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Most photos are thumbnails. Click on them to see a larger version.
Mr.
Hops Crosses the Rainbow Bridge - I lost my big, beautiful,
white house bunny today, Mr. Hops (aka “Hopper Bopper”). He went to
the vet on Tuesday because I noticed he wasn’t eating that morning
and was sitting hunched up. Hops loved to graze on his hay so I
knew something was very wrong. He was fine the night before. I was
fortunate to get him into an experienced rabbit vet since my regular
rabbit vet was out. The vet diagnosed GI Stasis. She started
treatment and by evening he was doing better and eating some
hay. His symptoms were diminishing. I checked him at noon today and
I realized he wasn’t out of danger. When I came home tonight I
noticed his best buddy, Mr. Bumble grooming him like crazy and Hops
was flopped on his side. Hops had not been able to flop on his side
since he had a seizure 8 years ago when I first rescued him. I knew
then that he was gone.
Mr.
Hops befriended Bumble my little crippled 10 year old lop rabbit and
spent hours grooming him and cuddling up next to him.
Hops could intimidate cats. He jumped over them, turned 180 degrees
and lunged at them grunting. He never met a vacuum cleaner that he
feared. Once when I came too close with a hand vacuum before he was
neutered, he took aim and sprayed my head. No apology. However,
after he was fixed Hops would sit quietly beside me and grind his
teeth in his bunny purr when he was happy which was often. He would
wake me up by throwing his toys especially when I slept in on the
weekends. When I’d come home from work he would do a happy head
shake and hop to see me at the fence of his pen. He was a Lavender
Point Californian Breed Rabbit who loved pets and kisses on his
forehead most of all. After Hops was rehabilitated completely about
a year or so after his rescue he wasn’t sick until this past Tuesday
– almost 7 years later. I will miss him.
Hop's
Story
“My
heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.”
Watership Down
August
5, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. - Letter Opening Stars -
A
rabbit named Texx might need a publicist now. The video of the
1-year-old dwarf rabbit opening an envelope with his teeth has
generated close to a million views on YouTube. The rabbit’s human is
a young woman who is a 27 year old graduate of MIT. She took the
video of her bunny chewing the side of the envelope of her Chase
credit card bill in November 2007. She said her bunny Texx had a
thing for eating paper. In fact, he once ate her homework. “I just
decided to videotape him because it was just so funny,” After a few
months, the head of Plankton Productions, company that operates
bestofyoutube.com,
featured the video on its web site. As of Monday, the video has
generated over 800,000 views and counting. Watch it at:
MIT Bunny Letter Opener.
Of course, rabbits love paper and there are some cute “copy rabbits”
such as
Dutch Rabbit Open Letters, Too
and
My bunny Can Open letters.
If
you want to see a talented card chewing rabbit watch:
A Very Talented Bunny
– Rabbit &
Cats Play Cards
46
Rabbits Rescued - The Buffalo News reported late last week that
46 rabbits were pulled from “a dilapidated ‘hutch’ in a yard outside
a dangerously cluttered house" in Newstead, NY (that’s near
Buffalo). The rabbits were stained with filth and badly infested
with ear mites. One had a broken leg. Fortunately, an anonymous
caller tipped off the SPCA about rabbits and other animals “living
in squalid conditions on the property.” The SPCA officer went to
the house the same day and was concerned when she saw the condition
of the house and the backyard. She went back to get a search warrant
and returned Wednesday with more officers. All of the animals were
taken to the SPCA where a team of vets were waiting for them. The
SPCA learned that the couple and their three children were on
vacation. Conditions were so bad inside the house he SPCA also
notified housing authorities and Child Protective Services.
You
Know It’s a Slow News Day When . . . a fiery red cardinal is
featured in the local paper making a fuss over a rabbit. The
bird saw a cottontail attempting to move in on his food. I have
squirrel, wild bird and cottontail squabbles outside my back door
quite often. The squirrel always wins.
Hare
Raising Escape -
In Dekalb County, Georgia a family was trapped by spreading fire in
their second story apartment. They tossed out mattresses and then
dropped their children on to the soft landings. I have to give one
father a lot of credit for not only saving his children, but for
also tossing out two pet birds and the family’s pet rabbit to the
mattresses. The parents then jumped out themselves. Pets and
people were all fine after their daring escape.
Mix
It Up – Ming Tong is a designer who makes home appliances fun
and even seem a little frivolous. Look at this RabMixer. It’s cute
instead of modern stainless. It comes in other colors, too. I
don’t bake enough cakes to buy one just for fun. (I wonder if Amy
Sedaris could use one for her cupcake business.) It doesn’t seem to
be available online or local retailers yet. But I like it – carrot
cake, anyone?
Designer:
Ming Tong
Buried
Bunnies Saved in UK – a bunch of folks came together in a
community in Cumberland to save some kits when they popped out of a
load of chippings being delivered by a landscape company. The little
European rabbits poked through the ruble and people started hopping
to their aid. They carefully dug out four kits. Volunteers cleaned
them up and they started to liven up. The rabbits were small enough
to fit in the palm of a hand. They went to a wildlife rehabilitator
who will release them when they are old enough. All were thriving.
One volunteer on hearing the hoppy ending said, “That’s brilliant
news. “Isn’t life fantastic when you can help.”
