Giant 39-foot rabbits ascended on Los Angeles this last weekend, taking up space in three lackluster Arts Brooksfield public spaces in downtown LA. Despite the excitement in imagining a quasi Godzilla-like rabbit roaming our city streets we regret to inform you that the bunnies are not real and are in fact art. They are part of a traveling public art installation called “Intrude” by Australian artist Amanda Parer. These larger-than-life rabbits have taken on a cult following and having already appeared in New York, San Francisco and Houston. We decided to stop by and walk to all three locations on opening day to see what the fuss was about.

We started at the FIGat7th location honestly not knowing what to expect. If you’ve never been to the FIGat7th know that it’s a shopping mall complete with an H&M, Zara and California Pizza Kitchen. Oh yes, and currently two giant inflatable rabbits. The crowd around us was made up of teenagers, children, tourists, locals and curious individuals—half who might have been there on purpose and half who were probably just shopping for new Chinos. The lack of inhibitions in selfie-taking was immediately identified as an art in and of itself. One man even showed up with his own giant carrot which he passed around the crowd so that everyone could take photos with it. I’m pretty sure a couple took an engagement photo in front of one—to each their own I suppose.

From there we walked to the next location 10 minutes down the street at the Wells Fargo Center. If you’re thinking this is a weirder place for the rabbits to land you are correct. Here we were met with a similarly sized crowd, 20 or so people, seemingly there on purpose and equally as enthused to pose in front of the inflatable creature in all sorts of inventive ways (see below). This location had a huge sign describing the installation and instructing the public to “approach gently.” Most did.

Right across the street at the Bank of America center was the final and most packed location drawing an enthusiast crowd and another sighting of the man with giant carrot who was joined by three other men for a “men-with-giant-carrot” photo. We spotted a couple who brought their own smaller bunny to take photos of because apparently the 39-footer just wasn’t cutting it. One kid audibly asked his parents if the city forgot to take down their Easter decorations…

In a press release Parer says: “I expect people will be drawn to the rabbits’ playful appearance, and I hope they will also take the time to understand the deeper meaning in the work and discuss how our actions impact the environment.” Can’t say for certain whether this crowd was thinking about the 1777 white Australian settlers and the way their rabbits have wreaked havoc on the nation’s ecosystem but our guess is they were mostly not. However almost everyone was gently interacting with the art, smiling, snapchatting and generally having a good time in an otherwise devoid of fun bank plaza. Public art for Instagram sake? It felt a little that way but maybe we’re just cynical. Apparently the rabbits light up at night (we heard there’s a silent disco party coming soon) but we didn’t stick around long enough to watch the day selfies turn into silhouettes although we’re sure it’s a completely different experience altogether. “Intrude” will only be on display until June 11 so hop on over this week and get your photo before it’s too late. Just remember it’s BYOCarrot.