FARMER CROCHETED EARS FOR A RABBIT BORN WITHOUT ANY

A farmer at Smithills Open Farm in Bolton, England, crocheted a pair of gray and pink ears for Van Gogh, a rabbit born without ears, so he could feel included with his siblings. The farm posted a TikTok clip of him trying them on, and People reported on it on October 23, 2025, when he was about four months old.

Van Gogh was the only rabbit in his litter born without ears.

Farm spokesperson Caitlyn explained the thinking to SWNS. “Knowing one of our farmers crochets on the side, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to make Van Gogh feel more included with his siblings,” she said.

Ears with a bow under the chin

The farmer who made them also crochets as a side business. Yahoo Lifestyle reported that the business involves hair scrunchies.

The finished ears were fluffy and tied under his chin with a bow. In the TikTok clip, Van Gogh first appeared among his siblings with no ears, then showed up wearing the new pair. People described him scampering around his habitat with the ears flopping as he went.

The farm said the point was to let him join in. “We crocheted him some ears for fun, so he could experience what it was like having ears,” a farm spokesperson said, according to New Statesman, which credited Lancs Live for the quote.

Caitlyn told SWNS that the ears were not a permanent fixture. Van Gogh wears them “for a short time for fun, when farmers are there to supervise.”

A purely aesthetic issue

The farm has no idea why Van Gogh arrived without ears. “He was born earless, but we don’t really know why,” Caitlyn said.

The good news was that his hearing was fine. “Luckily, it hasn’t affected his hearing, so it’s a purely aesthetic issue,” she said.

Yahoo Lifestyle explained why that was plausible. Outer ears gather and direct sound, while the hearing itself happens in the inner ear. Wild rabbits use their ears to detect predators, so an earless rabbit could be at a disadvantage.

The name did not go unnoticed either. Extra Globo noted that he shares it with the Dutch painter.

The clip kept traveling long after the first round of coverage. By October 4, 2026, the farm’s TikTok video had more than 400,000 likes and nearly 3 million views, Metrópoles reported.