  They really like to be with their family, and they get upset when they are neglected.

The second-smallest lop-eared bunny is the American Fuzzy Lop.  This rabbit weighs between 3.5 and 4 pounds when it is full grown.  American Fuzzy Lops are active, playful, and have lots of personality.  They look a lot like Holland Lops except for being fuzzier.  Their muzzles are short and flat, sort of like the muzzle of a bulldog.

AFLs like to play with toys such as plastic balls, pine cones, pieces of soft wood, stuffed socks, or old gloves.  The breed was created by mating French Angora rabbits with Holland Lops.

The very smallest lop-eared breed is the Holland Lop, which weighs 2.5 to 3.5 pounds.  These bunnies have a thick-set, muscular body.  They have lots of energy and curiosity, and they usually love attention, but the females can sometimes be shy.

Holland Lops have a medium-length coat, so they need a little more grooming than some other types of rabbits.










And there you have it:  Piper's guide to lop-eared rabbits.  I have to admit that some of these guys seem like they would make good pets.  Of course, it would be better to have a dog or a cat, but if you can't, then a rabbit might be a good third choice.