Mark Hawthorne - The Way of the Rabbit

Rabbits are everywhere and nowhere, often glimpsed but seldom seen for what and who they are. In The Way of the Rabbit, Mark Hawthorne gracefully helps us see our small-bodied, big-eared co-voyagers in a new light. If you love rabbits, he will deepen your understanding. If you dont love rabbitsyou soon will.

Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace

I was delighted from the first page to the last. From Easter Bunny origin stories to the presence of lagomorphs in literature and the arts, rabbits in popular culture come alive through Mark Hawthornes gentle and funny proseand even better, so does the sweetness and intelligence of real rabbits. Rabbits in nature, rabbits in the house, theyre all here and exceptionally good company.

Barbara J. King, author of Animals Best Friends: Putting Compassion to Work for Animals in the Wild and Captivity

What a lovely tribute to our furry rabbit friends! Hawthornes admiration shines through in this thorough telling of the story of Leporidae. Its an enlightening and enchanting account of an animal most of us love but, it turns out, barely know.

Jennifer S. Holland, author of the Unlikely Friendships series

By delving into details of the science and sensibilities of rabbits, The Way of the Rabbit journeys into the lives and minds of these amazing beings.

Gay Bradshaw, PhD, author of Elephants on the Edge and Talking with Bears

The Way of the Rabbit is an insightful book that describes who rabbits are and how they have been part of our world for millennia, appearing in various forms of human art and cultural expression. This well-researched volume engenders a deeper appreciation for these gentle creatures and encourages us to treat them with kindness and respect.

Gene Baur, author of Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food

Mark Hawthornes latest book, The Way of the Rabbit, delves deep into the place of rabbits in society and culture. As rabbits have, over the past few decades, gained new status as companion animals and animals deserving of respect and compassion, the scholarship on rabbits is maturing as well. The Way of the Rabbit brings new light to the complex narratives that we tell about these animals, and about ourselves as well. The Way of the Rabbit is for people who care about rabbits, but also for people who care about animals and our relationships with them.

Margo DeMello, coauthor of Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature

Mark Hawthorne shows that each and every individual rabbit is a sentient, feeling being with a unique personality, and every single one deserves to be treated with respect, compassion, and empathy. This wide-ranging book is sure to be a game-changer.

Marc Bekoff, PhD, author of The Animals Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age and Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do

This very informative and in-depth book about rabbits has some excellent and entertaining chapters on the rabbit in art, literature, myth, and popular culture, which I particularly enjoyed.

Libby Joy, The Beatrix Potter Society

The Way of the Rabbit

The Way of the Rabbit

Mark Hawthorne

Winchester, UK

Washington, USA

First published by Circle Books, 2021

Changemakers Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., No. 3 East Street,

Alresford, Hampshire SO24 9EE, UK

www.johnhuntpublishing.com

www.circle-books.com

For distributor details and how to order please visit the Ordering section on our website.

Mark Hawthorne 2020

The excerpt from Song of the Rabbits Outside the Tavern is used by permission of The Marsh Agency Ltd., on behalf of the Estate of Elizabeth Coatsworth.

ISBN: 978 1 78904 793 6

978 1 78904 576 5 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020949239

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of Florence Gildea as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,

Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Stuart Davies

UK: Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

Printed in North America by CPI GPS partners

We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.

Because of Cameron, Frankie, Laxmi, Melville, Nibbles, Peri, and Sophie

We who play under the pines,

We who dance in the snow

That shines blue in the light of the moon

Sometimes halt as we go,

Stand with our ears erect,

Our noses testing the air,

To gaze at the golden world

Behind the windows there.

Elizabeth Coatsworth

It would be difficult to identify an animal more universally admired than the rabbit. Maybe its that rabbits are ubiquitous in nature and yet somewhat mysteriousfully present while remaining mostly concealed. We respect their independence and resourcefulness. To see a rabbit or a hare (who are closely related to rabbits) in the wild, possibly nibbling on vegetation or hopping about with their mates, is to experience a moment of pure joy. For an instant, time stands still. This helps explain why rabbits and hares figure prominently in the mythology, folklore, and religions of so many ancient civilizations, some of which have even credited them with having supernatural powers. Farmers in Britain, for instance, were once so astonished by the colossal number of rabbits in their fields that they believed both the females and males could give birth. Or perhaps its that rabbits are the subject of countless childrens stories and are symbols of innocence, good luck, and abundance. Its little wonder that so many people yearn to share their homes with these lively animals.

Such is the attitude that inspired The Way of the Rabbit. I set out to explore, as much as a person can within a humble book, what makes rabbits special. Their friendships, their courage, their history, their playfulness, their spirits, their ability to forgive. This is what I mean by their way; rabbits are a physical manifestation of harmony, at once both perfectly at home in the natural world and an elemental part of humanitys spiritual traditions. But I had another motivation for writing this.

As a longtime rabbit lover, I have amassed a modest collection of books relating to the cultural history of rabbits over the years. And while these volumes all add to the wealth of knowledge we have on these long-eared ambassadors of mirth and mischief, each of them includes text or images illustrating in exquisite detail how rabbits are painfully exploited for animal testing, fur, meat, entertainment, and even the pet industry. That is understandable and not a criticism of these titles; people have used rabbits for as long as they believed they could benefit from doing so, and its important to educate the public about this. Yet as I vainly sought a nonfiction book that did not dwell on how humanity abuses rabbitsone that I could share with fellow sensitive rabbit loversit became apparent that I might fill a niche in the lagomorph literature by creating such a title myself. Here, then, you have a book that not only celebrates these charismatic animals but also focuses on the positive aspects of their lives. Only because humans began domesticating rabbits as a source of food will the volume youre holding even superficially allude to them as farmed animals.