Stories Rabbits Tell

A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature

By: Susan Davis, Margo DeMello

Narrated by: Chiara Bertolo

Revered as a symbol of fertility, sexuality, purity and childhood, beloved as a children’s pet and widely represented in the myths, art and collectibles of almost every culture, the rabbit is one of the most popular animals known to humans. Ironically, it has also been one of the most misunderstood and abused. Indeed, the rabbit is the only animal that our culture adores as a pet, idolizes as a storybook hero and slaughters for commercial purposes.

Stories Rabbits Tell takes a comprehensive look at the rabbit as a wild animal, ancient symbol, pop culture icon, commercial “product” and domesticated pet. In so doing, the audiobook explores how one species can be simultaneously adored as a symbol of childhood (think Peter Rabbit), revered as a symbol of female sexuality (e.g., Playboy Bunnies), dismissed as a “dumb bunny” in domesticity and loathed as a pest in the wild. The authors counter these stereotypes with engaging analyses of real rabbit behavior, drawn both from the authors’ own experience and from academic studies, and place those behaviors in the context of current debates about animal consciousness. In a detailed investigative section, the authors also describe conditions in the rabbit meat, fur, pet and vivisection industries, and raise important questions about the ethics of treating rabbits as we do.

The first audiobook of its kind, Stories Rabbits Tell provides invaluable information and insight into the life and history of an animal whom many love, but whom most of us barely know. As such, it is a key addition to the current thinking on animal emotions, intelligences and welfare, and the way that human perceptions influence the treatment of individual species.

©2003 Susan E. Davis and Margo DeMello (P)2022 Lantern Publishing & Media

Must Have for Rabbit Owners and Animal Lovers

Don't let the subpar audio quality discourage you from checking out this book; you'll get used to it soon enough. This book is beautifully written and provides rabbit people/animal lovers with invaluable information, giving the societal, historical, scientific, and ethical backdrop of the relationship between humanity and the rabbit. While I was expecting a cute series of anecdotes from the title, but I found so much more value in what this book actually is. The style is somewhat academic but passionate and informative. This is not a bedtime story for your kids but a must-have guide for anyone with a rabbit in their life or considering forming such a relationship so that they may be both informed and ethical in their relationships with this dear, adorable, demonized, admired, mistreated, and almost universally misunderstood species.