Tourists queue up to be smothered on Rabbit Island [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | July 22, 2015 | Chris Kitching

[C19fan]

A Japanese outcrop is giving new meaning to the term island hopping, with tourists flocking there to be smothered by dozens of bouncing bunnies at once. An increasingly popular destination for holidaymakers, Rabbit Island is home to hundreds of wild but friendly bunnies who are known to approach tourists in large groups to scavenge for food. And visitors are more than willing to get on the ground and allow the rabbits to crawl all over them – even though the damp patches on their clothes suggest the adorable animals have wet feet and potentially answered the call of nature while jumping all over their new friends.

[C19fan]

Kawaii! I wonder how the bunny population is controlled, starvation?

[trisham]

Adorable pics!

[Gaffer]

So. How long before we’ll see “Rabbitnado! The Furried-Frenzy Begins!”

[rktman]

Don’t know but I got a bunch of the little bast**ds I’ll gladly ship over to them to get them off what grass I have left.

[j.havenfarm]

Darling. I assume little problems like fleas, ticks, salmonella, rabies, rabbit-madness syndrome*, and other diseases or parasites are not a problem. Cute as they are, I’d just as soon not have a rabbit pee on me.
* Ok, I made that one up.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

Cute but.....

If these animals are wild, they probably have several diseases and parasites.

[JoeProBono]

[dware]

I’d get in trouble there. A couple hours on the island and I would be busy tanning furs...

[wattsgnu]

I think the rabbit that came after Jimmy Carter had that.

[Norm Lenhart]

“We have the Holy Hand Grenade...”

[dainbramaged]

Hasenpfeffer.

[RayChuang88]

That island—if it’s the island I remember reading about online—has a notorious history. It had a fairly large manufacturing facility for poison gas that was only abandoned after World War II.

[Riley]

You’d need the Holy FASCAM Strike.

[Norm Lenhart]

I am unopposed to modern techniques. Those Rabbits are Dynamite! ;)

[Flick Lives]

From 1930 to 1945 the island was used as a testing ground for poison and it is thought during that time the test subjects included rabbits

Evidently, the poison was ineffective.

[Vigilanteman]

Japan is the land of the Kawaii. Years ago, I took my family to the island of Miyajima which, in addition to being famous for a Shinto shrine which partially floods during high tide, also has a large population of small deer who get quite aggressive soliciting handouts.

They are small and all horns have been clipped to small nubs, so no real danger. Plus, of course, you can buy them food at the ubiquitous local stands. We had more fun going off the beaten track looking for the shy dear who needed a little coaxing.

[dfwgator]

RUN AWAY!

[Vigilanteman]

Evidently, the poison was ineffective.

At least on one mating pair.

[Rinnwald]

[edpc]

What an adorable way to contract tularemia.