# Is the Easter Bunny a Bunny?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 17, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949 "2022-04-17T15:48:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/1 "2022-04-17T15:48:18Z")
It’s hard to remember that far back, but I think that, when I was a child, I pictured the Easter Bunny as an actual, normal-sized rabbit who came around and hid Easter candy on Easter morning.
But some pictures of the Easter Bunny show him (is the Easter Bunny a him?) as a cartoony, human-sized anthropomorphic figure. And occasionally there are opportunities to take your kids to see the Easter Bunny, and maybe get their picture taken with him (like with a mall Santa Claus). Of course, what you get if you visit “the Easter Bunny” is a person in a bunny suit, who could never be mistaken for an actual rabbit.
So, in your mind, do you imagine the Easter Bunny as a real rabbit, or as something more humanoid?
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/2 "2022-04-17T15:49:57Z")
Definitely a bunny. In fact, i saw a rabbit on my walk yesterday, and addressed it as the Easter bunny.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/3 "2022-04-17T16:01:53Z")
You may be conflating the Easter Bunny with Harvey,
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/4 "2022-04-17T16:17:10Z")
The Easter bunny is a furry.
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/5 "2022-04-17T16:19:35Z")
I just asked my Mom, and she said that the Easter Bunny is a chocolate rabbit.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/6 "2022-04-17T16:32:59Z")
It’s a _púca_.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/7 "2022-04-17T16:45:17Z")
As a kid, I pictured him as something in between. More anthropomorphic than a regular rabbit, but more like Peter Rabbit or the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland- still more-or-less rabbit-sized.
Even as a little kid, I could play along with the idea that the guy in the red suit with the fake beard in the mall was Santa (except the time I met one with a real beard, which was clear proof that he really WAS Santa), but found the big giant cartoony Easter bunny mascot things silly and wrong.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/8 "2022-04-17T16:53:39Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#):
>
> …but found the big giant cartoony Easter bunny mascot things silly and wrong.
How about this?:
[ ](https://mvdentertainment.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/donnie_crop-1024x954.jpg)
Stranger
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### Author:  [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/9 "2022-04-17T17:22:33Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> It’s a _púca_.
>
> Stranger
As Vaderling came into this world on Easter, we’ve always referred to him as being brought by the Easter Bunny. In my mind this lends great credence to what Stranger said.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/10 "2022-04-17T17:49:05Z")
I pretty much always pictured him as anthropomorphic. I didn’t necessarily always picture a bunny costume, but to be an entity that could carry Easter baskets and go hide eggs, he had to be more human-like than rabbit like.
The costumes probably did influence how big I assumed he was, though. As did the TV representations. And these days I do tend to think of a guy in a suit.
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/11 "2022-04-17T18:36:01Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> How about this?:
> Stranger
We’ve been known, to ahhh, [dabble](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74663312@N08/51565775254/) in creepy clowns for Halloween.
Even SNL called Easter ‘warm Halloween’ last night.
There’s a haunted ~~hayride~~ [egg hunt](https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/fear-the-bunny-adult-egg-hunt-mixes-easter-and-horror-in-fennville/69-9df5cacc-972c-4a0f-844a-072ab2ac8e11) somewhere in MI next week. Even the regular maul Easter bunny head is creepy.
[Hip-Hop](http://media.philly.com/images/20111123_inq_sixr23-a.JPG) was nightmare-inducing level of creepiness!
IOW, I’m seeing more & more scary bunnies. Imma thinkin; we might just need to do a scary bunny photo for next year. 😳
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/12 "2022-04-17T18:36:58Z")
> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> IOW, I’m seeing more & more scary bunnies. Imma thinkin; we might just need to do a scary bunny photo for next year. 😳
Especially one predicting the end of the world!
Stranger
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/13 "2022-04-17T18:52:31Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> It’s a _púca_ .
>
> Stranger
While I wasn’t aware of the movie _Harvey_ as a child young enough to believe in the Easter bunny, nor familiar with the concept of a púca until several years more after that, what I pictured as kid definitely falls into this scope. Large bunny, definitely over 3’ tall, who was smart like a person, had Santa’s breaking and entering skills and for some reason was very generous with candy.
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/14 "2022-04-17T20:07:08Z")
For what it’s worth, in Germany it’s not the Easter Bunny, but the Easter _Hare_ (Osterhase). It’s traditionally depicted slightly bigger than a real hare, walking on two legs and carrying a pannier filled with the eggs it brings, like this:
[ ](https://www.kunstnet.de/w4/56530/gross_frohe-ostern.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/15 "2022-04-17T20:27:36Z")
A pannier of eggs, my ass. Those are grenades, and that hare is out for blood! I’ve read _Watership Down_!
Stranger
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/16 "2022-04-17T20:47:45Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> A pannier of eggs, my ass. Those are grenades, and that hare is out for blood! I’ve read _Watership Down_! -
>
> Stranger
Never has carnage been so festive.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/17 "2022-04-17T20:55:36Z")
There’s a horror anthology movie called, “Holidays.” The Easter one is sooo bizarre: Mom kisses little girl goodnight – Go to sleep so you won’t scare off the Easter Bunny. Later, the girl goes for a drink of water and all hell breaks loose. This EB has a couple twists that are neat, weird, sad and nasty all at the same time: the EB is adult sized and looks like representations of crucified Jesus (except for the rabbit face and ears) – crown of thorns, wound in its side, holes in the hands and feet (baby chicks squeeze out of the holes [remember the old joke of why Jesus couldn’t eat M&Ms for Easter?]). Just strange. You’ll probably see the ending coming a mile away.
Next up: Kevin Smith’s take on Hallowe’en (not for kids, of course).
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/18 "2022-04-17T20:56:27Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> How about this?:
I just watched Donnie Darko (again) this morning, and this is the first rabbit I thought of!
On edit: just remember David Sedaris’s story about learning French and being made fun of for thinking rabbits brought chocolate on Easter.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/19 "2022-04-17T21:10:03Z")
There’s a short story called, “Death to the Easter Bunny!” where horror and humor are walking side-by-side, holding hands. The ending is a stitch.
ETA: The author’s name is Alan Ryan.
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-easter-bunny-a-bunny/962949/20 "2022-04-17T21:11:08Z")
That’s just Frank. He went to get beer and that was wrong.
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