Orange
Isn’t Necessarily an Alert – I get one or two emails a week from
people new to pet rabbits. They are frantic about orange or reddish
urine. (I was, too, with my first rabbit.) After asking them about
diet, the color can be accounted for by something like carrots in
the diet. A rabbit’s urine can vary from yellow to orange to brown
to red. It depends on diet, hydration and even medications. Blood
in urine is rare and is an emergency. The color of urine I am most
concerned about in my house is white, “sludgy” urine. This is due
to excess calcium in the diet and the urine can sometimes look like
it is “sandy.” If kidney stones develop, it can mean surgery. It is
certainly painful for a rabbit. My sister, Bonnie, administers
fluids to her senior Netherland Dwarf (9 years old) twice a week for
this reason. For excellent reading on the subject see these
articles:
Aging Bunny, Aging Bladder
on
the New York House Rabbit Society Chapter website and these two
articles on the
House Rabbit Society
website:
Bladder Disease and Bladder Disease in the Rabbit
and
Red Urine: Blood or Plant Pigment
Update: Bumble Bunny is better, but he's headed to the
vet tomorrow just in case.
August
3, 2008 - Bunny Blog will be updated evening of August 5th.
My 10 year old lop bunny, Bumble, is ill and he is taking all of
my attention. He's a tough little guy, but he's up there in years
for a rabbit. His best bunny buddy, Mr. Hops, hasn't left his side.
July
28, 2008 - Noon - Happy Birthday Beatrix Potter!
Today is the
Beatrix Potter’s birthday – she would have been 142 years old. I
have always admired Beatrix Potter because even though she was the
creator of wonderfully illustrated children’s stories, she was
talented in many other ways. Despite growing up as a daughter in a
Victorian era family she was an artist and writer, and known as a
gifted natural scientist and botanical illustrator. In her later
years she bought farmlands and became a sheep expert. She was also a
conservationist and left her lands in a national trust.
But
most of all Beatrix loved animals and the 'real' Peter Rabbit who
was a Belgian buck rabbit she called Peter Piper. She said of Peter
that he was 'bought at a very tender age, in the Uxbridge Road,
Shepherd's Bush, for the exorbitant sum of 4/6'. This little rabbit
she called her 'affectionate companion' gave his first name to one
of the world's best-loved fictional characters. (Rabbit illustration
on left is her drawing of the "real" Peter Rabbit.)
July
27, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. -
"My
Rabit Hoppy" is a short film shot in a Melbourne backyard for a
few hundred dollars and starring the filmmaker's children and their
pet rabbit was in the running for one of the Cannes Film Festivals
top prizes earlier this summer.
My Rabit Hoppy
was the creation of Oscar-nominated director Anthony Lucas and was
among nine contenders for the coveted short film Palme d'Or (Golden
Palm). The film tells the tale of a school project that turns
horribly wrong. Lucas's wife, Julia, produced the movie and their
children, Henry, 8, and Peggy, 6, acted in it alongside co-star
Hoppy. Lucas said this about Hoppy, "It's funny because I never
wanted the rabbit but the wife and kids wanted a pet rabbit because
they're all doe-eyed, but I knew I'd end up being the one to look
after it all the time," he said.
Benny’s From Heaven:
I loved the first person article in the Columbus Dispatch by Kathy
Soukup about her rabbit "Benny." Turns out Benny was a girl bunny
who Kathy had spayed. Benny was destined for her basement to
live, but never made it past the kitchen where she lives in a large
pen. Read Kathy’s article at the link above. I could relate to
Kathy’s statement about shopping for fresh veggies at the
supermarket – “I
shop often for the freshest produce; the supermarket thinks I have a
wonderfully correct diet. And, in fact, I am starting to incorporate
some Benny food into my eating.” Hopperhome agrees that having a
rabbit companion is better for your health in more ways than one!
German
Police Take “Bunny Murders” Very Seriously
- The victims have names
like Rocco, Fussel, Marianne and Fluffy. They are the “bunny
murders” — 40 domestic rabbits all killed at night in their hutches
in the Ruhr Valley area of Germany. If the killing of rabbits isn’t
enough, now police are concerned “that whoever is killing rabbits
may go on to kill humans.” “Sadists often begin with violence
against animals,” said Mark Benecke, a criminal psychologist who has
been advising the police since the killings began last year. The
German police are dedicated to finding the criminal responsible.
About 300 breeders have been interviewed. The assumption is that the
killer is male and computer-literate because he seems to have
identified houses with backyard rabbit hutches by using Google
Earth. They think he is most likely living locally. Rabbits in the
Ruhr Valley are bred for competition and some as pets. Now breeders
are bringing their rabbits indoors and/or installing alarm systems.
Jumping
on the Bed & Other Bunny Fun from YouTube - Louise from Arkansas
sent me this link
Arkansas Bunny
Rabbit Rescue 2008
that recorded
a couple of good old boys rescuing a cottontail rabbit during the
flooding earlier this year. The bunny is stranded, captured
(without a lot of finesse), but taken to dry land. The rabbit does
decide to jump ship and swim the last few feet to shore. After all,
it is a wild rabbit and the stress of the rescue itself was probably
enough for one day. Also, once I get to YouTube, it’s hard to leave
and all of a sudden I found myself watching “binky videos” of happy
pet rabbits. Some of my favorites were the multitude of rabbits in
the
HRS Binki Movie,
two videos that share the name “ultimate" in their titles
Ultimate Binky Movie,
The Ultimate Binky.
There is a happy, athletic
bunny featured in
The Bunny Olympics.
Of several videos which
show rabbits jumping on human beds, I liked this one -
Even
bunnies like to jump on the bed.
Bernie
Dancing on Lucy
shows a rabbit dancing on a poor dog who really doesn’t understand
what all the fuss is about.
