"Hello Granny! Thanks for my Bilby!"
"White chocolate keeps my teeth shiny and white."
"What shall I eat next now I have devoured the ears?"
"Daddy, Mummy, Bilby ears gone. In mouth."
Friday 17 April 2009
Easter Bilby extravagance
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2 comments:
Until I saw this a few days ago, I had no idea that Australians enjoyed Easter Bilbies rather than Easter Bunnies. After doing some quick research on the "sticky wwweb," as you call it, I learned that bunnies are not well-liked in Australia and that Bilbies are endangered. True?
Of course, with chocolate like this I suppose even if it were in the shape of a disliked bunny, "it wouldn't save it," as my husband likes to say.
Rabbits are an introduced species here. They were initially introduced along with foxes, with the idea of fox hunting becoming a sport for the immigrant English. Both species have become pests, although foxes perhaps less so than rabbits, because they have done well in the arid Australian environment. They have generally out competed native Australian species, such as the bilby (also a burrowing mammal). The rabbit probably ties with the cane toad as Australia's most hated introduced feral pest.
Miss Bilby by Colin Thiele is a wonderful combination of an expose of the plight of the Bilby with the efforts to save them, in the form of a rhyming picture book. It isn't for the faint hearted, though, so be warned.
A few years back there was a big push to use Bilbies instead of Rabbits for Easter chocolate. Part sale proceeds often go to funding Bilby sanctuaries and other preservation efforts.
We do still see Easter Bunnies, but perhaps not as commonly as once. Personally, I find it ironic given that the immense fertility of rabbits is what connects them to the celebration of Easter - the "new life" aspect of Easter Sunday. Perhaps it might be more appropriate to eat Easter Bilbies on Easter Friday, when we remember with sadness Jesus' death? Then we could get to eat both Bilbies and Bunnies!
~ Sharon
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