The bunny hutch in our yard...
A dear blog friend of mine, noticed the rabbit hutch in the rain picture on Saturday’s post, and she asked me about it. Her comment prompted me to tell you a few “rabbit tales”. Thanks for the idea Country Mom!
While I was still working, I discovered that the woman working next-door to me loved animals almost as much as I do. We immediately became friends. It turned out that she raised Holland Lops for show rabbits. A Holland Lop is a rabbit that has long floppy ears that hang down over its head instead of standing up like traditional rabbit’s do. I eventually asked her if she ever sold any of her rabbits that weren’t suitable for showing.
She told me that sometimes she did have rabbits that were not suitable for rabbit shows, but that they didn’t sell them. She said that she would be glad to give me one, however. She even had her husband build a rabbit cage for me. One Friday afternoon, she and her husband brought over a bunny–complete with his custom-built home!
The following morning I woke up and hurriedly went outside to see how the rabbit had done overnight in his new home. I gasped! The door to the cage had been torn open and the rabbit was nowhere to be seen! I was very distraught! A thought crossed my mind…
I had several dogs that I had rescued from the shelter–and one of them was a hound–who’d been very interested when we put the rabbit and cage outside. I had an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that my dogs may have torn open the door of that cage and gotten the rabbit. We searched everywhere, but didn’t find any sign of that rabbit. Many weeks later, I found a piece of rabbit’s fur in our yard. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that it may have belonged to the missing rabbit.
When I told my friend–and oh, how I hated to tell her–what had happened concerning the rabbit, she offered to give me a replacement bunny. My husband built a heavy-duty rabbit hutch, and put three different locks on the doors to insure the rabbit’s safety. He built the hutch high off the ground, and gave it a wooden floor. Once the hutch was complete, I got the new bunny. I named him “Honeybun” because he is the color of a honeybun. He had a large living space, with plenty of room to move around, but it wasn’t long before he had a new neighbor. Remember, I was volunteering at the local animal shelter…
One summer day I arrived at the shelter, to find a lonely rabbit housed in a kennel among all of those barking dogs! She was white–with just a touch of gray on her head and ears. The rabbit was quite tame, and doing remarkably well considering there were about twenty dogs that wanted to eat her for their next meal!
I couldn’t believe the shelter had a rabbit! It seemed like each week there was a different kind of animal being dropped off. I took one look at what I believe was an abandoned Easter bunny, and told the shelter officer that I would adopt the rabbit. I couldn’t just leave her in the midst of all of those barking dogs!
We discovered that Honeybun was a boy, and the white rabbit, whom I named Sugar Pie, was a girl. We didn’t want to raise rabbits, so my hubby put a wire divider in the middle of the rabbit hutch. The rabbits could be near each other, just not too close! So near, yet so far away…
I gave each rabbit their own litter box and they used them–until one day Honeybun just stopped using his. Now we just put his litter in a pile in the same spot of the cage every time. He uses the bathroom in that spot–then scatters the litter everywhere! He’s a true male! He also sprays urine toward Sugar Pie now and then. Disgusting!
Sugar Pie is “lady-like” and uses her litter box. Her living area is much cleaner than Honeybun’s is. She loves to eat, and has a large dewlap to show for it. That’s the “double chin” area on rabbits–and how you can tell they are overweight! She’s a true female!
Although he originally did it to help me when I was babysitting and got home late, my husband has taken over most of the rabbit care because he enjoys them. He waters and feeds them, and cleans the cages. He also, takes them a piece of apple, cabbage, or carrot every day and rubs their heads. I think they look forward to his visits. He also cuts a limb from the nearby pear tree for them to munch on to keep their teeth filed. All rabbits should have it so good!
Friday’s giveaway winner is… Kate@http://www.nocrapdiet.wordpress.com Congratulations to Kate. Your prize will soon be on it’s way to you! The winning number was 74, and she guessed 72. Thanks to all who participated. Have a great Monday!
Reflections...by Kathy 
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