What started as a way to create high-quality yarn quickly became artistry, animal care and caring for others woven together into a unique—and fuzzy—backyard-based business.

The Fuzzy Ear, a licensed, no-cull English Angora Rabbitry in Gloucester, started in 2013 as a way for Pete and Lorraine Hanson to create their own fine yarn for fiber arts. “I like good yarn, I don’t like cheap yarn—life’s too short,” said Lorraine.

After beginning their business, the couple discovered quickly how much they loved the rabbits and they began growing their herd. “We are doing it for the fiber, but they become our pets and our loved ones,” she said.

About every three to four months the rabbits’ coats are collected and put in labeled containers to get ready for spinning. “We scissor cut usually, or we can use a razor—the bunnies aren’t harmed,” she explained.

The couple also purchases whole shorn fleeces, creating a 20 percent Angora blend yarn that they sell at farmers’ markets, fiber festivals, and even a yarn shop in Williamsburg. “I always put on there that it’s a two-ply sport made with sheep, angora and alpaca—and I try to put the bunny’s name,” said Lorraine.

At their booths, she sets up pictures of the bunny that correspond with the skein. “When we go to fiber festivals, we do well, but yarn is expensive, some of the skeins are up to $60,” Pete said.

“We love the rabbits and it’s great, but the whole reason that we started doing this is for fiber arts,” explained Lorraine. “It’s a craft that we don’t want to see disappear, so the whole fiber arts thing: the weaving, the spinning, the knitting, the crocheting, the making of the yarn—the whole deal, we want to see that continue.”

Bunny therapy

Getting into rabbit therapy happened by accident, according Lorraine. “After we had gotten our first rabbits, a dear friend of ours had a major surgery and was in a nursing home for recuperation,” she explained.

With a bunny in her bag, Lorraine went to visit the friend who had not yet had the opportunity to meet the rabbits. “I walked into her room and closed the door and she just looked at me and smiled, she knew what I was up to,” she said. “We put Honey Suckle in her lap and I think they sat there for like half an hour, the two of them, just loving it.”

From there, the couple decided to share the experience with others who might need it and began adding more varieties of rabbit breeds. “These guys are French Lops,” Lorraine said, gesturing next to her. “They come from a breed in Berryville—Spanish Oaks Rabbitry, and she breeds these guys and does animal therapy, so they come from that line.”

One of the therapy outreach events that the Hansons’ participate in is stress therapy during exam weeks at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. “We’ll load up the van with as many bunnies as we can fit,” said Lorraine. “We’ll have a steady stream of students the whole time we’re there … That’s Pete’s favorite event of the year because the students are just so wonderful.”

They also do animal therapy on a regular basis at Williamsburg Landing, an accredited Life Plan Community in Williamsburg. Starting in Memory Support, the couple brings in therapy rabbits for the residents to hold and pet, before moving over to the Namaste unit. “Namaste is basically an advanced dementia unit … our bunnies are part of the tactile program,” Lorraine said.

“People take to certain [bunnies], you know, some gravitate toward the great big ones and others the little ones,” said Pete. “Some of the people have severe dementia, they’re not reactive to much of anything, but you put a rabbit in their lap and you’ll see their hands get going and they’ll smile and their eyes will open up—that’s pretty cool.”

On one of their visits to Riverside Lifelong Health & Rehabilitation Mathews, Pete brought a bunny to a patient’s bedside, earning a smile from the gentleman. “The nurse started tearing up. She said, “I’ve never seen him smile before,” said Lorraine.

“That’s happened more than once,” Pete added.

Another time, in Williamsburg, staff stopped the couple as they were leaving to ask them if they could bring one of the rabbits to a patient. “We put the bunny on her lap and she started to cry,” said Lorraine. “We’ve just had stories like that through the years and it’s just heartwarming.”

Sometimes the couple will take an antique pram they were given and a bunny or two and walk Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg, enjoying some street therapy, as Pete called it. “We don’t walk far, fast,” he said, fondly. “We’ll walk down the street and get a crowd of people around us.”

‘Cece Hops Again!’

Lorraine and her niece Shella Kline created a children’s book, based on a rabbit the Hansons rehabilitated. “Cece Hops Again!” is the story of Cece, a young rabbit that ended up with a brain infection.

Lorraine and Pete took Cece to Dr. Bonnie Brown, a rabbit specialist at Jolly Pond Veterinary Hospital in Williamsburg, who suggested they try to treat the infection, explained Lorraine.

“We brought her home, moved her into the house, treated her: it was two medicines two times a day for a month, and we rehabilitated her. We did rehab with her, we actually got on the floor and worked her legs,” she said.

Kline, who created the business’s logo and banner, among other things, illustrated the book for Lorraine.

Rabbit retirement

Once a rabbit gets older, Pete and Lorraine stop taking them out for therapy and outreach programs, focusing instead on giving the animal a happy, comfortable retirement. “They’re going to live their best lives and they’re going to get what they want, eat what they want; do what they want,” said Lorraine.

More information on The Fuzzy Ear yarn, purchasing “Cece Hops Again!” and links to the business’s social media can be found at https://thefuzzyear.com/store/miscellaneous/books/cece-hops-again.