You Otter be in Pictures

At the ARBA Convention this October in Louisville, the otter variety will be presented to the Standards committee by Marilyn K of WI for consideration. The process for getting a new variety recognized by ARBA is long and difficult, to assure that only varieties which breed true and are of high quality are accepted. If Marilyn's presentation passes this year, she will need to present (and pass) at least two more times. The earliest that otter Fuzzies would be recognized for show would be February 2011.

But don't give up! Otter Fuzzy Lops are really very handsome, as shown by the cute junior black otter buck pictured above (from Nate B in Utah). Most of us don't have the room or money to keep large numbers of unrecognized varieties, but otters will be accepted in Fuzzies if we work on the variety and support their acceptance.

How is that for a nice big head! This good lookin' fellow lives in California with Carol G.
Blue otters will also be included in working standard for otter Fuzzies. The buck pictured above lives in IA with Deb L.

The latest issue of FT reprints articles about breeding otter Fuzzies and the genetics involved. Look it over and be sure to support Marilyn's efforts to get this variety recognized.

Make way for ducklings

Do you remember the children's book called "Make Way for Ducklings"?  I read it to my kids and they loved it (or at least I loved it).  Well here is the real life version.  It was late and I was out turning off the rabbit barn lights, when I realized the dog was fascinated by something in the swimming pool.  I could see a brown object floating and thought it was just a bunch of leaves but then I realized it was moving "purposefully".  Here is what I saw:

Can you make it out?  A mother duck and 10 ducklings were swimming happily at 9 pm in my backyard "pond"!  The ducklings were so small they couldn't fly yet, but were great swimmers.

The next morning they were still in the pool.  The mother occasioally got out of the water, and at first the babies were too small to jump up over the edge.  Eventually they all figured out how to get out of the water.  This led to a near disaster when our Persian cat, Elmo, decided to be a "hunter" and chased the ducks.  Mama feigned a broken wing to distract him, and the babies took off.  Unfortunately, some babies headed under a gate, some fell into a drain, while others hid under a bush.  Human intervention (ie Green family to the rescue) brought all babies back and fought of the "killer cat" (who can't actually even kill a flea) and the duck family was reunited.

The next day, Mama and kids all disappeared as quickly as they arrived!

Who can explain this picture

Now I am pretty sure that is our club secretary, Muriel in the photo.  It was sent to me by an anonymous informer.  The question is:  why is Muriel now dressed in garb more suited to Shakespeare than modern times?  

The curious want to know!

And that's a wrap on the 2007-08 show season

The last show of the season in Utah was held at Woodland, a town near Park City.  Nate B and Lou T won BOB and BOS in both shows and RBIS in one of the shows.  

Lou and the "big winner".  What a trophy!
Nate, Lou and Joey S pose with the winners.
Lou, Nate, and Robert F with the other winners.

The show was held in a barn built by one of the rabbit breeders. Nice barn, huh?

And the winners are.....

Want to see pretty Fuzzy Lops?  Below are photos of the winners from the summer show in California.  Judges were Carol G (Show A), Valerie U (Show B), and Michelle S (Show C).  Open shows had ~60 Fuzzies and youth ~12 Fuzzies.

Youth show B BOS winner is this pretty girl, owned by Jennifer H, bred by Bob & Kelley T.  
Open Show A BOS was Christina G's broken black buck, Spencer.  This was his retirement show!  Way to go out with a bang!
Youth Show A and C BOS was won by this doe, owned by Jennifer H.
In open, Lani and Shirley B's beautiful broken tort doe won BOB in Show A and BOS in Shows B and C.  It was worth the drive, right Shirley?

Open BOB winner in Show B and C was won by Adam & Carol G's solid sable point buck, AK's Brigham.
Youth BOB winner in all three shows was this broken buck owned and bred by Jennifer H.

Congratulations to all!  

Fluff-O-Rama

The sixth annual summer show hosted by High Flying Fuzzies took place on Saturday, June 28.  This show started out for Fuzzy Lops only as a high school graduation request by Adam G.  Before he left for college, Adam wanted to get together with his "rabbit" friends.  Two years later, we added Angoras to the show and now this year, Jersey Woolys were included and the show became a triple.  Judges were the mother/daughter team of Valerie U and Michelle S of WA, and Carol G of CA.  

Michelle is judging an angora with Betty C watching in the background.

A big part of this show is the chance for friends to hang out and just relax in the lovely environment.  Christina G and Katie R give a big smile for the camera.  
French angoras lined up for judging,

Carol G judges Fuzzy Lops.  She seemed to know what she was doing!
The pool was empty for awhile but by afternoon it was full of kids and others who wanted to cool off.

Check in tomorrow for photos of the winners and more.