Mac and Mutley, Memory from 40 Years ago

I have done quite few videos for various news outlets, a game show, a talk show and few animal programs with my Angoras.   Most visible ones were done in the mid 2000 to mid 2010s.   However, the earliest one was done in 1986 but very few people today had seen it.   I have the tape/disc, I tried to upload it to our blog but was unsuccessful.  The video is 6 minutes long, too much for our blog.   I'll find a way to load it somewhere and will announce it when I have success.   I thought it'll interesting to show some screenshots here.

 

In the 1980s there was a popular animal program called "Mac and Mutley".  It's a syndicated show produced in the San Francisco Bay Area at CBS KPIX.

The 'Mac" is Doug McConnell and the Mutley is the pup.   Doug was known for his efforts on enviromental issues, "Bay Area Backroads" is one of his most well-known programs.   Doug passed away a month ago on January 13, 2026.    There were more than one "Mutley" for this program, pictured here was the first generation "Mutley".  

The Angora was featured on the "Mac and Mutley" show in 1986.

I was the fortunate one to be featured in the segment with my Angoras.   In the frame with me was Chu's Vanessa, the 1986 Angora National Best In Show winner.  

Some questioned why I would put on posts discussing the French Angora as I have been known to be the English Angora lover/breeder.   Look at me here with my French Angora in 1986!   I've had French Angora off and on for 40 years.  The English Angora was a continuous presence in my barn for 44 years but the French Angora was off an on.   At the current, I've had French Angora continuously since 2012, and that's not a short time, 14 years!  I pioneered the concept of non-molting genes and have been in the forefront of developing non-molting English Angora since 1985, and the concept of non-molting French Angora was picked up around 2008, I have a tiny part of promoting this development.
 

I was filmed spinning Angora wool in silhouette. 

In 1986, blower was not a part of the grooming tool, the English Angora had just started the journey of going non-molting, most were still "pluckable".   Here I was having an English Angora on my side plucking and spinning at the same time.    It was a popular way to do demos during the 1980s to have an Angora sitting on the side or on the lap then pluck and spin.   I wouldn’t be caught dead doing that today!

I was showing off my first Angora sweater from the wool of my white, fawn, lynx, tort, and black English Angoras.   Yes, I had all colors of English Angora at that time.   It took many years of selective breeding for the best type and wool to end up with my best English Angoras in White and Tort that occupy my barn today.

 

Happy Hoppy Valentine 2026

Hi, what are you doing?

We are in the love bucket.

We are speaking the love language.

We at the Northern California Angora Guild wish you a very 
Happy Hoppy Valentine's Day 2026.

 

Valentine Cactus Welcomes the Valentine's Day

Carolyn acquired the beautiful cactus and repotted it into the beautiful Asian theme pot. 

Some call these the Christmas Cactus....

Some call these the Thanksgiving Cactus....

Carolyn would like to call these the Valentine Cactus....
don't forget, Valentine's Day is tomorrow!

 

The French Angora Wool Texture, Part 2 The Matured Coat

 

This photo was taken in August 2021, Monique was 1-1/2 years old.   You can clearly see her guard hairs draping over the under coat.  

Here is another picture of Monique taken on the same day.

This is a photo taken in the shade to have a better view of the matured French Angora Monique's texture.   Guard hairs are clearly visible.  

Jump to December 2022 just before Christmas, Monique was 2-3/4 years old with a long matured coat, she was awarded an open all breed Best In Show.  

In June 2023, Monique was 3-1/2 years old, again coming back with a matured coat with lots of guard hairs and underwool, she was awarded a second Reserve In Show.   

In the same month at 3-1/2 years old in June 2023, Monique was crowned the specialty Best In Show.  Another month later in July 2023, Monique was again awarded the specialty Best In Show.
If I judge by the photos over the years, I'd say her best texture and wool combination peaked at 3-4 years old.   If I were asked about what the right French Angora texture, I'd use these two photos as examples of a an ideal French Angora matured texture.   

This photo was taken in May 2024, Monique was 4-1/4 years old, having been cut down upteen times, she is back with a full coat.  Visibly we can see that the guard hairs are more prominent.  The older the rabbit, the more guard hairs.   

This is Monique in Octoboer 2024.  At 4-3/4 years old, she again won an open all breed Best In Show!   Her coat is still great, but you can see there are lots of guard hairs on top of her underwool.  

Monique with her full coat in August 2025, she is 5-1/2 years old in this photo.   A bit too hairy, but still beautiful.  

 

This is Monique's most recent photo, taken in Feburary 2026.   Very hairy, I'd say too hairy to compete in shows.  At over 6 years old, she has retired from showing.    The purpose of the two posts from yesterday to today is to show that: (a) How a French Angora's wool texture progress,  (b) To understand that the texture will change as an animal ages,  (c) A good rabbit should be able to come back with many show coats to compete so that an enthusiastic show person would not have to continuously increase the number of rabbits, 

 

The French Angora Wool Texture, Part I The First Coat

Monique was born in January 2020.  This is a photo taken when she was around 5 months old with her first coat.

If you take a close look at the tips to search for the guard hairs, they look very fine and blend in with the wool.   The junior texture is not much different from the first coat of an English Angora.     