July
24, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - Rabbit Hero Hops to Rescue – a rabbit
simply named “Rabbit” was all over the news today touted as a hero
in Melbourne, Australia. A beautiful black rabbit saved the lives of
an Australian couple from a fire that was burning in their house as
they slept according to the Times. Rabbit awoke his owners by
thumping loudly in his cage as smoke poured through the house.
The blaze spread fast and destroyed part of the house and roof. But
Rabbit saved the humans (and himself) just in time. Rabbit is
normally allowed to roam the house freely except at night when he is
in his cage. The fire commander said Rabbit had been responsible for
rescuing Mr. and Mrs. Finn. "The rabbit saved the couple from
injury," he said. Pictured above are Mrs. Finn and
her hero - Rabbit. See CNN video:
Bunny saves couple from fire
Lucky Bunnies Hop to a new life in Massachusetts at the
Lowell Humane Society.
Some good Samaritans rescued a total of eight
rabbits (most New Zealands) at an interstate intersection near
Littleton, MA. They were dumped by three people and six of the
rabbits have survived their ordeal. These stories of rabbit
abandonment are heartbreaking, but there are always kind people who
hop to help these rabbits. I read it every day in my research for
the Bunny Blog.
Rabbit
Doll - Ted Sato was inspired by the pretty bento box food art on
the Bunny Blog Tuesday and sent me this photo of a Usagi-doshi
Kokeshi, a year of the rabbit doll he bought for his daughter who
was born in 1999. The dolls are given for birthdays, and other
holidays and for good luck in Japan. The next Year of the Rabbit is
in 2011 just two years away. (Other past rabbit years are: 1927,
1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987) You can find the
Kodeshi Dolls at Japanese Shop
online.
It's Just Fine - in the UK a father
was fined for kids neglecting pet rabbits – Julian (a bunny
lover from London) sent me an article about a fellow who was
prosecuted by the RSPCA because his four children neglected their
pet bunnies. The dad said the children “`nagged and nagged' him for
pets until he `gave in'. So he bought Fasty, Bubbles and Squeak and
installed them in a wooden rabbit hutch in their garden. The kids
lost interest shortly thereafter. A neighbor tipped off the RSPCA
that one rabbit had died and the others were in dirty hutches and
malnourished. The father said: "I would urge all parents to make
sure their children keep on top of their duties. My children nagged
and nagged me for pets and I gave in. Then I find myself in court.”
He also paid a fine of 500 pounds. The rabbits were seized and will
be adopted out to another home.
24
Carrot Rabbits – Last month the ASPCA released their list of the
cost of caring for various pets. Keeping rabbits as your companions
is more expensive this year. Dr. Katherine Miller, assistant
science advisor for the ASPCA and chief author of this year’s
listing, said not everyone is aware of the equipment a rabbit needs,
such as a large cage or pen, toys to keep its teeth healthy, a
litter box, bedding and abundant hay in addition to other food such
as pellets. She said “Rabbit food is a bit more expensive than cat
food.” Annual care for a rabbit was estimated at $730 while a cat
was $670. Miller stressed that although the figures released are
estimates, they are not “guesstimates.” “I think the estimates are
very solid this year,” she said. “It is a scientific process.” Any
bunny knows the price of hay has gone up and so have veggies for
those of us who feed their bunnies fresh salad.
July
22, 2008 - 8:00 p.m. - “Hi,
bunny, You're Home”
- There was a great article and video about a new chapter of
Rabbit Rescue Started by Patti Brant and Liz Ober in Daytona Beach.
(The original group is based in
Gainesville.)
They were motivated to help after seeing a growing number of rabbits
ending up at the Halifax Humane Society, where they volunteer. A
pure white bunny named Snoopy was featured in the article. It seems
“not long ago, Snoopy was anything but pampered and loved. His
owners foreclosed on their house and pet. When rescued, Snoopy's
nails were 3 inches long and his collar was tightening like a vise
around his neck.” Snoopy was left to die, but now he has a
forever home with Liz Ober. (Snowball with Patti Brant above.)
Kathy
Finelli who is the program director for Rabbit Rescue in Gainesville
explained the difference in having a rabbit in the home. Also,
there is a great
Video about Rabbit Rescue accompanying the
article.
Bunderful
20 Year Celebrations - The
House Rabbit Society continues to
celebrate their 20th Anniversary with events around the
United States. Several events are listed at their home webpage link
above. Also, while you’re at it see the video
made by Rabbit Bites to commemorate the
HRS 20th Anniversary and then go read Best Friends
wishes House Rabbit Society a Happy 20th Birthday!
Hoppy
Endings
- The Pittsburgh Tribune Review wrote about Wendy Weir who “was
scared and confused in her new surroundings. She couldn't find food
or shelter. She was dehydrated and sick with diseases from the more
than 15 ticks that latched onto her skin.” Wendy is a young Mini Rex
rabbit and at the time she was alone and slowly dying in the
Greenwood Cemetery in O'Hara. Fortunately, Wendy was rescued by Mary
Cvetan founder of the
Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club
Wendy the rabbit was named after
the Weir
family, who maintains the cemetery grounds.
The Rex rabbit had to have “parts of her thick, jet-black coat of
velvety fur shaved to remove the ticks” But according to Mary,
“"She would live on my lap if I let her," She has hopes that when
Wendy’s health is back to normal she will find a family and have a
permanent indoor home. I like Mary’s last thought in the article:
"There's a lot of houses out there that need bunnies in them." (Mary
and Wendy are pictured above.)
