Useless information or how to break the ice at a party!

"Did you know that rabbit urine can be blue?"

Imagine yourself at a gathering where you don't know anyone, you can start a scintillating conversation with the above information.

Honest! I could provide a picture if you don't believe me. I noticed there were blue spots in the snow around the oat bin, along with rabbit pellets where they clean up the spilled oats. After searching other places rabbits hang out, the same blue phenomenon and I said to myself, "What the Hey??"

So I turned to Mr. Google and this is what I found:

Our native rabbits (the eastern cottontail) have been browsing on an alien shrub (European buckthorn). The buckthorn contains a chemical that passes out with the urine, which comes out yellowish to brownish, but after exposure to sunlight, turns a lovely blue color. This effect is visible, of course, because the urine in question is suspended in snow. You would think that the cottontails are eating the berries of the buckthorn, because they are purplish, but according to the second reference above, the effect occurs after the rabbits eat other parts of the plant. Buckthorn holds its leaves long after most native deciduous plants, and in winter cottontails subsist largely on bark and twigs.  

One person compared the rabbit urine snow to a snow cone, YUM! YUM!

I believe I will pass.

So now when someone asks you a 'Duh' question, such as "Do you like chocolate chip cookies?", instead of replying, "Is a bluebird blue?" or "Does a bear, you know what in the woods?", you can reply, "Is a rabbit's urine blue?"

That's me, always trying to help you out.