Bunnies are awesome. This is a known scientific fact; they are one of the best animals, up there with dogs, cats, and bears.
Most people don't know that bunnies actually live gregariously, in little colonies called "warrens". They dig large burrow complexes together, and look out for each other. They like stand on top of hills or anywhere high and lookout for predators, and will warn the other bunnies with a foot-pound if they see one. If you've ever seen bunnies in a terrarium, they sleep on top of each other in piles.
This social-ness only adds to their cuteness, the fact that they're personality-wise as sweet and cuddly as they look.
So anyway, this aspect of bunny behavior is something most people would like to see. So I propose large cubes/rectangles made of paper pulp held togethe loosely enough that bunnies could dig through it and build their tunnels and burrows. It would be like an ant farm, only much much cuter. Bunnies love digging and chewing on paper and in no time they'd build tunnels all over the place.
Large cubes/rectangles, maybe 2x2x4, made of the raw material they make cardboard out of, pressed into a cube and glued and made like paper. I'm no paper expert, but I'm sure there are some materials and manufacturing processes that are suitable.
That much material may be expensive and heavy, but some places may be able to afford it. I've heard of a large rescued bunny sanctuary in Vermont or some place.-- EdwinBakery, Jan 04 2012 (+) See what happens when you take that left turn at Albaquirky?-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 04 2012 This would be a strictly nonsmoking bunny warren.
But such a thing would be an engaging zoo exhibit: the above ground, and then descend to see the below ground bunnies up to their pile sleeping, burrow digging, vigorous mating shenanagins.-- bungston, Jan 04 2012 //the raw material they make cardboard out of//
trees?-- mitxela, Jan 04 2012 so why not make it out of dirt ?-- FlyingToaster, Jan 04 2012 You (sort of) could if it was constructed from transparent cellulose film.-- Alterother, Jan 04 2012 //So do marmots//
marmots are not gregarious. They're crabby little loners.-- EdwinBakery, Jan 04 2012 Beware, those who would underestimate bunnies! Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth!-- RayfordSteele, Jan 04 2012 +
Dirt is heavy if you get that much of it, so it would be very difficult to move without destroying the warren. You'd need to pack the dirt well or else there would be danger of cave-ins. As the rabbits dig the dirt out you'll need to clean it up. Shedded paper cleans up easier than dirt. This is assuming that the rabbits live indoors. If you keep your rabits outside, using dirt makes sense.
Why not just make it out of corrugated cardboard rather than having a special process to construct it? That's fairly light weight, shreds easily and is cheap. Collect some old boxes that are headed for the recycler, cut them into 2x4 squares (or pieces that can fit together into whatever shape you'r making), rip off any bits or remaining tape, and pile them up to get 2 feet high. Build a wood (or glass) box around the whole thing. As long as there is a lid on it, I don't think there would be any need to even glue the layers together.
My brother and I had rabbits growing up that we kept part of the time in a fenced bit of yard. They dug a nice burrow. It didn't appear to be very deep, but we never did figure out how far it went sideways. I suspect it was quite a bit more than 4 feet, so you might consider making it as large as possible. The rabbits we had were Netherland Dwarfs, so I image a larger rabbit would benefit from an even larger block.-- scad mientist, Jan 04 2012 // Bunnies in a cube, hmm, these wouldn't be cyborgish bunnies by any chance ? //
We were indeed hoping for something a little more High Heffner-esque. Imagine our disappointment.
Seven of Nine in a Bunny costume .... OOooohhhh ...
// crabby little loners. //
You got a problem with that ? Huh ? HUH ? YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT ?
// Bunnies are awesome. This is a known scientific fact; they are one of the best animals, up there with dogs, cats, and bears. //
Two out of four ain't bad.
Dogs - good. Bears - good-ish. Rabbits - good casseroled in red wine with shallots and fines herbs. Cats ...... #include <EOSSACR.H>-- 8th of 7, Jan 05 2012 Wouldn't all that digging make their meat tough?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 05 2012 Rabbit meat is tough anyway. That's why you mostly find it in stews and casseroles, although I've made some pretty fine rabbit sausages. It's a moot point, though, since juvenile rabbits that don't get regular exercise never fully develop adult musculature, which is unhealthy, tragic, and not tasty at all.-- Alterother, Jan 05 2012 Marmots? Social?
Oh OK, I see. I meant groundhogs, the kinds we have out here in the East. Sometimes we call them marmots because they're in the same genus. But the ones we have here live solitary. I guess in other parts of the country closely related rodents are social.-- EdwinBakery, Jan 06 2012 random, halfbakery