Hopping Around the Web
–
Dora-Marie’s Flickr Web Page has the most
“hare”larious and sweet video of her female rabbit Noisette who
enjoys napping with her male cat Tigger. See the video at the link
above. Crafty Rabbits: I am amazed at some of the creative
crafts with rabbit themes at Esty like a
Pink Bunny Mini Clutch Look closely at the
design when you visit the website. That is definitely a rabbit in
the pink design. Are you absolutely knitty about rabbits – it seems
Nanette Blanchard is and she has a pattern for Rabbit Finger Puppets
on her
Knitting in Color Blog. She has
used this pattern to make puppets for the
Colorado House Rabbit Society
shelter to sell in their gift shop.
See some
adorable pet rabbits ready for adoption in Albuquerque, visit her
other web site
Four Corners Bunnies .
Play with Your Bunny Food
- Hiroko sent this wonderful photo of how she and her friends
celebrate usagi (rabbits) in Japan. Not as food, but as foodie art!
So get out your kitchen utensils and see if you can recreate this
work of art!

April
29, 2008 - 9:45 p.m. - Update on
Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Rehome
& ZooToo – They
deserve big bunny Congratulations for placing sixth in
Zootoo's
million-dollar shelter makeover contest! It was a dramatic 11th
hour effort and rabbit fans from all over the country supported
them. They had dropped out of the top 20, to 21, but gained close
to 900 new members over the final weekend and soared into sixth
place. Midwest Rabbit Rescue & Rehome is the only rescue
specifically for rabbits that competed. They will receive $5,000
for their rescue makeover. The rabbits are the real winners here!
The 20 finalists will be presented at the
HSUS's Animal Care Expo in Orlando on May 15th. (Foxy pictured
above is one of the rescue's handsome rabbits ready for a new home.)
Poster
Rabbits in Singapore – Linda (mom to Muppet the rabbit) from Los
Angeles emailed me two posters shown here after her trip to visit a
friend in Singapore. She thought the "shelf rabbit" poster was from
a 2006 campaign by the Singapore Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority.
There were several posters made with "shelved" dog, cat, rodents and
the one shown below featuring a rabbit. The other poster showing a
child in a bunny suit crying in a hallway is
a
campaign against abandoning pets. It’s a pretty powerful message.
A chapter of the House Rabbit Society is located in Singapore and
you can visit their website at:
Singapore House Rabbit
Society Click on the photos to see larger versions.
And
while we're talking about exotic places - Visit the Flickr web page
by
RosyBunny
in
Hong Kong. The photos are fantastic. RosyBunny is
mom to several bunnies and is a member and educator of the
House Rabbit Society. She also authored a
Chinese book on rabbit care, "家有寶貝兔", published by
Wan Li Book Co.
April
28, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. -
Rabbits Short on Space -Friends of Rabbits, located in
Maryland, D.C., and Northern, VA are in urgent need of fosters! The
Montgomery County Humane Society is overwhelmed right now in their
small animal room. They are overflowing with guinea pigs and
hamsters so the bunnies are being moved to a back room (yikes!). If
you can help, call Lori at
301-725-7505. Or visit the website for more contacts at
Friends of
Rabbits That's
Bandit above who is just one of many amazing rabbits available for
adoption with Friends of Rabbits.
Bunnies Past Their
Prime – I have two bunnies one over 9 and the other 8 years old
(see pic) and my sister, Bonnie has two rabbits pushing 10 years
old. Unfortunately, older rabbits are often passed by for
adoption. A story I read about Bongo last week in
the
Wall Street Journal has a good ending for one senior rabbit. It
seems Bongo was in an animal shelter in rural Pennsylvania that
reached rabbit overload and after a fight with another rabbit he
lost a piece of his ear. He ended up at the
Animal Friends
shelter in the Pittsburgh area. Then a group called the “Red Collar
Society” stepped in to help. It’s a a society for people who adopt
older pets, which means dogs more than five years old and cats over
six. The article said “rabbits are considered old at three.” The
Red Collar Society appears to be effective since it was formed last
April, more than 300 older cats, dogs and rabbits have been adopted
from the shelter.
An older man
adopted Bongo who he considers to be a rakish rabbit -- "tough,
aggressive and independent, like a one-legged pirate." The
gentleman’s first rabbit passed away and he missed his bunny.
Red Collar members
can attend monthly programs on bonding and estate planning. Bongo’s
new human has arranged for Bongo to be taken care of by Animal
Friends if the rabbit outlives him.
Rabbits
in the Moon: Rabbits
in Asian myths are common particularly in China, Japan and Korea.
The Chinese rabbit moon goddess was mentioned in the conversation
between Houston Capcom and Apollo 11 crew just before the first moon
landing:
Houston: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this
morning there's one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a
big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called
Chang-o has been living there for 4000 years. It seems she was
banished to the moon because she stole the pill for immortality from
her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese
rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is only standing on his hind
feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not
recorded.
Collins:
Okay, we'll keep a close eye for the bunny girl.
In 2007, China launched its first lunar probe, named
Chang'e 1
(Chinese:
嫦娥一号;
pinyin: Cháng'é Yī Hào) in the rabbit goddess's honour.
Bunny
Lune is a book I happened upon at the bookstore last week.
(Clarion Books) Author Kae Nishimura has written a fanciful book
offering beautiful art and an original story. A big-city
rabbit named Bunny Lune wants more than anything to go to the moon.
His friend Pyonko has told him about the Japanese tradition that
rabbits live there. It's for young children and you can find it
online at major book sellers.
