# "The Rabbit Died"= Pregnancy
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 14, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210 "2005-06-14T13:45:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/1 "2005-06-14T13:45:48Z")
In Aerosmith’s _Sweet Emotion_, Steven Tyler sings, “Can’t catch me, cause the rabbit done died.” I wonder how many young people catch this reference today, because the only times I’ve seen it is in books written before the mid seventies.
When did they stop using this test? What was it that actually made the bunny perish? Did they used to keep cages of rabbits in ordinary doctor’s offices for this purpose, or did pregnancy tests have to be sent off to a lab?
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/2 "2005-06-14T13:48:26Z")
[Snopes to the rescue](http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/rabbit.htm)
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### Author:  [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/3 "2005-06-14T14:00:05Z")
Thanks. I didn’t even think of trying Snopes.
Man, those guys know everything!
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/4 "2005-06-14T16:24:22Z")
I’m just waiting for the demise of “dialing a phone” and the “broken record” metaphor.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/5 "2005-06-14T16:32:44Z")
See also Cecil Adams on [In old-time pregnancy tests, did the rabbit really die? (04-Jul-1997)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a970704.html)
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/6 "2005-06-14T16:46:06Z")
And yet no one directly addresses _Sweet Emotion_. Aerosmith has it right: “You can’t catch me/'cause the rabbit done died.” If the rabbit dies before the HCG has a chance to affect its ovaries, the test is a wash (until they repeat the test with a healthier rabbit).
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/7 "2005-06-14T17:00:39Z")
> [@Nametag](#):
>
> And yet no one directly addresses _Sweet Emotion_. Aerosmith has it right: “You can’t catch me/'cause the rabbit done died.” If the rabbit dies before the HCG has a chance to affect its ovaries, the test is a wash (until they repeat the test with a healthier rabbit).
True, but is that what he’s trying to say? I don’t think it’s clear in context.
> [@](#):
>
> I pulled into town in a police car
> Your daddy said I took it just a little to far
> You’re telling me things but your girlfriend lied
> You can’t catch me ’cause the rabbit gone died
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### Author:  [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/8 "2005-06-14T17:13:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> True, but is that what he’s trying to say? I don’t think it’s clear in context.
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > I pulled into town in a police car
> > Your daddy said I took it just a little to far
> > You’re telling me things but your girlfriend lied
> > You can’t catch me ’cause the rabbit gone died
Here’s my translation. Please feel free to correct me.
1: The police apprehend me after I ran outta town. Why? (line 2)
2: Her dad’s pissed that you f\*\*\*ed his daughter. He called the cops after you.
3: telling me things…perhaps she fibbed her age? Would explain why the dad’s pissed, if you slept with his 16 yr-old. He doesn’t care if you thought she was 18.
Perhaps the girlfriend advocated the rhythym method or some such dubious method of birth control.
4: I’m gonna get off scot free cause they can’t tell whether she’s preggers or not.
Not really sure about line 3.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/9 "2005-06-14T17:16:33Z")
My interpretation of line 4 was “You can’t catch me because as soon as I found out I got her pregnant, I skipped town.”
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/10 "2005-06-14T17:37:38Z")
This is the most elaborate interpretation of an Aerosmith song I’ve ever seen. I’m not one to talk though - I’ve been accused of philosophizing about _Tintin_, over-analyzing Top Gun, and once tried to write lyrics to the Wave Race 64 theme song in a haze of THC.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/11 "2005-06-14T18:50:39Z")
There is also an episode of MASH, where Margert/Hotlips thinks she is preggers. Radar has a rabbit but he doesn’t want it killed. So Hawkeye and Trapper perform an operation on the rabbit so it can live through the test.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/12 "2005-06-14T18:54:51Z")
> [@Jake4](#):
>
> 4: I’m gonna get off scot free cause they can’t tell whether she’s preggers or not.
This should be "I’m gonna get off scott free because the pregnancy test was negative.
“The rabbit died” commonly means the test was negative, despite the fact that the rabbit died no matter what the outcome of the test (it’s been a while since I’ve read it but I believe Cecil’s column mentions this).
I thought the lyric was “the rabbit done died” not “the rabbit gone died”?
