June 14, 2013

Wild rabbits are taking over Amsterdam Sloterdijk station

Filed under: Animals by Orangemaster @ 1:22 pm

The company responsible for the Dutch rails, ProRail has got the green light to try and do something about the rabbit overpopulation at Amsterdam Sloterdijk station. Some of the rails resting on hills are slowly sinking due to the amount of rabbit holes dug by busy bunnies. The goal is to chase the rabbits out of their holes with ferrets and funny smelling products then plug the holes up.

I travel to Sloterdijk station several times a week by bus, and the sight of the cute brown and black little bunnies always cheers me up. I used to say to myself, if I saw three bunnies, it would bring good luck. Now I see at least 10-12 each time, which means it has to be a rabbit plague by now or I am the luckiest person in the world.

Back in 1999, I worked at a company near Sloterdijk station and could see the odd bunny hoping along a bike path, but I have seen the difference and the rabbits have clearly taken over the station area. I pointed out the rabbits once to a friend who said, “but that’s food!’, as in yes, we could hunt them and open up a wild game restaurant and feed lots of people.

I don’t think these gentle tactics are going to work, as rabbits are solid breeders. They really are cute, though, and I would say close to becoming an urban attraction.

(Link: www.at5, Photo of Wild rabbits by mad snapper, some rights reserved)

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August 24, 2011

Huge Dutch bunny art invades Sweden

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 6:43 pm

Rotterdam artist Florentijn Hofman has shared with us [Designboom] images of ‘stor gul kanin’ (big yellow rabbit), his newest large-scale sculpture for this summer’s Openart Biennale in Öreboro, Sweden. Challenging the function and purpose of the public space, the 13-metre high installation explores the notion of scale and urban perspective by providing a new focal point in the open square.

Made out of locally-manufactured shingles and a wooden armature, the temporary sculpture depicts a giant plush rabbit that has been seemingly dropped into the centre of the Swedish plaza.

(Link: designboom.com, Photo by Florentijn Hofman)

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April 12, 2011

Looking through the Lookout Rabbit in Nijmegen

Filed under: Animals,Art by Orangemaster @ 10:12 am

The Lookout Rabbit was made of concrete, sand, grass, metal, wood, paint and cement coating by Rotterdam artist Florentijn Hofman who has this thing for cute animals.

The Lookout Rabbit is a temporary 12-meter high sculpture. It’s a rabbit with a red dot which you can enter and have a look out over the Waal river. The arwork is located at the Valkhofpark in Nijmegen and will stay put for at least six months.

There’s even a making of the Lookout Rabbit.

(Link and photo: florentijnhofman.nl)

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September 15, 2008

Bunny insurance is merrily hopping along

Filed under: Animals,Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 9:20 am
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First, it was cats and dogs, and now it’s rabbits. Insurance, that is. You can now get health insurance for your bunnies. The Petplan company is claming that as of today it is the first insurance company in the Netherlands to offer health insurance for rabbits.

According to the insuror, rabbits are increasingly popular as pets. In the Netherlands there are about 750,000 of them hopping around. To many families, bunnies are just as important as dogs or cats. They also make their way around the house and are house trained. (And they are really quiet!)

The insurance market for pets is growing by 10 to 20% a year. Out of the almost 6 million dogs, cats and rabbits, only about 2% are insured.

If you think pet insurance is an odd way to find new clients, there is also the emergency car help for the highly educated.

(Link: depers.nl)

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April 12, 2008

Zone 5300, an abundance of bunnies

Filed under: Comics by Branko Collin @ 8:30 am

In issue 81 of Zone 5300 one Eric van der Heijden is giving Maaike Hartjes a run for her money with his own brand of tiny comics, although his intellectual absurdities remind me most of online comic XKCD. A hunter walks up to a giant rabbit, wraps his arm around its shoulders, and tells it with a big grin: “There are too many rabbits here. That’s all I am saying. Draw your own conclusions.”

There’s a four pager by Floris de Smedt where Mr. Bunny (see image above) escapes from his prison and exacts a terrible revenge from Brussels. Luckily Mr. Bunny is no match for The Professor, who has a brilliant brain and ready access to dragon eggs. No bunny can resist eggs!


Illustration by Eric van der Heijden: “Does this make you feel more of a man? Does this make you forget for a fleeting moment that your wiener is tiny?”

Toen ik klein was (When I was young) is a translation of a comic by Mr. Stocca (Milan Pavlovic) about a boy/bunny who has a crush on his school teacher, and then she dies. I love the atmospheric drawings (see below)!

Also: voyeuristic drawings of young women by Barend van Hoek, a look at artificial creatures, and the regulars (Hibou, Cowboy John, Fool’s Gold, et cetera).

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