Child’s
Play - Students at a Danville, Indiana Middle School learn
about animal anatomy and behavior, from a language teacher arts who
knows his way around pets. In describing the Dutch bunny visitors
that day, the teacher told a group of middle-schoolers: "They've
been handled a little, but you have to be careful and always support
them.
If they get frightened, they'll kick." It’s all part of an
enrichment activities program during a new "flex" period.
Educators hope activities like these engage kids, motivate them to
do better, enjoy academics more and help them discover new interests
and explore career paths. (We could certainly use more
Rabbit Rescuers or rabbit veterinarians.)
Blogging about Bunnies -
After
my own absence from blogging the last couple of weeks (life got way
too busy), I missed my daily rabbit research. Since I started
blogging over two years ago, blogs about bunnies have exploded onto
the scene especially in the last six months. I list over 50
blogs about rabbits on my
Jump
to Links web page and I still can't keep up with all the new
rabbit blogs creating lots of bunspace out there. Here are a
few I discovered recently:
The Life and Times of Bunnies
– Gus and Betsy make up all the bunderful fun on this blog. The
video from April 28th is cute, but the April 15th
blog entry “The Destruction of Betsy” is accompanied by a photo that
says it all.
Ruth
over at
The Bunny Gardener
combines two of my favorite activities, gardening and rabbits. I
love the photos of the garden and her entries like the one on April
14th called “How Much Garden Does It Take To Feed Two
Bunnies?!!”
I also enjoy reading
A Houseful of Rabbits
which
is all about “one
house 2 people and 11 rabbits. I want to know how they find the
time to blog.
April
7, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. - Whimsical Rabbits - who
would have thought rabbits live under “marshmallow trees.” Scroll
down the page at the following link to see
whimsical rabbit paintings by Kristiana
Parn. And, if you have ever wondered how to make a rug in a bunny
shape, then go to
Bunny Rug on Makezine Blog. Plus, the
handmade craft website, Etsy.com has several leftover bunnies from
Easter like this
Handmade Blue Felt Bunny.
Good B unny
Book Finds for Kids - It doesn’t matter what season it is for
Anna Dewdney's Nobunny's Perfect dedicated to
Beatrice Potter,
"who knew bad bunny behavior when she saw it."
Three young rabbits "mostly do the things they should," but when sad
or mad, they can, in a flash, turn seriously bad. The author seems
to adore the "rude rabbits" as well as ones who are "polite and kind
and true." (This is a lot like bunny fanatics – guilty here.) Along
the same lines is Franny Billingsley’s Big Bad Bunny. It’s
all about
Baby Boo-Boo creating the persona of Big Bad Bunny to get some
respect from her family.
Clare
Turlay Newberry's Marshmallow, is an award winning book from
the 1940's and was recently reissued in a revised edition by
HarperCollins. Oliver, a fat, spoiled tabby cat, and Marshmallow, a
newly arrived baby rabbit who manages to convince the hoity-toity
Oliver that he's really a kitten and well worth adopting. Visit
Barnes and Noble online or your local bookstore to find these
books.
Speaking
of Beatrice Potter, my sister gave me a book for Easter,
Beatrix Potter: A Journal
(thank you Bonnie).
This lavish, illustrated journal describes Beatrix Potter’s life as
a young woman in Victorian England as she struggled to achieve
independence and to find artistic success. Using commentary taken
from Beatrix’s own diaries, the journal features watercolor
paintings, sketches, photographs, letters and period memorabilia to
recreate the world in which she lived.
All
Ears -
My lop rabbit, Mr. Bumble, developed an ear
infection a month ago without overt symptoms. He was sneezing
a little which prompted me to take him to the vet. Both Bumble and I
are lucky since this is his first ear infection at the ripe old age
of 9 ½ years. (His lungs were clear). All breeds of lop rabbits are
prone to chronic ear infections. Their ear canals can be very
narrow and deformed. The floppy ears covering the ear canal make a
great environment for bacteria to multiple. Any excess wax debris
gets lodged in the ear and it’s an infection just waiting to
happen. Mr. Bumble’s ear cleaning scheduled has been stepped up to
once a week now that he has recovered from the infection. If you
have a lop breed of rabbit, please check their ears weekly and ask
your vet how to clean their ears. Pictured above is a beautiful
English Lop I found sitting regally in the “Bunny Building” at a
county fair last year.
The
Bunny Rescue of Nashville, Tennessee was
featured in The Daily Herald newspaper. Laurie Montgomery was
interviewed for the article. “Montgomery said educating owners is
Bunny Rescue's primary goal. "Every time I get a call from an owner
wanting to dump the rabbit here, I try to talk them out of it," she
said. "Most of the problems they have can be solved with a 10-minute
conversation." Bunny Rescue takes in rabbits from across Middle
Tennessee, including the Maury County Animal Shelter, where they're
often taken after being abandoned in outdoors. Visit their website
above to see all the good work they do for rabbits. Visit their
adoptables web page to view photos of all their wonderful rabbits
like Vivian pictured above.
After
Easter Rabbit Care – There have been several articles in
newspapers online since Easter about how to take care of that new
“Easter Bunny.” The Sacramento Bee published a long and detailed
article in their newspaper covering most of the important issues of
proper care from diet to housing. They also gave the House Rabbit
Society (www.rabbit.org)
a well deserved compliment when they said it is the best site on the
internet for pet rabbit information. Hopperhome agrees. I refer
people who email me for in depth pet bunny information to the HRS
website all the time. They have a truly comprehensive bunny
“knowledge base" online thanks to their founders and hundreds of
volunteers.