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### Author:  [@righto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/righto)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/13 "2005-06-14T19:39:54Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#):
>
> and once tried to write lyrics to the Wave Race 64 theme song in a haze of THC.
Hahaha, do you stil have those? You’ve gotten me intrigued.
/Cease Hijack.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/14 "2005-06-14T20:15:38Z")
Here they are, unchanged, in their entirety:
\*Wave is the game that you might play
You race jet skis all over the place
We’re racing around in the park
Racing around, racing around, the park
STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR
\*
Verse 1 is by a friend, verse 2 is by me, and I’m not sure what the Star Wars thing is but I didn’t write it.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Roscoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Roscoe)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/15 "2005-06-15T00:09:54Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#):
>
> Here they are, unchanged, in their entirety:
>
> \*Wave is the game that you might play
> You race jet skis all over the place
>
> We’re racing around in the park
> Racing around, racing around, the park
>
> STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR
> \*
>
> Verse 1 is by a friend, verse 2 is by me, and I’m not sure what the Star Wars thing is but I didn’t write it.
[hijack]
I don’t know the theme tune you’re discussing, but I just have to interject and say that for some reason that’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a while. Thanks. Please continue.
[/hijack]
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/16 "2005-06-15T00:53:57Z")
For those too lazy to click through to the Snopes and Cecil links, the rabbit in the rabbit pregnancy test _always_ died, regardless of whether the woman was pregnant or not. The rabbit test began with a sample of urine from the woman being injected into the female rabbit. A few days later, the rabbit was killed, and its ovaries were biopsied to see if they reacted to an enzyme present in the urine of pregnant women.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/17 "2005-06-15T00:56:03Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#):
>
> “The rabbit died” commonly means the test was negative, despite the fact that the rabbit died no matter what the outcome of the test (it’s been a while since I’ve read it but I believe Cecil’s column mentions this).
No, it doesn’t. Cecil says he thought dead rabbit = pregnant, just like Snopes.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/18 "2005-06-15T13:32:07Z")
The way I read the Aerosmith lyric’s meaning is that since the girl is question is indeed preggers, the singer is going to hightail it out of there first chance he gets. This fits with the mentality that seemed to common in that day that one’s manhood was was proven by getting a girl pregnant. To the short sighted bad boy, the pregnancy itself was the end result. “Score one for me!” With that type of guy, no thought was given to his being involved in any way after the fact. I remember actually knowing people who thought like this.
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### Author:  [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/19 "2005-06-16T04:10:24Z")
Well, it seems there might have been a couple of versions of the Rabbit Test. My brother, the family doctor, read this the other day and had this to add:
> [@](#):
>
> I see the rabbit pregnancy test has come up on SDMB again. There’s a reference to a SNOPES page as well. And, as before, everybody has it wrong.
>
> Here’s how the test worked. A rabbit is sensitized to HCG. I don’t know the details of this part, but I’m guessing it includes HCG and some chemical adjuvant. At any rate, the outcome is that the rabbit is allergic to HCG. Exquisitely allergic.
>
> To run the test, the sensitized rabbit is injected with the test subject’s urine. If even tiny quantities of HCG are present, the rabbit goes into anaphylactic shock. And dies. Within a couple of minutes. (I have actually seen this. The rabbit looks like it has overwhelming asthma. It’s quite sad, actually.)
>
> So, when the woman is pregnant, the rabbit dies. When she is not pregnant (no HCG in her urine), the rabbit is merely annoyed. The current chemical tests are much better, humanely speaking.
>
> I’m guessing all this stuff about killing the rabbit to look for changes in the rabbit ovaries may 1) be someone’s faulty recollection of a physiology lab experiment, or 2) how things were done before the rabbit test described above was developed.
So the great bunny death controversy rages on…
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rabbit-died-pregnancy/308210/20 "2005-06-16T04:40:42Z")
**MonkeyMensch** , your brother is speaking in present tense. We are talking about the rabbit tests of the past. If the rabbit had died within a couple of minutes, actually, the woman could have been notified the same day. As it was, women my age had to wait two or three days to find out for certain if they were pregnant – and that _was_ determined by an examination of the rabbit’s ovaries.
If we “always get it wrong,” we’ve always gotten it wrong for the half century that I’ve known about the test. He is welcome to cite for how these tests of the past were conducted.
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