For this year’s International Rabbit Day (last Saturday in September), my research into the strange tradition of earning good luck by saying Rabbit, Rabbit on the first of every month tells me my guess about connecting rabbits to months might be wrong. With thirteen moon cycles in a year, maybe we’ve lost track that months came from moons. Wouldn’t the rabbit shadow on the face of a bright full moon be something to greet?

But then, Easter rabbits carrying baskets of eggs always confused me too, since baby bunnies are not hatched. And when I research the term rabbit fancier, I’m confused again to see it applies to breeders, with no mention of the many people who rescue and adopt the seemingly endless number of abandoned, hoarded, or neglected domestic rabbits who must come from breeders. To be enthusiastic about rabbits might better be described as educating people toward the needs of rabbits, rather than the desires of breeders who capitalize on the adorable nature of these fuzzy and potentially family-friendly animals. To that end, here’s a recommendation for Remembering Ruby Rabbit Rescue near Boise, ID. Every rabbit who comes into their care visits a veterinarian for a wellness check, and to be spayed or neutered. Not all rural veterinarians will perform those surgeries, so if adopters bring home bunnies from, say, the neighbor teen who is leaving for college, care must be taken not to add to overpopulation possibilities.

To keep a rabbit’s needs foremost in their care, think about the lives of rabbits before domesticity. One reason they were thought to be closer to the spirits and able to bring good luck was because they tunnel. They love to have their feet on real ground, or at least not on wire. They also lived in community, and many adoptable rabbits are available in bonded pairs, because while they may learn to enjoy their people, they often appreciate living with another of their own kind. Rabbits, especially when not spayed or neutered, can spray or fight in contained spaces, behaviors not so compatible with domesticity, but those behaviors tend to disappear when ‘fixed.’ Rabbits who are able to live with other rabbits can provide endless hours of energetic entertainment as they play and snuggle. Even watching them eat their fresh veggies can keep people engrossed, as evidenced by a few semi-viral videos out there.