 "Photo: Michelle Connolly")
A girl with a cult-like following walks her pet bunnies with delicate cloth leashes around campus, sometimes taking them to class with her. She knows what all the stares are for. She enjoys the attention, to a certain degree. Her bunnies must love it, too, since they run around in circles in her apartment, letting her know they're ready for a walk. To most people she's simply "Bunny Girl" or "Rabbit Girl."
Yet even without her bunnies around, she's constantly approached and recognized. There's even a Facebook group dedicated to sightings of her.
People ask nutrition sophomore Rebecca Moon her name, but they call her Bunny Girl regardless.
"It annoyed me a little at first, but this is a big place, so I understand," Moon said.
Decked out in an old blue sweater and jeans, her demeanor radiates kindness and modesty, giving a sense that she is more than Bunny Girl. Moon also does water coloring and drawings and loves role-playing video games. She hopes to have a job in dentistry after she finishes of graduate school.
Moon currently has two rabbits, Erisdalrae (Eris, the Greek Goddess of discord and "Darle," Korean for moon) and Darlene Beyrl ("Beyrl," Korean for star). Darlene, who was born in November, is nervous and still getting used to the masses of people. Eris, the older of the two, is the troublemaker. Last fall, one of her bunnies donned a cape for Halloween as Super Bunny.
"When she wants attention, she'll throw things. I'll be studying, and then she'll throw a bowl at me [with her mouth]," Moon said.
Moon wanted to buy a bunny after meeting her neighbors, who owned bunnies, back home in Lake Jackson. She decided to get her first bunny because of her research and her father's allergies to cats and dogs.
Moon said she did not anticipate the response she's received but has gotten used to it.
As she stands holding Darlene in her arms, a woman stops for a second and smiles.
"God, that's so cute," the woman said.
Along with all the smiles, she said, people will routinely ask her if it's really a rabbit; sometimes people will ask if it's "a cat or dog when it's close, or a fuzzy purse." Her bunny-walking can make even the most masculine of males go "Awww," which always brings a smile to her face.
As a freshman, Moon originally walked her bunnies as a source of comfort on the large campus.
"If I get lost, at least I'm not alone," she said.
She explains that she now walks the bunnies for others, for the joy that it brings them.
"Smiling is good for the soul," she said.
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