Eight years ago our rabbit, Merlin, died unexpectedly.  Within a short time, we were put in touch with a breeder and were given a two year old dwarf buck named Jeremiah.  Since we use our rabbit production illusion to teach about the Old Testament prophets, the name was tailor-made for his role in our show.  He was a little grey bunny with unusually small ears.  He seemed to look almost more like a squirrel than a rabbit, and our oldest daughter, Jona-Lynn coined the term "squabbit" for him.  

Immediately he handled well.  My students at school fell in love with him, and he was always a hit at our shows, whether in nursing homes, churches or jails.  He has traveled with us throughout New England, New York and the maritimes.  He performed in tiny churches in rural Maine and at a youth outreach in Spanish Harlem.  After almost every show, he was brought around to the audience, and he always let them pet him. He had tremendous patience. And in the evenings when we were home, he often sat on my lap and watched reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond" or "Murdoch Mysteries".  He was, in every way, a great rabbit.

Last week I went into our pet room to check on him and our four doves only to find that Jeremiah had died.  He was with me on our couch the evening before, and seemed fine that morning when I fed him.  I assume he died of old age; he was 10 and domestic rabbits are said to live 8 to 12 years.  For the last couple years I noticed his hair on his back was turning whiter and whiter.  I truly loved that rabbit, and he was perfect in his role in our shows.

Because he is was a working pet, we needed to replace him quite quickly.  We have shows this weekend.  So the next day my wife called a breeder near her workplace.  After speaking on the phone for a while, Sue told the lady she worked out of the adult education office in town.  One thing led to another, and it turns out that this lady had recieved her GED under Sue's tutelage.  That day, Sue came home from work with a two year old, pure white mini-lop, free of charge.  We named him Cotton because of his fluffy, snow white fur, and after one of my favorite literary characters.  He'll make his performing debut Saturday afternoon.