Bigs bunny: monster rabbit devours English veggie plots

LONDON (AFP) - In a tale reminiscent of the last Wallace and Gromit movie, furious villagers in northeast England have hired armed guards to protect their beloved communal vegetable gardens from a suspected monster rabbit.

Leeks, Japanese onions, parsnips and spring carrots have all been ripped up and devoured by the mystery were-rabbit -- prompting the 12 allotment holders in Felton, north of Newcastle, to hire two marksmen with air rifles and orders to shoot to kill.

"It is a massive thing. It is a monster. The first time I saw it, I said: 'What the hell is that?'" the Northumberland Gazette newspaper quoted local resident Jeff Smith, 63, as saying on its website (www.northumberlandtoday.co.uk).

He claims to have seen the black and brown rabbit -- with one ear bigger than the other -- about two months ago, and at least three fellow allotment holders say they have seen it as well.

"I have seen it and it is bigger than a normal rabbit. It's eating all our crops and we grow the best stuff here," said retired miner George Brown, 76, quoted by the domestic Press Association news agency.

Smith could not be reached for comment Friday, but his mother told AFP that the hare-raising story is true -- and no less an authority than the British Rabbit Council said it was credible.

"Certain breeds do grow very big, like the Continental Giant" which can be 66 centimetres (26 inches) in length or more, a spokesman for the Nottinghamshire-based council, which represent rabbit breeders, told AFP.

In the last hit movie featuring Wallace and his dog Gromit, the two cartoon characters battled a monster rabbit that was cutting a swathe of destruction through locals' prize vegetable plots.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060407/od_af...odrabbitoffbeat
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Check out the size of this rabbit!! I would freak if I saw a bunny that big in my garden!

Did you see the pics ? Wasn't it a cutey!? poor little thing. They just want to eat like the rest of us! Put up a fence dummies!

The poor, disarmed Brits. Have to hire someone with a pea-shooter permit to shoot their pests! Jeez!

Rabbit stew!!!

Heather's signature and the photo of the big bunny.... things that make ya go ummmmmm......

He is so cute! I'll take him home with me! Maybe he lives near a nuclear power plant or something.

Makes me think It must be wrabbit season! Wabbit Stew..

oh I'm definitely not for having the poor thing shot but I'm having a hard time calling it "cute"

That's one big wabbit

I like the reference to Wallace & Grommit!

Eye of the beholder FIB
Sides,if it was a stuffed Gund that size, people would think it's cute.

Drat!

Now that Big Foot has been cataloged crop circles wont seem so eerie and mysterious