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My name is Kelsey Peirce and I am a youth breeder of Havanas in Northern California.
When I first decided to raise rabbits I wanted a rarer breed, one where you knew everybody who was exhibiting, and you knew them all by name, not just “that lady with the really nice black buck”. So I began to do my research on the Internet, and found the Havana. They were the ideal size for me, between 4 1/2 to 6 pounds, and supposedly had very sweet temperaments. I read an article on the HRBA site by Susan Origer about the handicapped children who come to her rabbitry about twice a year and visit with the Havanas and the “Bunny Lady”. She said that she would pull out her favorite buck, Dutch, every time because of his loving temperament, and his amazing ability to do tricks like rolling over, begging for treats, and giving kisses on command. Her Havanas loved to be petted and loved by the handicapped kids and none of the rabbits would ever dream of hurting the kids. This really hit home with me, and eventually ended up partly making my decision because my younger brother, Colin, has Down Syndrome. I realized how much an animal would have to put up with when they were with him, or other special children like Colin. He would want to tote them around, and would be rather rough and loud with them, so it would take a really tolerant rabbit to stay calm.
After I got my rabbits I found out that this was completely true. I had my first litter on our kitchen table when they were about 6 weeks old, fussing with them, posing them, getting ready to choose my keepers. My little brother, Colin, had come into the room, saw the rabbits, and came right over. One little black came over and allowed Colin to put his arm over it and sat there for the longest time “listening” to Colin babble on to it. It never tried to get away, it looked kinda scared, but it just sat there until I decided that the poor baby had probably had enough. But I know, just from my experience with Havanas, that that little kit would have sat there with Colin for a lot longer, showing his true Havana nature, even at six weeks old.
I love all my Havanas, they are all very sweet, but I do have a few “extra special favorites”, and you will always find them on the bottom row of my stackers. And why? Because I am afraid that they will fall. Yes, fall. I call my bottom row “Puppy Row” because these rabbits are the friendliest animals on the earth. They are always there trying to get your attention to get their daily pettings. They stick their whole heads, necks, shoulders, and sometimes even their front feet out of the cage trying to get you to pet them. So you should either be able to catch them as they go flying by, or they better be close to the ground. And to shut the door you have to close it on their faces, and even then they still run back and forth across the front of their cage as long as you are in the rabbitry visiting the other rabbits, always trying to get you to open the door again to love them some more. To one buck, I’m “his”. I’m his personal petter, no one else is allowed to touch me, and to prove it he’ll spray me, marking his “territory”. When out in the exercise pen on the lawn he has taken naps with me. I’ll fall a sleep for a few moments while watching him, and wake up to find him stretched out next to me, dozing lightly.
A great bonus is that you will never meet a friendlier group of people than the Havana breeders. I find many of them to resemble their rabbits. Not that they are furry in any way ;-) but they are usually a very docile, kind, and friendly bunch of people. In my area I have to show in open because there aren’t enough youth breeders combined to earn a leg, or for that matter, sometimes not enough adult breeders combined to earn a leg either. At my first show they all took me under their wings immediately, showing me the ropes, helping me choose my first rabbits, helping me sort through my first few litters, sharing stock to improve my lines, etc. It couldn’t get much better than this. Now, I won’t guarantee that all Havana breeders are as wonderful as my group up here are, there may be bad apples, but they must be very few as I have not met them. I am in contact with several breeders across the country, and geeze, it’s pretty darn close to the “creme de la creme” of the population!
If you are a person trying to decide which breed to start your rabbit hobby, or looking for a new breed to add to your collection, please consider the Havana. This breed, and their people won’t disappoint you.
See you at the Havana Table!!
Kelsey Peirce
Bunny’th The Porch
Havanas in black and chocolate



