We poke around outside for a while, and Lucy poses for a picture with the Volkswagens, throwing a peace sign that would make her grandmother proud, before we stumble across a collection of wire rabbit pens.
Lucy coos, crouching down to get a closer look. “It’s cuteness overload.”
Not exactly the phrase I’d use to describe the hopping fur balls, but at least they aren’t rodents. There are about half a dozen of them hopping around in the enclosures.
“Look at this little guy.” She presses her fingers to the mesh wire as a tawny rabbit hops closer. Well, hops might be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s the biggest rabbit I’ve ever seen, and he’s not exactly spry.
“You call that little? He must weight fifteen pounds.”
Who knew rabbits could even get that big?
“That’s Nibbles.”
I look up to see an older gentleman approaching us with a wide smile. He greets us warmly and explains that he’s the proprietor and chief rabbit wrangler.
“Would you like to hold him?” he asks, pointing to the chonky rabbit.
Lucy’s eyes light up like he’s just offered her a winning lottery ticket. “Yes, please.”
She hands me her phone as he opens the pen to get the rabbit out.
“How many pics do you want?” I ask, pulling up the camera app. “Will four hundred and thirty-two cut it?”
The proprietor chuckles, but Lucy doesn’t miss a beat. “Better make it an even five hundred. Variety is the spice of life, you know.”
She holds out her arms to take the rabbit and snuggles him close to her chest, cooing and trailing her fingers gently down his back. I snap a few candid shots, and when Lucy looks up, a brilliant smile on her face, I take one more.
I check the photo stream and find that even Nibbles was looking at the camera, his little ears pulled back, eyes wide open.
Who needs five hundred pics when you’ve got one perfect shot?
“Would you like to see him do a trick?” the proprietor asks.
“Really?” Lucy squeaks. “He can do tricks?”
“Trained him myself. This little guy,” he says, scratching the rabbit behind the ears, “is my star performer.”
“Would it be okay if we take a video?” she asks, eyes shining with hope.
He nods, and I press the record button as Lucy places the rabbit on the ground and crouches down in the grass next to him.
“Sit pretty.”
The rabbit sits back on its haunches, its paws held out in front.
The proprietor gives him a small treat before issuing another command.
“High five.”
I’ll be damned. The rabbit actually reaches out and taps his paw against Lucy’s palm.
“That’s amazing,” she gushes, patting Nibbles’s head in encouragement.
“Rabbits are smart creatures. With a little TLC and patience, they can learn just about any trick a dog can do.” He offers Lucy another warm smile and gestures to Nibbles. “For this last trick, you’ll need to pick him up.”
She scoops the rabbit up and stands, holding him to her chest.
“Give kisses.”