Acts
of Kindness in Scotland - some
very kind people rescued a dumped pet bunny in the UK recently found
in rubbish and trash bins. The rabbit was abandoned in a white and
blue bag with a bag of food. The little rabbit (pictured above on
the right) was taken to Inverclyde Animal Rescue in Scotland near
where it was found. As the animal rescue representative said “She
is only about 14 weeks old and is a lovely wee thing.” Indeed, she
is.
Pipsqueak Rabbit Ancestor – If you
haven’t heard, archeologists discovered the tiny bones of a 53
million-year-old hamster-size bunny ancestor. The ankle bone, top,
and heel bone of the oldest found rabbit relative have features that
resemble modern-day bunnies and allow them to hop. This amazing find
was discovered in a coal mine in Gujarat, in west-central India. It
sounds like this half pound ancient ancestor was a lot like pikas
who are hamster-sized rabbit cousins. But Pikas don’t actually hop
and so he was more rabbit, and quite a hopper. The bones were found
embedded in material deposited in land once covered with swamps and
bays, suggesting the rabbit was a near shore dweller (in other
words, the first beach bunny).
Bunny
Blog will be updated Monday evening, April 7th because of website maintenance due to
technical issues. I do all my own website maintenance and
sometimes the problems multiply like rabbits.
March
26, 2008 - 10:00 p.m. -
Bunnies Survive a Close Call -
Two
beautiful
pet rabbits from Auckland, NZ survived a close shave when their
outdoor hutch was set on fire. The family discovered newspaper
ashes and burn marks around their rabbit hutch on the day after
Easter. The rabbits, Bert and Snowy, were unharmed, but Bert’s
whiskers were singed. The family is very upset since it would have
been their 11 year old daughter who would have found her rabbits
destroyed had the hutch actually caught fire. This isn’t the first
time the family say there has been an intrusion. A few months ago
they found the hutch open and Snowy and Bert running around the
yard. Time to make those rabbits house rabbits! (Snowy
pictured above.)
Hopping
to a Different Drummer
– Last week among the articles on the perils of buying a live Easter
rabbit on impulse, the Akron
Beacon Journal did a terrific profile on a house rabbit living with
a couple in their apartment. The Schwietzers adopted Matilda from
the Columbus House Rabbit Society about a year ago. The article
made the point that
rabbits are not cats and dogs and their owners must be properly
equipped and prepared to meet their needs including finding a rabbit
vet, feeding the rabbit properly, and learning rabbit
psychology.
"She's been such a joy in our lives,"
said Susan Schwietzer. "Rabbits do so many different things all the
time. She's our baby. ... Just looking at her cheers me up." The
Schwietzers gave the reporter a tour of their living room: Not an
electric cord in sight.
Matilda is not "spoiled"; she's "indulged," said Ryan Schwietzer.
Once you scratch the surface, rabbit fever goes deep, say the
Schweitzers.
Make
Mine Earl Grey
- I love this photo of “Earl Grey” being tempted with a piece of
lettuce last week at the
Northeastern Satellite of the Colorado House Rabbit Society in
Greeley. The Rabbit Resource Center has five rabbits for adoption,
and also has supplies and provides education about rabbits. The Greely
Tribune wrote a nice piece on the chapter and their resource center
manager,
Debby Schmidt. (That is a very intent lagomorph.)
And speaking of lettuce . . .
Lettuce
All Visit
Brooklyn Bunny
They sell several imaginative products on their
website with the proceeds benefiting very worthwhile
causes. I had a good laugh over the Brooklyn Bunny
Lettuce Home Perfume Spray. They approached
a Brooklyn-based perfumer,
Christopher Brosius about designing a custom room
spray for their pet project, and he said, "What about
lettuce?" Wow! They did it – you can buy the Lettuce
Room Spray which they describe as a light and sweet
scent as if you were cracking a head of crisp, fresh
lettuce in your hands (supplies are limited). This
water-based room spray can also be worn as perfume! My
two male rabbits are already enamored with me so I doubt
I will go that route. But, I’m thinking it might come
in handy to freshen the room when one of my geriatric
rabbits forgets to eat his cecotrophes!
Biggest
Bunny - I want to know who goes around measuring big rabbits so
once a year they can proclaim someone has the biggest rabbit in the
universe. It's bizarre. Anyway, I digress . . Amy, a
Continental Giant breed rabbit, is 4 ft. long and 3 stone (around 35
lbs.) Her bonded mate is Roberto who previously held the
heavyweight title. Last year their owner had the big bunnies "marry"
in a ceremony probably only enjoyed by humans.
I actually agree with a Continental Giant breeder who said in the
Daily Mail newspaper, "It's a load of rubbish." He and his
wife, Sue, bred 28 lb. Dancer - also once said to be the biggest
rabbit in the world, but Wayne says that anything heavier is not
naturally big, but simply an obese pet. "it's probably just a
big, fat rabbit. If so, it would be cruel. Like
anything, when you're overweight it causes problems," he says.
Another article noted that Amy is fed “two apples, a handful of
carrots, half a cabbage, fresh hay, and a dog-sized dish of rabbit
mix every day.
Of course, Amy and Roberto
have been busily breeding at their home in Worcester (UK), and their
owner is confident that one of their 32 offspring will turn out even
larger. It is interesting to note that the
Guinness Book of Records no longer logs amazing animals because
owners were force-feeding their large pets to obesity.
Hopping Mad About
Hairless Rabbits -
A professor of animal and wildlife science and director of
the Texas A&M’s Rabbit Research Program, is now breeding furless
rabbits so they can provide “a solid and sustainable food source for
developing nations in warm, tropical climates where other rabbits
would have difficulty surviving.”
