It's not the kind of story you hear every day (which is probably a good thing) and I would assume that this goes double in Idaho.  But maybe not?

(Reuters) - Police in Idaho Falls said on Tuesday they have told a 34-year-old man to stop wearing a bunny suit in public after residents complained that he has been frightening children.

Police warned Idaho Falls resident William Falkingham after a woman said she saw him dressed in the costume, peeking at her young son from behind a tree and pointing his finger like a gun, according to a police report.

An investigation of the sighting led officers to question other neighbors, "who expressed that they were greatly disturbed by Falkingham and his bunny suit," the report said.

Neighbors also reported that Falkingham occasionally wears a tutu with the bunny suit, police said in a statement.

Falkingham told police that while he "enjoys wearing the suit," he understood the concerns, and that he could be cited as a public nuisance for that type of behavior, Idaho Falls Police Department spokeswoman Joelyn Hansen said.

Falkingham could not be reached for comment.

Neighbor Deborah Colson defended Falkingham in a telephone interview with Reuters, saying he has an eccentric but otherwise harmless habit of dressing up in costume and making appearances on his own property.

"He's got the bunny outfit, a cowboy suit and a ballerina dress but you don't see him except where he's tripping through his backyard," she said.

Colson said she worried that news of Falkingham's at-home habits might make him a target of fear and scorn.

"He's never done anything wrong but wear his little suits in the background," she said. "He's got a strange lifestyle at home but we all do weird things at home. It makes me so sad: people don't even do anything and they get laughed at."

After I wiped the look of "holy shit" astonishment off my face, I simply had to take a moment to contemplate the many layers contained in this story. (Kudos to Laura Zuckereman, who wrote this piece for Reuters. The matter-of-fact tone plays very well against the bizarre facts.)

First there are the visuals.  A grown man in a bunny suit peeking out from behind a tree and pointing his finger - like a gun.  Yes, I think most people would be freaked out by this, especially the parents of young children. But I admit there is a part of me that would love to see something this surreal while out for my three-mile "power walk" around my oh-so-normal neighborhood. I feel like I sometimes need to be shocked out of my complacency - this would do the trick quite nicely. But the tutu just seems like gilding the lily to me.

Second, there is the psychology of Mr. Falkingham. What does his choice of costumes say about him? Why a bunny and not a squirrel? Why a cowboy and not a fireman? Is this a psychosexual drama he's playing out, or is he reenacting the 5th birthday party he always wanted, but never had? He seems to understand that his actions make other people uncomfortable, but he also seems to be at a loss to stop himself. Is he familiar with a group of people known as "furries", and would it be helpful to him to know he's not alone?

And finally there is the neighbor, Deborah Colson. On the one hand, I admire her open mind and her willingness to defend a man who most others would, at best, ignore or, at worst, revile. On the other hand, I hope that she isn't interviewed again in the future, after they've dug up several bodies from Falkingham's backyard, spouting that old familiar line, "But he always seemed like such a nice fellow."

Upon further research, I see that the ACLU has been alerted to the situation. Perhaps this will go all the way to the Supreme Court. Bunny v. Idaho. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?