So I am a museum studies major (well, teaching, but I have to take a lot of museum classes). In one class currently I have to put together a small, interactive, educational, mock-museum installation sometime in April. In the spirit of “Make Mine Chocolate” (even though I will be presenting the weekend after Easter) I was thinking about putting together a gallery on “rabbit art”. That is, an exhibit on some basic house rabbit needs, and maybe some examples on what happens when those needs aren’t met. I am specifically looking for some rabbit destruction. A square of chewed carpet, chewed wires, maybe some pictures of chewed walls or heirloom furniture. I would also like to set up a small expen or NIC cage, but I already have an expen, so I will probably go with that one.
Basically imagine this (and keep in mind that this is a very rough idea). You walk into the space. On the wall in frames are two pieces of actual rabbit destruction (the wires and carpet). There are some other pictures of things that rabbits have chewed. Below this mess is an expen set up for a bunny (water bowl, food bowl, litterbox, appropriate toys, hay, ect). Of course, this is only a small part of what I would hope to actually do in a museum/educational place, but I am limited by space, time, and especially money.
The true dream would have everything from a human sized “hutch” where the person puts on bunny ears, steps into a barely lit room that gives a view of a yard from inside a rabbit hutch that has strange noises and predators trying to break in, to interactive “what do bunnies really eat” question and answer games (probably in the form of “true or false: a rabbit’s diet should consist of mostly pellets, with veggies and hay as treats only.” The person makes a guess, lifts the handle and reveils the answer that would say something along “false, rabbits should have unlimited hay, and 1 cup of a mix of at least three veggies per 2lbs of body weight per day.” Or maybe a button that gives them a marble for the right answer, and the more right answers they get, the more marbles they collect. Then they count their marbles at the end to see how well they know bunnies! The same set up as above, but with a live bunny. A cost sheet (for those parents). And a pledge at the end to always “make mine chocolate” unless they promise to consider a rabbit’s needs.
Like I said, this is very rough right now, I just thought I would throw it out there for some feedback. I might actually use something from the “dream” section instead, like the Q and A part along with a proper enclosure set up. Keep in mind that is has to be engaging, not just throwing facts at people. I should also make it appropriate for all ages. So like a zoo, I want to draw children in with the idea of a cute bunny, and have them leave knowing some facts about them, and hoping their parents know and retain even more, especially the idea that rabbits aren’t kids pets and are quite a bit of work (though maybe convincing the right parents that a bunny would be right for their family!).
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It sounds like it would be hard to do, but your idea of giving people a bun’s-eye-view of how living in a hutch feels is a good one. My niece complained when Bean snubbed all her efforts to pet him. I asked her, “Suppose a T-Rex walked up and started making overtures to you–do you take a chance and accept them or do you run away? That’s about the size differential between you and the rabbit.”
