Following up Belle’s post, In Australia, as Easter approaches, the big question is: Bunny or Bilby? To give as fair and balanced a presentation as possible of the main issues, the rabbit is a voracious alien pest[1] marketed in chocolate form by greedy multinationals, while the bilby is an appealing, and endangered, native marsupial made available for Easter celebration by public spirited Australians, helping to raise both awareness and much-needed funds. We report, you decide.
fn1. Matched only by the fox
{ 12 comments }
Belle Waring 03.31.04 at 9:07 am
Well, I’m totally sold on the Bilby. But is it a marsupial? There seems to be a real shortage of chocolate marsupials. Let’s not hate on the Cadbury Cream Egg, though. Mmmm. The gooey filling is so sugary that sometimes your throat closes completely and you are unable to breathe for a few seconds. I like that in a candy. And we could always pretend it was laid by the Easter Echidna.
Nabakov 03.31.04 at 11:53 am
Bilbies taste just fine without chocolate.
What Would Jesus Do? I’d reckon he’d go with bilbies. As`I recall he was big on kids but never said anything about “blessed are the chocolatemakers”.
James Russell 03.31.04 at 11:55 am
The bilby is not very appealing to me, personally. In any case it’s looking like illness will make me forgo anything made of chocolate this Easter and every Easter from now on, so I no longer care either way, really.
duckling 03.31.04 at 1:56 pm
Can I eat both and have an egg too?
rdb 03.31.04 at 3:11 pm
Lindt Rabbits have been on the TV (white, milk or temptingly dark). Haven’t tried an Easter Bilby though one of the examples looks quite dark (the Pink Lady one details the tail with white chocolate). For exiled Queenslanders of a certain age, you can get sugar easter eggs in Woolies in Melb.
Blessed are the chocolatemakers is beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture for a political attack. :-)
Matthew 03.31.04 at 5:52 pm
How about a Lincoln log in me sock drawer (dropped by a goldfish) ?
jw mason 03.31.04 at 6:00 pm
What Would Jesus Do? I’d reckon he’d go with bilbies. As`I recall he was big on kids but never said anything about “blessed are the chocolatemakersâ€.
The cheesemakes are a different story, of course…
Rajeev Advani 03.31.04 at 7:56 pm
I have a pet rabbit, and disagree with calling them pests. But then again I haven’t seen Australian wild rabbits, only heard the stories. But even with my pet rabbit, I would have to concede that while he’s not a pest, he’s certainly a rascal. And every time he destroys something in my room he shrinks against the wall and sits there with a smug expression on his face, knowing full well that his intrinsic “cuteness” prevents me from squishing him into a furry ball of … fur.
My rabbit, by the way, also supported the war in Iraq, but was was not pleased when he heard about Australia’s comraderie with the US on the issue. It was a bit like the Kurds fearing Turkey.
Alan 03.31.04 at 8:53 pm
You forgot the feral cat, the feral pig and the vast herd of feral camels.
John Quiggin 04.01.04 at 9:36 am
We are indeed cursed with many and varied feral pests, floral and fishy as well as faunal. My specific allusion to the Fox was more in the nature of an oversubtle joke.
Dr. Moe 04.01.04 at 9:56 am
Personally, I’ve thought that the Easter Elephant would be a very popular concept. He would bring chocolate eggs – but not the sort of little ones that could fit out of a chicken or a bunny – no, they’d be massive things of 50 pounds of chocolate apiece. Of course, they would retail for anywhere from $50 to $500 each, depending upon quality and prestigiousness (the cheap ones could be filled with gooey junk instead of being solid), and it would be a major status symbol for every child to get one for themselves, despite the obvious wastefullness due to the fact that the whole thing would probably go bad before it was entirely consumed.
I wish that I had wealthy and powerful contacts, as then I could get Hallmark to give me millions of dollars in exchange for this offensively stupid idea.
It’s not really any dumber then Christmas presents, anyway, and it could be sold as a way to “boost” the economy.
Matt Brown 04.01.04 at 5:05 pm
That Bilby looks mighty cute.
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