Cliff Penrose, The Rabbit Hypnotiser

60-year-old Cliff Penrose can put even the hoppiest bunny in a trance, by using the mysterious art of hypnosis. Cliff needs just a few seconds to subdue a rabbit. After making a squeaking sounds, to attract the animal’s attention, Britain’s only rabbit whisperer applies some pressure and gives the rodent a little massage. Hypnosis is a mental state (state theory) or set of attitudes and beliefs (non-state theory) usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions. Hypnotic suggestions may be delivered by a hypnotist in the presence of the subject, or may be self-administered ("self-suggestion" or "autosuggestion"). The use of hypnotism for therapeutic purposes is referred to as "hypnotherapy". The words 'hypnosis' and 'hypnotism' both derive from the term "neuro-hypnotism" (nervous sleep) coined by the Scottish surgeon James Braid around 1841. Braid based his practice on that developed by Franz Mesmer and his followers ("Mesmerism" or "animal magnetism"), but differed in his theory as to how the procedure worked.