With Easter nearly upon us it seems a likely time to shed some light on how The Easter Bunny came about since bunnies don't normally lay eggs it is kind of a curious thing. In the past I've heard people guess it was because rabbits are known for their fertility but there is an actual story of how the bunny fits into Easter. In the 17th century a tale about "Osterhase" or "Oschter Haws" a hare who hatched and hid colored eggs for well behaved children became popular in Germany. The tale eventually landed in the US and was linked to the Germanic goddess of spring,"Ostara"who according to legend had once turned a bird into a hare who still had the ability to lay colored eggs that were then presented at the Ostara festival. The combining of the two tales plus the morphing of the hare to the rabbit to the bunny brings us to the modern day Easter Bunny with colored eggs. Of course if that were true why would people be running around dying eggs...my guess is there aren't a lot of well behaved people who are deserving of the bunny's eggs.
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