The Hair Affair

I’m sure there a few people who observed the above photo and wondered what they were looking at. It’s my English Angora Rabbit, Angus. We had just started one of several recent marathon grooming sessions.

Why marathon you ask? Well, when it comes to extra fine, long hair that never seems to run out, Angora rabbits have your Yorkshire Terrier or Pomeranian beat, hands down. Almost two weeks ago, Angus started one of his quarterly sheds. To further explain, the smaller angora breeds blow their undercoats four times a year.

When I bought Angus at the beginning of May, he had recently been given his summer haircut. At first I was a little disappointed. The day I received him was the first time I saw and handled an Angora rabbit in person. I will be honest and admit that I had been dying to run my fingers through his long, angel-soft hair. He was still incredibly soft (like The Velveteen Rabbit), but he looked kind of comical. Anyone who has ever dreamed of Angora ownership has probably poured over every image they could find on the internet. To say I was a bit startled when handed a semi-naked, skinny rabbit would be an understatement. I had gotten used to the compact and slightly plumper body-type of my Lion Head Bunny.

Even though Angus was moving indoors at my house, his haircut was a blessing in disguise. I still had a month left at school before summer vacation, so except for their morning meal, bunny chores waited until I got home. With Angus’ shorter hair, he wasn’t much of a grooming chore until shortly after school got out. Then his hair started growing out with a vengeance. If he wasn’t an indoor bunny I would have sheared him then to give him relief from the heat. But having Angora wool at my fingertips had been a dream for a couple of years. I couldn’t wait any longer to have some in my possession. Plus, I was dying to see what he looked like in his full, hairy glory.

Before I brought him home, my research led me to believe that I would be more comfortable plucking or grooming out his shedding coat. Well, folks, research doesn’t prepare one for reality when it comes to Angora rabbits. First there was the occasional mat to cut out. Next to go was the hair on Angus’ back feet and legs. (It was the only solution I had due to his love-hate relationship with the litter box.) A few weeks ago his Sergeant Pepper Beetle bangs got trimmed. While the hair-covered face was terribly charming, it was getting into his eyes, literally. Plus, though he usually knew I was in the vicinity, he couldn’t see my hand and was startled when I touched him. The bangs had to go before I gave him a heart attack.

And now for those marathon grooming sessions. When the coat first started coming out, I tried to keep the combing to half-an-hour. He would get a day or two in between. Despite my best efforts to work quickly and thoroughly, the hair kept coming and the grooming sessions kept getting longer. There was no end to the loose hair coming out in my hands. One episode ended up stretching into two hours. I stood up to stretch my back. Angus took the opportunity to beg for an end to the torture. He stretched up on his back legs and put his face in mine, a clear indication he’d had enough for one day. Last week, I made the mistake of grooming him before I went to bed. I spent most of the night dreaming that I was grooming rabbits. It was a little disturbing. This weekend, I threw in the towel. I started shearing Angus yesterday. His haircut should be done in a day or two.

He takes shearing very well. In fact, I’m sure he’s quite used to it and probably wondered why I was making such a production out of harvesting his hair. Truthfully, I don’t know why I was afraid of the grooming scissors. We had two dogs for several years that required regular clipping. (The Cocker Spaniel almost rivaled Angus in the fineness and length of his hair.) Regardless of how the rabbit and I finally reached this point, the end is finally in sight. In a few weeks, I’m leaving to visit family and take my younger daughter back to college. My husband was getting worried about his ability to groom Angus with the same dedication while I’m gone. Now, that the rabbit is getting semi-naked again, I think the hubby is doing happy dances behind my back.

The Project Queen