Special to The Windham Eagle
If you love rabbits, and what’s not to love, then be sure to check out Fryeburg Fair’s Rabbit Barn. It’s been run by long-time rabbit expert Marie Bishop of Windham.
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| Long-time rabbit expert Marie Bishop of Windham leads Fryeburg Fair’s Rabbit Barn and the retired teacher has been keeping rabbits since she was in her 20s. The fair's Rabbit Barn is a showcase for rabbit breeders and people who keep rabbits for a hobby. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Rabbit Barn activity starts at 6:45 a.m. each day during the fair with crew and exhibitors cleaning rabbit cages, feeding and general caretaking. They’ve got many breeds to name just a few: Angoras, Lops, Flemish Giants, Chinchillas, Silver Fox, New Zealands, and Dwarf Hotots.
Now in her 70s, Marie moved to Maine from Peabody, Massachusetts, in 1977. As a child, her family vacationed in Maine. She attended Salem State University for teaching.
“I loved Maine, so I moved here. I ended up meeting my husband, Ted, from Sweden, Maine, in 1977 and we married in 1978.” The Bishops have three children, Jarrod, Holly, and Daniel, and now have five grandchildren. They are “very active grandparents. Since her retirement from teaching, Marie has remained very busy not just with rabbits. Besides those responsibilities, she is a member of a cribbage club, a knitter, a board gamer with a group in town, and works out at the local gym.
She was a career teacher and retired in 2013 from Sebago Elementary School specializing in the intervention of students that may not qualify for special programs.
“It was a wonderful school and a great job. I loved it,” Marie said.
Growing up, Marie had always wanted to be a farmer and got her first rabbits in her 20s. As a young couple, the Bishops lived in Naples, had three children, but later moved to Bridgton and then Denmark where they raised chickens, sheep and rabbits.
“We raised chickens and rabbits for food and sheep for wool. We built hutches, had a small egg business and a garden,” she said. “Times were very, very tough and we needed to be self-sufficient. We didn’t have much money at all. When my son, Jarrod, was about 11, he wanted to get rabbits. So, we started with another generation of rabbit raisers!”
And they’ve had a variety of breeds and numbers of rabbits since then.
Marie is proud of the Rabbit Barn at the Fryeburg Fair.
“Our building is a livestock showcase. It’s for education,” she said. “That’s what we do. I love the people I work with and the exhibitors because they’re all different in their areas of expertise. They all raise rabbits for different reasons.”
Marie says the Rabbit Barn at Fryeburg emphasizes healthy and quality animals and feels fortunate to have highly skilled folks involved. “We have Rebecca Azer. She’s an amazing farmer and raises them for meat and knows her genetics and loves to educate people. We have Chris Gurney and Chris Mageles on our staff. They both show rabbits. Chris Mageles also shows nationally. She has won top awards at the national American Rabbit Breeders Association (“ARBA”) convention. My best friend, Liz Kenaley, was my assistant, and she was fabulous, but she passed away in 2024 and is terribly missed. We have several other breeders who volunteer at the barn including Angela and Richard Lavoie, Reggie Smith and Erynn Wakem.”
Marie says rabbits are fascinating.
“Well, they’re diverse. They are great pets, can be shown as a competitive hobby, for 4H projects, for show and for fibers, and meat,” she said. “You can have them in a small area, as well as in a city. They’re easy to take care of. We always advise people to have cages. But you can let them run in your house. They do chew, however, so the cages are important when you’re away. Rabbits eat food pellets, which you purchase, and basically hay and water. You can give them small treats if you wish – a little carrot, apple, teaspoon of old fashioned oatmeal. But people think they eat lots of vegetables. That’s not great for them.”
Marie says her favorites are her Dwarf Hotot breed. They’re white with black around their eyes. Marie won the top senior doe in the Dwarf Hotot breed at the 2018 national ARBA convention. She won Best in Show awards with her Californian breed a few years ago. Marie attends other rabbit shows with colleagues and recently attended a large show in Spencer, Massachusetts. In the past, Marie has displayed rabbits at other fairs in Maine including Common Ground. She also raises Polish rabbits.
Marie says she loves having fairgoers stop in to appreciate the different breeds and get to know the varieties, pat a few and ask questions.
“People love to show us photos of their rabbits or tell stories about the ones they had as a child. People like to pat the rabbits and many non-rabbit owners ask us how long they live. On average it’s 7 to 8 years. They don’t really have a long natural life. Rabbits can get sicknesses and have teeth issues so monitoring their health is very important.”
She strongly suggests that people don’t stick their fingers in cages at the fair as the animals might take a bite thinking it’s a carrot.
“Find someone with an apron on and most of the time they can take a rabbit out for visiting and patting,” she said.
Marie always acknowledges the people that work in the Rabbit Barn.
“I have two assistants. Sarah Strange, who does the bulk of the work 13 hours a day!, along with her husband, Jaysen, and their children, Cassidy, Joel and Timmy and Jaysen’s parents, Joel and Lisa Strange. Cassidy, age 16, and Timmy, age 12, both did rabbit presentations for the public last year. They were very well received,” Marie said. “Natasha Berry is my second assistant and is exceptional and there’s Chris Gurney, Chris Magellis, Rebecca Azer, Angela and Richard Lavoie. They are all very appreciated. Rebecca’s girls sometimes come in to help. Reggie Smith is now 86 and has been involved at the Fryeburg Fair’s rabbit barn since long ago, before I arrived. Erin Wakeham and Liz’s boyfriend, Carey Hyde, well, we can’t do it without these dedicated and wonderful rabbit advocates and professionals.” <
