Sid Saunders, 73, was walking through Marline Wood, in East Sussex, England, when he come upon a “bit of concrete just poking out of the undergrowth,” as he told the Hastings Observer. He found the concrete was wedged well into the ground and started clearing the area of undergrowth. There, buried for years, was a tiny headstone, no higher than his calf.
The stone was overgrown with moss, but when Saunders cleaned it off, he could read its inscription:
In Memory of the Little 🐇
Duchie
Born August 1869
Died December 1882
(There really is a small image of a bunny dug into the stone.)
Duchie lived 13 years, a long life for a rabbit but within the realm of possibility for a well-loved pet. The rabbit’s name, Saunders thinks, indicates that it’s part of the Dutch rabbit family. Because the Duchie lived so long and got a bespoke headstone, it’s likely he or she was the pet of a well-off family.
RIP, Duchie.