She is not wearing rabbit ears or fur, but Jessi Kummer of Butler Township is still rabbit royalty.

A member of the Butler Bunni Bunch 4-H Club, Jessi was named the state's 2005 Rabbit Queen in February during the Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeders Association annual convention in Lebanon Valley.

Jessi, 17, was among nine contenders who were judged in the categories of interview, application, judging competition, breed identification and a comprehensive written test. They also were required to give a three- to five-minute promotional talk.

Jessi's combined scores from those categories resulted in her being chosen as queen, as well as state commodity representative.

The commodity representative is chosen after the rabbit king and rabbit queen's scores are tallied. The highest of those two tallies determines which person will be commodity representative.

The chosen person represents the rabbit industry at the state farm show, a booking that includes dinner with the governor. Commodity representatives are also booked to appear at fairs and other events throughout the year.

Jessi and her twin sister, Randi, raise about 80 animals. The breeds include satins and silver martens, which are meat breeds; and Havanahs and mini rex, which are show and pet breeds.

Their breeding stock has been purchased at shows, with many imported from out of state or different parts of Pennsylvania. Each rabbit is a purebred with a pedigree that has been selected for genetics and color.

The Kummer twins have belonged to 4-H since about age 8, but have been raising rabbits even longer.

"They are easier than horses," Jessi said of her 4-H animal of choice - explaining that her mother, Kathy Kummer, who doubles as a Bunni Bunch leader, was more amenable to hauling the smaller creatures to and from shows.

"(Rabbits) are easy to take care of, plus they are fluffy and cute," Jessi added.

The rabbits are housed on the Kummers' 20-acre farm, but the stacking cages make it possible to raise them with limited space.

Despite their adaptability to small spaces, the rabbits still take up considerable square footage on the Kummer homestead.

"We have two horse stalls full (of rabbits)," Jessi said.

A childhood playhouse has been remodeled into a rabbit nursery.

In addition to the rabbits' day-to-day care, which entails feeding, watering and cleaning the pullout trays in the bottoms of cages, Jessi said successful showing depends on handling, too.

The handling can take time, she pointed out - and even five minutes a day per rabbit can add up with 80 animals to care for.

The handling comes into play at rabbit shows, she explained, since the rabbits must be trained to "pose" for judges.

"Judges get frustrated with rabbits that won't pose on a show table," she noted.

Rabbits must also be groomed, complete with toenail clipping, before shows.

Kathy Kummer said her daughters' busy show schedule requires her to transport them on a regular basis - traveling out of state more than a dozen times a year. They are limited to road travel, she said, because airlines charge $50 to transport each carrier, which adds up with multiple rabbits.

"I'm running out of dresser space for trophies right now," Jessi said of the rewards.

As well as belonging to the 4-H club and the Pennsylvania Rabbit Breeders Association, the Kummers also belong to the Butler County Rabbit Breeders Association and the American Rabbit Breeders Association.

Despite her love of rabbits, Jessi's goals include becoming a large-animal veterinarian.

Although Randi tied for third place in the breed identification contest at the national convention, her career goals lean toward administrative work more than toward animals. Still, she supports her sister's rabbit success. "I'm proud of her," she commented. "It's about time she wins and shows what she knows."