My 8 yr old son asked his teacher if he could bring some rabbits to school and she said it would be OK with her ( they are studying mammals this week).
I found out about this the night before ( Dads are ALWAYS the last one to know :-) . SO...
I told my boss I would be working out of the house today. At the appointed time I packed up Annie's litter of 5 blues, 1 black and Saroby ( Whos got a really nice example of Fox fur ) and we ( my 5 yr came with me to 'help out' :-) went to the school.
Well before we even got to the classroom there was a swarm of children around us looking at the rabbits and wanting to know what kind they were. We finally made it to the classroom and got the same kind of excitement.
My son ( the 8yr old) got in front of the class and preceeded to tell his classmates all about the Foxes. What made them special from the other types of rabbits, how old the little bunnies were and so on. Then it was time for questions and ol'boy! It seemed like over half the class raised their hands.
It was really quite fun!
Then 'we' :-) each took a bunny ( I had Saroby who's a good 10+ pounds now) and walked around the class letting the kids pet the rabbits and showing them that the Fox fur (Saroby's) really doesn't fall back down by itself. This seemed to impress them the most. Then we talked a little bit more about the difference between pet and show rabbits, where did the rabbits come from etc. :-) .
Some asked where they could find out more information about the Foxes and I pointed then to the Club's web site and the HAVAFOX site.
Whew! What was supposed to be a 15 minute show and tell turned into over 30 minutes!
The kids seemed overall quite interested in the rabbits and who knows we may have some future Fox breeders here!
Overall I think it was a good educational experience for the children and good exposture for the Foxes.
I started my own web site ( www.silverfoxden.net ) and I am putting links onto the site that point to Fox breeders that have web sites. So if you know of any please let me know and I'll add the link.
My fingers are getting tired so I think I will rest.... Regards, Mark




Early this spring, I had a family contact me looking for a pet rabbit to give their daughter for Easter. I don't normally sell "Easter bunnies", but this gentleman had raised rabbits as a youth, and knew about the responsabilities involved with having rabbits. After much discussion, we decided on a young black Silver Fox. Arrangements were then made for them to pick up the bunny late saturday night of Easter weekend after the kids were asleep. This way it would be a total surprise for them Easter morning. This dad had such high hopes about that morning. He had his video camera all ready to go so he could catch the first moment! The best laid plans of mice and men, nothing happened as it was supposed to. His daughter woke up very early at about 5:15 AM, stumbled into the livingroom, found the cage with the bunny in it and went tearing into her parents room and waking them up by yelling... Mommy, Daddy, the Easter bunny was here and he forgot his baby!





George's Story!

About a month ago, I got an e-mail from Maggie in Wisc. that had bought the only Silver Fox at the spring national "Fox" show. This was a doe whom they named Fay Rae. Now Maggie's family had fallen in love with the Silver Fox (just like the rest of us), and wanted badly to find a buck for her doe. I was one of several that they contacted. After speaking with her several times, I knew that they needed a special buck for their family, so I offered them "George". Now George already had quite a story... he got his name because even as a nestbox bunny he was so much bigger and clumsier than the rest of the litter. He was all feet! As George got older it was obvious that he was going to be big. He had this tremendous Bone structure!. To top it off he had the sweetest personality! He was always coming up to the front of his cage to get attention and he loved to be held and cuddled. When I realized what a gentle bunn he was, even though he weighed 11.0 pounds, I started to take him with me to all the county fairs I judged (21 this year) so that kids could see what a fox was all about! He was loved, and squeezed, and hauled around at every fair. He never once kicked or scratched even when he was mauled by kids smaller than he was. George was out of some of my best bloodlines and I had not intended to sell him, but something told me this was where he needed to go. After much communication back and forth trying to match schedules, we finally decided to meet half way to deliver George, and 3 Does. For me this meant 470 miles round trip. When we got there, Maggie and her family seemed pleased with all the fox. George however showed himself to be true to form, and even the clerk from the convienence store had to hold him. I thought as I was driving home that I really liked these people and George would have a good home there. I thought that I would maybe hear someday that they were happy with him and the does, or at least satisfied. I got home that night and before bed checked my e-mail. There was a letter from Maggie. I thought to myself "oh Oh" what could be wrong... Well Nothing was wrong, far from it! On the trip home for them, which I am assuming was around 200 miles, George rode in her lap. Not just part of the time, but the whole way! If her window was down, George would hang his head out the window and let his ears flap in the wind, just like a dog! I thought this was very funny as I could picture him doing this! What was funnier was that when they got home, she took George into the house to meet the rest of the family. He proceeded to make himself comfortable by climbing on evereyone's lap, and helping himself to their Peach pie, as they were trying to eat it! I know that every once in a while there comes the perfect home for an animal and the perfect animal for a certain home... I guess we found that with Maggie's family and George! I wish them the best of luck, and I hope that they will keep us posted on George, as I do miss that big lug.





