About Cavalcade of Cottontails

Cavalcade is run by me, Jessica Bielejewski and is located near Trenton, New Jersey. I began competing with Jersey Woolies at ARBA shows in 2000 after being a 4H member for quite some time, and am now an open exhibitor. I enjoy occasionally being a rabbit judge at 4H shows. As a youth, I was #1 a few times in NJWRC District 9 as well as for PaSRBA Jersey Wooly sweepstakes. I won the Pennsylvania State rabbit judging contest in 2005, my last year as a youth, and later that year competed with the Pennsylvania State Rabbit Judging Team at the Indianapolis ARBA Convention - we won 1st place out of all competing states! Once I'm done all of my schooling I hope to get a registrar's license and possibly one day become an ARBA judge.

I have had Jersey Woolies place in the top 5 at each of the 4 ARBA National Conventions I have attended, including a Best Colored Wool win and a BOSG Agouti (both in youth), and open BOG Self and Best of Breed with JB's Sandstorm at the 2007 Convention! I have won three Best 4 Classes and one Best In Show, all with homebred rabbits. Since starting college I haven't been able to focus as much on raising rabbits as I would like, but I still do a few breedings a year and try to attend all NJ shows and some eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland shows. My favorite Wooly varieties are REW and chocolate and I prefer the black Havanas.

I graduated cum laude from The College of New Jersey with a B.S. in Biology in May 2008! I am in the process of applying to dental schools for 2009 entry. The rabbits are unfortunately not a main focus at this point in my life. I will not be attending many shows in the upcoming year but will continue breeding Jersey Woolies. Once I have graduated dental school (which is a 4 year program plus 2-3 years for a residency) and have settled down, I hope to be able to be as active in the rabbit world as I was as a youth exhibitor.

I would like to thank Karen Procaccini, Cheryl Carey and Bunnie Turley for helping me get to where I am with rabbits. They have helped me out a lot, from helping me pick out my first show rabbit to lending me bucks (and does) to dragging me to convention as the designated driver ;) Rest In Peace Karen Procaccini, 3/24/2007. I have lost not only a wonderful mentor but a dear friend, and the rabbit world has lost an incredibly knowledgeable Wooly breeder. I owe a lot to her.

My main loves other than the rabbits are my loudmouths...

Shadow, a dusky conure hatched 2/3/04

Yoshi, a sun conure hatched 1/17/06

and Thunder, a blue crowned conure who was hatched in 1997.

I also have a 'slightly quieter' whitefaced cockatiel named Paulie. I have had him since 1996.

In addition to the feathered variety, I have a 3 foot long Russian Legless Lizard (aka a sheltopusik) named Homer, a Malaysian golden gecko, a viper gecko, and a Pacman frog. I have a Syrian hamster named Zorro, three pet mice, three fat fancy goldfish, and too many betta fish.