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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Stuffed bunny toys left in streets of Napier, thrown from car

Gianina Schwanecke
By Gianina Schwanecke
Reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
7 Apr, 2021 10:58 PM2 mins to read

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An example of the stuffed rabbit toys that have been seemingly randomly thrown and placed on streets, driveways, and in business areas around Napier this week. Photo / Facebook

An example of the stuffed rabbit toys that have been seemingly randomly thrown and placed on streets, driveways, and in business areas around Napier this week. Photo / Facebook

A bizarre spate of stuffed bunny toys being thrown and left around the streets of Napier has plunged residents down the rabbit hole asking who's behind it.

The rapidly-multiplying number of rabbit toys have been spotted all along Napier, from Downing Ave, Taradale Rd to Carlyle St and more since the Easter weekend.

They range in colours from grey, white and pink and some appear in large clusters.

Olly Chilton, of Hastings, was sitting in the car with three friends at the Car & Dog Wash Napier on Hyderabad Rd on Tuesday night when three of the rabbit toys were thrown at them.

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"A light blue car drove into the stall next to us and threw three at us before driving off."

Chilton said the incident left him and his friends more confused than anything.

"We were just wondering what had happened. We just laughed it off and haven't heard anything since."

They picked up the three rabbit toys but left them because they were "wet and soapy" from the carwash.

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He had no idea who was behind the bunnies or why they might be throwing them around town.

Liz Caldwell spotted about five bunnies "randomly" down Kennedy Rd, including one on top of a car, on Tuesday evening.

"At first I thought some child had lost their bunny. Then we saw the next few and thought someone's having a laugh here."

There are no obvious clues for who is behind the hare-brained scheme.

While some think it's a harmless prank or random act of kindness, others who had them dumped down long driveways in large numbers have taken to social media hopping-mad with concerns it might have more nefarious motives.

Luke Pell noticed a handful on the road as he came out of the gym on Tennyson St on Wednesday morning.

He didn't stop to pick one up or touch it because he thought stuffed toys on the footpath would "no doubt be a bit grubby".

"I stopped and looked for a minute because a little pile of stuffed rabbits was an odd sight.

"But then I just moved on."

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