This story was sent to us by Maggie from Wisconsin...

I just wanted to send you all a little note on how our Silver Fox have fit into our rabbitry.
We have never raised commercial rabbits, and therefore the size of our Fox can sometimes be a little intimidating. Hung cages had to be REALLY well hung... or they no longer were hanging!
Food and water dishes must be of a size so that they can get their really large noggins in them to get at it all. And when it came time for nest boxes, I must admit we did not think ahead, and there was a slight panic when we realized our doe could not even get her butt into our little nest box, much less her whole pregnant self! I also underestimated the skill in which these large girls give birth. They know where to have them, when to have them, and how to have them. They know how to feed them, keep them warm, or cool, and keep them clean.

These are not dumb bunnies!

Everywhere we go, people are amazed at our fox. They have never seen them... their fur, their size, their complete ease with just about any situation.

When I plunk one down in a youngster's lap, most parents become alarmed. No need there! they have no need to bite, kick, and scratch or fight. They just have to sit on whomever is bugging them, and no more problems! I have seen does just simply tuck their tails and sit there when they are not in the mood...try arguing with that. No one can convince me that these animals do not think!

We have exercise pens for all of our rabbits. For most of our smaller breeds, these large outdoor enclosures have become just another thing to conquer. I swear some of them have rigged up escape ramps and such just to get out. They then panic because the big world out there is just way too BIG! The Silver Fox on the other hand, like to romp around the pen for about 2 minutes. They then find a nice sunny spot, and take a nap. This same behavior has been observed when eating, bathing, and yes even during breeding. These animals will never have ulcers! I am trying to emulate them in my daily life.

That brings us to "George".
He waas given to us by a very nice lady who interogated me at length to make sure I was capable of loving a..."George". That was a good thing because George is no ordinary fox. George grooms all the does before he mates with them. George will not go in a car unless he can hang his head out the window,(how we will do winter shows, is a mystery to me). George plays games with the barn Kitties' tails, above his cage, constantly. George will throw his dish at you if it is empty. Twice if you don't move fast enough. He will beg, and drool for Graham crackers, raisins, grapes, oatmeal, honeycombs, and his personal favorite, oatmeal raisin cookies, soft only please...(he will eat the hard ones, but you will get a dirty look)

Anyway George was put in the exercise pen for his afternoon nap, and I did not close the gate correctly. I was 72 steps back to the house from my barn (I know this because I have often counted, and it is 147 steps exactly) when someone nipped my heel. I turned around to see, George. He had followed me halfway back to the house, and he was pretty irked that I was ignoring him! I cannot imagine what I looked like to the neighbors. Tall woman being followed by a very large rabbit.
Bunny Stalking maybe???
A 2000 version of Harvey???
It's O.K., They just call our family eccentric.

I am sometimes saddened by the many breeders who do not take the time to truly enjoy their animals, and the truly distinct personalities they have. I actually have an old bench seat in my barn, so that my kids, and I can sit out there in the evening, and enjoy our peacable kingdom. We have our Fox, Dutch, Jersey Woolys, Mini Rex, Mini Lops, Welsh Corgi, Hungarian Vizla, American Quarter Horse, mutt chickens, Barn Mouser kittens, and us! We feel very blessed when they let us join them!
Maggie Howard
Lizzie, & Sarah Stoudt


If you would like to submit an article, you can contact me, at the following address:

havafox@uslink.net

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