Underestimating the capacity of humans to have compassion for
animals under any circumstance, there is another purpose behind the
rabbit’s unnatural appearance according to Professor Lukefahr.
Quoting his statement in the newspaper article: "Many Americans get
all emotional about when it comes to eating cute, cuddly rabbits,"
he said. "They've got a face only a mother could love."
The professor has apparently never met a rabbit lover before. (He
probably has never heard of Sphynx cats who are hairless and adored
by cat lovers or the Mexican Hairless or Chinese Crested dogs.)
Appearance is inconsequential. In my opinion, there are many, many
things fundamentally wrong with the entire program of even breeding
these rabbits.
Japanese Rabbit Cozy - a Bunny Blog reader, Joann, sent this
photo of two rabbits relaxing in their very cute home in Japan.
She made one for her own rabbits in an afternoon on her sewing
machine and reports that her rabbits shredded it in record time.
Joann said she had less mess since she skipped putting shag carpet
under her version. She also wanted to know why Japanese
rabbits are so well-behaved.

March
19, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. Easter Weekend at the Burrow! Kim Scharf
over at the
Bunny Bunch SPCR
in Montclair, California asked me to be sure to mention this event.
Anyone thinking about getting a rabbit for Easter and who happens to
live near Montclair in Southern California should hop over this
weekend, March 22nd & 23rd from Noon to 4:00 p.m. They
will be happy to explain proper rabbit care, offer refreshments and
do free nail trims. They will also have free Chocolate Easter
Rabbits while supplies last. Easter is also the debut of "Photos
with Rabbits" – they will set-up a holiday themed booth for rabbits
(chinchillas, guinea pigs, rats, etc.) to have their own photo
shoot. 100% of the $10.00 donation for a photo will help them to
keep rescuing rabbits. Visit their link above for more information!
(Sesame is pictured above - just one of many, many Bunny Bunch
rabbits.
Midwest
Rabbit Rescue and Rehome are
in the
www.ZooToo.com
competition for a shelter makeover. The
contest ends at the end of this month and they still need help to
stay in the place to win at least a $5000 prize for their rabbits.
Go to Midwest RR&R link above to get information on registering with
ZooToo . They started this in October and have steadily climbed up
the list. It would be great to have a rabbit rescue become a
winner. (One of their adoptable rabbits, Lola, is pictured above.)
Tsai-fi
Dust Bunnies, my sister Bonnie
found these online. They look like very fat, round cuddly plush
rabbits with a lot of personality. The Dust Bunnies come in several
styles and colors. The artist designs her creations from
vector drawings. This one is called "Rosey Posey."
European Rabbit – A doe and her kit enjoy a quiet moment in
the photo below. This photo was emailed from an anonymous rabbit
fan.
It is
a beautiful shot the of the wild rabbit who was the precursor to all
the domesticated breeds.
March
18, 2008 - 9:00 p.m. -
Baker
Raises Dough to Save Rabbits
– The Great Harvest Bread Co. located in Shorewood, Il (near Joliet)
offers “honey bunnies” as a healthy whole grain alternative to live
pet rabbits. Matthew Simpson of Great Harvest Bread Co. is
partnering with the Will County Humane Society for Easter. The store
will donate $2 of every honey bunny loaf sold to the humane society.
The bread company averages 500-700 loaves of bunny bread sold during
Easter.
As Simpson said, “The kids can have a bunny, but it won’t be sent to
the humane society afterward.”
For more information on the store go to
Great Harvest Bread Company
The bunny loaf is shown above.
A
Rabbit Round-up in Kelowna,
Canada
was a kinder option rather than a cull some people are proposing to
deal with the “rabbit problem.”
The Responsible Animal Care Society
was out wrangling feral rabbits this past weekend hoping to save
them from a cull. They managed to capture 25 and those rabbits are
on their way to being neutered or spayed. Several third graders
lobbied a council member to find an alternative to a cull. "They
asked what rabbits had ever done to me and that was it.” As a
result the council agreed to give the rabbit wranglers a chance to
promote a more humane solution of catching and neutering the rabbits
and offering them for adoption.
Kelowna
is not the only Canadian city to be hit by a rabbit population
explosion and controversy over how to rid towns of feral rabbits. In
the suburb of Richmond parks are teeming with rabbits and animal
rescue groups are pleading with residents to leave bunnies in the
pet store this Easter. They say if you go to Minoru Park it is
possible to see a 100 rabbits within a few minutes. That’s because
it is estimated 1,000 feral domesticated rabbits live there. See
one of the rabbit residents pictured on the right. He is certainly
someone’s adorable ex-pet.
Helsinki’s
Long “Hares”
– Urban feral rabbits are becoming a much bigger issue due to a mild
winter in normally cold countries like Finland.
This coming summer
all previous population records are expected to be shattered.
According to estimates there are up to five thousand feral and wild
rabbits living in Helsinki.
The rabbits have good taste in music since the
National Opera lawn is their favorite spot.
March
17, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I located
a media file of an old Irish music box jig called
Rabbit in the Field
(sheet
music
for you musicians). Play the file while you visit
Irish Baby Hare Cam
The webcam shows a pen of leverets (baby hares) located in a rearing
facility in the Sperrin region of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The facility is specifically for Irish hares. The orphaned leverets
arrive from all over Ireland to raise, rehabilitate and release.
