I'm not sure how accurate Wikipedia is on this... but according to that this is the year of the "Metal" Rabbit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_%28zodiac%29As for Speedy & Polly's "Lightning Bolts", I think we'd just passed the year of the "Metal" Tiger.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_%28zodiac%29So I kinda agree with No Name, they're expressing their wild side of the cat family.

This makes me wonder... In Little Tokyo, would the Year of the Rabbit end up being a year long celebration geared towards the city's fair queen & princess?
Hmm... If so... What would it be like?