Leave It to Beaver Beaver and Henry (1957–1963) Online

A gopher has been eating the tops of June's flowers in the backyard so Ward and the boys set a trap. What is caught is not a gopher but a big, white rabbit, whom Beaver names "Henry." They make a cage for it and adopt it as a pet. "Henry," it seems is really "Henrietta" and within a day has six babies. Beaver discovers this first and thinks they are rats which got in the cage and are biting Henry. He's panicking, until told what the real story is.

That day, Ward warns Wally not to the touch any of the babies because the mother then would reject a baby that has human smell on it. Unfortunately, Beaver had just done that, as he and friend Larry Mondello notice one of the babies away from its mom. They pick it up and put it back with the other five. Wally then comes down and tells Beaver what their dad just told him.

Beaver, of course, doesn't tell Wally what he had just done. The Beav winds up going to the man who seems to everything: kindly old "Gus" at the fire department. Gus comes through, too, with a clever scheme to solve the problem.

Ward is ripping June's kitchen apart looking for string. Something is eating June's flowers; a gopher is suspected. Ward is building a trap to capture it alive. Wally sets the trap up and they have something: a rabbit.

When June sees the rabbit, she thinks it's cute and goes along with the boys; they can keep it as a pet. Now what to name it, they decide on Henry. June thinks Henry should be called Henrietta, and she is close to giving birth.

Beaver goes down to see the rabbit and makes a discovery, Henry has had a litter. Everything seems to be going well but Larry Mondello shows up and suggests Beaver give rabbits away. Ward tells Wally not to handle any of the rabbits or the mother will reject it. The problem is no one told Beaver and he picks one up at Larry Mondello's urging.

Wally tells Beaver not to touch a rabbit or Henry will let it die. Beaver has a problem but how to get an answer without anyone knowing what he wants an answer to. Wally says Eddie would like a rabbit but June isn't happy about that. Wally can understand, he thinks Eddie is a creep at times too.

Beaver goes to Gus for information. Gus suggests Beaver sprinkle a bit of talcum powder on the bunnies or maybe some vanilla extract on Henry's nose. June sniff out a problem, and Ward wants an answer. Beaver tells Ward he followed Gus' plan rather than tell Ward he screwed up. Ward is impressed but hopes Beaver will come to him more often for advice.

The boys have managed to find six people who are willing to take a rabbit. Beaver is still pondering why rabbits don't like their babies to smell like people. Wally figures people wouldn't like their babies if they smelled like rabbits.

Not a bad episode but not the most engaging one of the first year. But when Ward is attempting to explain Henry "nursing" her babies to Beaver, the look on Beaver's face is priceless as is his turn to Wally asking if Ward is right.

Beaver always had an affinity for animals, and a whole menagerie passed through the series over the years, including a horse, a monkey, a parrot, and a couple of cats, among others. I often think of "Beaver and Henry" (not to be confused with the infamous "Beaver, the Bunny" from Season 4) as the "Easter" episode of LITB because it's all about a family of bunny rabbits! The episode is similar in tone to the Season 2 "Beaver's Pigeons," in which Beaver took a trio of pigeons under his wing. This too is a sensitive and tender tale in which Beaver learns about animals, motherhood, and the mystery of life. It's similar in some ways to the children's tales of E.B. White. Larry has a nice, rather than trouble-making, role to play for a change. This is a sweet episode from when Beaver was at his most young and innocent.