CASSOPOLIS — To the untrained eye, every rabbit at Wednesday’s Youth Rabbit Show looked just about the same — small, furry and cute.

But if you ask Brandywine freshman Paige Pomranka what makes a good rabbit, she’ll tell you there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.

“The judge is looking for rabbits with meat and muscle and good fur quality,” said Pomranka, whose rabbit was chosen Reserve Grand Market Fryer at the Cass County Fair.

It was Pomranka’s best finish in seven years of showing rabbits at the fair. She is a member of the Country Trailblazers 4-H Club.

Pomranka, of Niles, said her father would show rabbits and other animals at the fair when he was younger.

“Then, they started me showing, and I started to really like it. It’s fun working with the animals and getting to know them more than other people think,” she said.

Pomranka, 15, got her rabbit, Snow, in May. She said she brushed it just about every day and fed it high-quality food to help it fill out and get a nice fur coat.

“Snow’s a good rabbit, but feisty,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s hard to get Snow out of the cage.”

So what’s next for Snow? She’ll be up for auction at the end of the fair.

“If the buyer doesn’t want it, I have the option to keep it,” Pomranka said. “If the buyer wants it, they can keep it, breed it or use it for meat.”

Another Niles youth — 10-year-old Micah Samys — performed well at Wednesday’s rabbit show.

Samys was the champion beginner showman for the second year in a row. Not bad considering its just his second year showing rabbits.

Samys advanced to the overall rabbit showmanship competition, where he was bested by more experienced competitors, Monica Ward (grand champion) and Lila Blough (reserve grand). Ward is with Legacy 4-H and Blough is with Mechanicsburg 4-H.