This photo of Monique was taken when she was 6-1/2 months old.   The color looks different because it's taken indoors with light enhencement.   Since our interest is the texture, take a close look at the tips.  They are still quite wooly and the guard hairs are still very fine.  

Monique at 8 months old, still in her first coat, the texture still resembles the English Angora texture.

Monique and her sister Simone were cut down at one year old.  Guess what happened next....
stay tuned for Monique's mature coat.

English Angora and French Angora Regrown Coats

French Angora Monique on the left and English Angora Princess Ga Ga on the right. 

Both are in their regrown coats.    It is common for the French Angora to be shown in their regrown coats but not so much for the English Angora.   Actually both breeds have similar first coat, soft and fine.   English Angoras are treasured to have soft and fine wool but French Angoras are faulted for soft and fine wool.   When the first coat of wool is cut down and the subsequent coats of wool come in, the English Angora would be faulted for having too many guard hairs while the French Angora would be considered as having a more correct texture.

Would you believe that the two breeds were the same breed?   Here is a page of ARBA Standard of Perfection (SOP) from 1934-1939.  This is believed to be the oldest SOP of the Angoras.  As you can see, there wasn't English or French Angora, there was just "Angora Woolers".  And as you can see, called the Angoras the "Woolers" was not an indication of not being of show quality at the time, it was the official name.  Today, calling an Angora a "Wooler" means it's good for spinning but not for showing, how things change.     One more observation that is worth noting, the 4 original colors listed in the SOP were White, Black, Blue and Fawn.   Fawn was the original and still the correct term for the color, and the name "fawn" is used in all scientific textbooks as the correct term, there was no such name as Orange except referring to the Netherland Dwarf breed.   

Why are we looking at this old history?  Why are two older French Angora and English Angora being shown in the photo?   Over the 40 plus years that I am in the wonderful world of Angoras, I answered many questions about the texutre of Angoras.   The English Angora texture seems to be very clear, breeders and judges are generally in agreement about what would be considered as ideal: fine, silky, soft, limited guard hairs, got crimps.      I have encountered many questions from judges saying,  "Exactly what is the correct French Angora texture?"  The SOP, current or past, is not very clear.  Breeders don't agree what texture is correct either.   I even heard judges said to me, "Betty, tell your national club to revise the SOP language, it's just not clear".   

My take of this matter is that the SOP language on English Angora texture is basically describing the first/virgin coat of wool; since there is only one first/virgin coat, it's hard to have inconsistencies.   The SOP language on French Angora is describing the regrown wool.  Why?  All animals, whether these are the rabbits, goats, llamas, alpacas, sheep ... or even human, have softier wool/hair when young.   The older the animals, the coarser the wool/hair.   The French Angora SOP requires a bit coarser texture than the English Angora texture.   The question becomes how much coarser?   We know the SOP does not want coarse wool per se but wants more guard hairs.    In my opinion, the degree of coarses-ness is determined by the age of the rabbit. Judges would see French Angora in different ages if the rabbit can come back with a complete coat for showing.   I am lucky to have a French Angora doe that is now 6 years old who can come back with complete coat year after year, Monique is her name and she is in the photo above.   I have unintentionally taken photos of her coats every year from 6 months old to over 6 years old.   I will post these photos tomorrow to show the different stages of her wool texture.   Which stage is the "correct" texture according to the SOP, that's subject to each person's interpretation.  It is, however, an interesting exercise and observation of the French Angora texture.

  

Autumn Beauty and Autumn Delight Growing

We have seen Autumn Beauty as holiday theme model several times.

Autumn Beauty is still a baby but is growing.

Brother Autumn Delight looks a bit smaller mainly due to his wool is a bit shorter.

Boys always tend to have a little shorter wool than the girls, isn't that the case in human too?

 

Angelica is a Little Fighter

Carol has a beautiful French Angora chestnut agouti doe named Angela who is very pretty and won a lot of BOB and several Reserve In Show.

Angela had 3 babies on October 6 but only one survived but she did not have any milk.  Carol had to go out of town, could not do tummy feeding so as a last resort, the little new born was put into a American Fuzzy Lop litter that was born 4 days earlier.  See how small it is comparing to the Fuzzy Lop babies. 

The little French Angora is small but managed to fight for her share milk from the Fuzzy Lop mama. 

Babies don't know that they are different breeds, they get along just fine.

On October 16, the Fuzzy Lop babies are ready to jump out of the nestbox, the little French Angora baby follows the foster siblings to explore the world outside the nestbox.

The fuzzy babies are ready to be weaned, though the little one still would like to nurse on mama, it follows the foster siblings.

The little one is no longer little and it's a girl!

Now at 4 months old, the little French Angora is no longer little, it's bigger than the foster sibling Fuzzy Lop that used to be a lot bigger.  

Her name is Angelica to honor her birth mother.  

The front view of Angelica the little beauty who is a mighty fighter.  In no time we'll be seeing Angelica starting her show career. 

 

Spring is in California!

 

While the majority of the country is still covered with ice and snow, Californis is enjoying an early spring.   Casey sends scenes in her yard, look at these pretty flowers and plants.