For the answer to last week’s question “What do peacocks and spiders have in common”, just jump to the end. And speaking of jumping, you’d think we would jump at the opportunity to share some Easter facts with you. But this easily heads into dangerous territory that pits science against religion, which inevitably leads to otherwise intelligent people quoting the ironically um… christened Christopher Hitchens. A Brit with all the intelligence and language skills of Oscar Wilde, and none of the charm or wit. And on the other side of this debate, the most important fact about Easter – a resurrection – has not been witnessed again for over 2,000 years, and is therefore full of the irony that it is a disputed fact that is the basis of an indisputable faith for many. See? I’m already getting in rough territory just trying to be reasonable. So we’ll just stick with the facts. There are about as many facts available about the name “Easter” and the Easter Bunny as there are about Santa Claus, but they (the bunny and the fat man) both seem to have been introduced in America by the Germans in the 19th century. The “Osterhase” was in fact a hare, not a rabbit. But let’s not split hares…

In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today it takes six minutes.

Easter eggs probably have their origin in the fact that eggs were forbidden to Catholics during the fast of Lent and therefore in abundance.

Funny bunny facts:

When petted, rabbits make a sound similar to purring, but it’s caused by grinding their teeth softly .

Predators can literally scare a rabbit to death.

Which is handy, because…

Rabbit meat is lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than chicken, pork and beef.

Rabbit meat is all white meat

But in spite of being so jumpy…

The only place a rabbit sweats is through the pads on its feet

And now, the answer to the question “What do peacocks and spiders have in common?”