The Irish Hare Initiative
is an independent not-for-profit group working for the conservation
and protection of Irish hares. (Photo above is a
Wendy Walsh Irish Hare Watercolor.
Click on photo to see larger version.)
Make Mine Chocolate! Yes,
you can have a chocolate bunny or give one as a gift this year and
make it Dairy-Free, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free or Food Allergy
Free! Try these chocolate makers online for some guilt-free
nibbling. Okay, they are Not calorie-free.
Amanda’s Own Easter and Passover Chocolates
Divvies Chocolate Bunny
Chocolate Emporium Chocolate Bunny Assortment
Sweet
Earth Foil Wrapped Easter Bunnies
Indulge in Chocolate Vegan Chocolate Easter Bunny
Pre-Easter Rescues
– The first was located in Botetourt County (Virginia) where Animal
Control officers seized dozens of sick rabbits from an 81-year-old
man with a history of animal abuse. The rabbits were mite infected
and if they hadn’t been removed, they could have ended up as Easter
gifts in a flea market. Channel WSLS ran a story
Sick Bunnies Find New Home
showing the rabbits in a new and safe environment. The Angels of
Assisi loaded up a van at the SPCA on Thursday and took them to
Harmony Farm nearby. They have their hands full with baby bunnies
and newborn kits and they expect more are on the way. The rabbits
are recovering from the mite infestation and doing much better.
These are 43 rabbits that won’t be ready for Easter! But in a few
weeks they will be tested again and ready for adoption. See the 90
acre
Harmony Farm Sanctuary
at the link.
In
another large rescue more than 300 rabbits
were rescued from "deplorable conditions" at a rabbit meat farm in Simcoe
County, Ontario. The local newspaper reported the OSPCA are still
investigating and their shelter was hopping with rabbits. According
to the newspaper, “most of the animals were female and many of them
were already pregnant, even though they were nursing litters.”
The conditions were considered "filthy" and many rabbits were sick. The
good news is that several area shelters joined in the effort and
foster homes were also enlisted to take in rabbits. (Alisa
Sears, manager of the Barrie OSPCA, cuddles one of the 300 rescued
bunnies above.)
Last
year it was Paris
. . . Paris Hilton bought a pair of bunnies for Easter a year ago and this
year it is Miley Cyrus. Several teen gossip websites reported last
Sunday Miley Cyrus spent time with her family in Los Angeles where
she stopped by a pet store after attending church. She bought
a rabbit she named Jack. While I can appreciate her desire to have a
rabbit, her style and behavior is copied by thousands of pre-teen
and teenage girls. I’m hoping this is one time she doesn’t
start a trend especially during the week before Easter.
Shooting with a Camera
– Recently a crew of filmmakers were on
campus shooting rabbits with a high-definition camera. The crew is
filming a documentary for Animal Planet Canada and the Discovery
Channel HD about resourceful domesticated animals running wild in
unlikely places. They hope to make the film into a 12-part series.
According to the recent article in the Times Colonist, the
“documentary was inspired by a trip Erin Skillen took to Pompeii
with her husband in 2005.” She began researching the phenomenon of
domesticated animals living as feral animals and in danger of
elimination by humans who regard them as pests. (The newspaper in
Victoria noted the culling of university rabbits last year as part
of an article on the rabbits.) As a passionate
animal lover, Skillen was unsettled by injured rabbits in the
University of Victoria’s feral rabbit population during filming.
March
12, 2008 - 9:30 p.m. -
Unbunlievable!
- Newspapers in Portland, Maine reported that a local teenager was
charged with stealing a pet bunny and trying to extort money from
the 16 year old bunny owner. The 17 year old broke into the other
teenager’s apartment and stole a gray dwarf rabbit. He then called
the other boy and demanded payment of a $100 or else the rabbit
would be hurt. Fortunately, the local police say the rabbit was
recovered “in good condition.” The thief could take a lesson from
the young man in England I wrote about on Tuesday who cares for 90
animals.
Several kind people wrote and asked me where they could send
donations to James Mason in England to help him care for his 90
rescued animals (including 29 rabbits). I have contacted the
newspaper who published the story to ask James if this can be
arranged. I will keep you posted.
Bella Bunny is pictured above. She is one of many gorgeous
rabbits from the State of Maine who need good homes. She is at the
MSPCA at Nevins Farm
Rabbitats
for Humanity
–
Since rabbits are my “Maine” subject tonight, I wanted to share
the link above for a rabbit sanctuary located on the South Bristol pennisula of mid-coast Maine. is a labor of love founded and
maintained by Quan Myers. A non-profit organization since 2006, it
has become home for more than 100 rabbits. Read some of their
stories
here.
You can also read how and why Quan started
Rabbitats for Humanity.
As is the case with many of us who rescue rabbits, it just takes one
rabbit and Quan’s was Harvey. Best Bunny Wishes to Quan for helping
rabbits!
On
the Wild Side:
The sight of brown hares "boxing" is one of the most arresting
spectacles of the countryside in the fields of lowland Britain. But
the behavior that gave rise to the legend of "mad March hares" is
likely to become a less common sight in the future. Conservationists
believe because of a change in European Union rules about how farms
are managed, the animals may start to decline after a program is
abolished that paid farmers to leave some of their land
uncultivated. The program dates back 20 years and left 8
percent of Britain's arable land as scruffy, weedy sanctuary
benefiting hares and other farmland wildlife. Conservation groups
are urging the government to initiate new programs to help farmers
and wildlife.
Hare
boxing is not two males fighting over a female,
as is often assumed, it is a female repelling
the premature advances of a male.
March 10, 2008 - |