Monday Bunday

Sydney

It is Monday. On Saturday Sydney did not want to get her nails done, but she was tricked into the carrier. Tyler did not want to get his nails done either, but he was trapped, his words not mine, and thrust unceremoniously and without dignity into the carrier after being apologised to, petted and kissed. After all this Harriet and Amelia seemed like civilised and well trained bunnies, but maybe they just wanted to get their nails done. At Rabbit Haven's bunny spa nails were trimmed, glands cleaned and all rabbits groomed. I helped with the latter. Harriet in particular did a spectacular shed, just a few days before she had had nothing to offer the brush. With high hopes I put them one by one into the bonding pen; first Tyler, then Amelia, Sydney and finally Harriet.

Sydney

Everybun was pretty peaceful except Sydney, who was acting, from my experiences with her, very strange indeed. She immediately gravitated to a cushion in the pen and loafed herself down on it. I was concerned that maybe she had gotten injured going in or coming out of the carrier

and couldn't hop properly. I was sitting nearby, everywhere is nearby in the bonding pen, and she put her head down to be groomed. I obliged and she allowed me to pet her continuously for many minutes. In the three years that I've had her she has never been interested in being petted by me, though I offer that service everyday only to be summarily dismissed. Now imagine my continued surprise when she started to tooth purr......

Tyler (back end)

During this bonding session the only rabbit to snap was Tyler at Harriet. For some reason he was in a snit and remained sulky and aloof even when all the girls were having a voluntary three way snuggle, yes, you read that right; A VOLUNTARY THREE WAY SNUGGLE. Sydney was in many ways the star of the show befriending Harriet and even giving Amelia a token grooming. There were many wonderful togetherness type moments and I really felt like this could work. I could have four happily bonded buns, there was light at the end of the bunnel. Given our(my) ecstatic mood from the bonding once home I took down the fence convinced this was the day of the new beginnings and from hence force we could all mingle and commingle without frontiers; friends to the end. One for all and for bun. Everything went quite well for an hour or two. The Spots, exhausted from disapproving and approving both, scurried under their chairs upon release from the moving torture chamber. Harriet and Amelia settled down in the back room, doing a little mutual territorial testing and discovery, but mostly being quite well behaved.

Harriet and Quan Yin

Later there was a little fight. Later still I was out of the room and heard a huge commotion. Tangling like wild predators the gurls were really going at each other, yelling unprofessionally I pulled them apart and Amelia clamped her jaws, strong from constant use, to the base of my thumb and she would not let go. I had to shake her off. Once again I am deeply impressed by primal animal instinct that still abides in these domestic creatures. The BF was completely traumatised by the whole escapade and while I tended my dripping wound I was rebuffed for not being prepared with gauntlets, fire hose and mace. Both the girl buns were OK, the blood that I thought was oozing from Harriet's side turned out to have been my own. Are we back at the beginning or someplace unknown but still advancing toward a fence free buniverse? Within ten minutes of the incident both bunnies were stretched out by the fence happily munching hay. The next day, Sunday, there was much boxing and rattling of the fence. I switched them up and most of this stopped. Over night observations possibly conclude this may a happier Feng Shui solution for the gurlz. The down side of this arrangement is the Spots can't come in and visit because I have the kitchen door fenced off so Harriet doesn't go walk-about in the rest of the house, I'm not really ready for that yet. OTOH maybe it's time to introduce Harriet to the Spots on a daily basis.....

FAQ

Q: did you have to get stitches for your wound?

A: no, it is not as deep or as flappy as the other, now I'll have a rabbit scar on my left hand too.

Q: has Sydney continued to allowed you to pet her?

A: no, I even got out a pillow for her and she was uninterested.

Q: was Sydney injured?

A: no, not that I could tell, her hopping seems fine and appetite and everything was normal. She is bunny of many mysteries.....

Q: the writing style of this post seems stranger than usual, are you taking some sort of medication?

A: no, I have been listening to Moby Dick.....

Have a great week and be good to rabbits everywhere.

Bond? James Bond?

No rabbits were harmed in the making of this video and the little fight where the Not Very Bright Rabboratory Assistant got bit and had to have stitches,well, that happened after filming. We have had a couple of little luncheon dates without the fence and with a chaperon. You can see that there are some nerves firing and although everybun is eating, it is a bit tense. Since Sydney has taken to chasing Amelia more, Miss Girl (Amelia's alternate name) is a bit hesitant to join in. You can see the second video by clicking here. Harriet is quite territorial as regards her little part of the world and would like to plant her flag in the rest of the house as well.

After these were "filmed" Tyler wisely left and Sydney followed a bit later. Amelia went outside and Harriet followed, there was a chase and a scuffle and then an actual fight where both rabbits seemed to be two feet in the air and writhing around and kicking each other. I stuck my hands in, got bit and captured Harriet. After checking her, I deposited her in her pen and checked Amelia. Two minutes after that they were both by the fence eating together as if nothing had happened. All the rabbits are keyed up now, even when not actually on a BunBonding mission. Amelia and Harriet seem to be vying for my attention, indeed Amelia bit my butt while I was cleaning a box. Luckily no skin was broken as a result of that dental venture. Sydney is skittering and thumping and Tyler left his vegie dinner a tad early to have some quiet time. He can be a very emotional little fellow.

Next time: gloves and a smaller neutral space.

Just a few words about Urgent Care. I barely had to wait 5 minutes and the waiting room was not filled with a bunch of coughers. I told my story to the nurse and added that rabbit bites were not as likely to get infected as cat or dog bites. She took my vitals and said my blood pressure was perfect. She asked when my last Tetanus shot was and I said a very long time ago and she said she'd order one up for me. I inquired what sort of preservative the Tetanus used was it Thimerisal (Mercury) and she immediately said no one used that any more. I quietly countered that I had read otherwise. She met with the Dr. outside the door and I could hear them talking about rabbit bites, then they started whispering, then I heard the Dr. say "Let's give her the insert." Whereupon the Dr. ( a woman) presented me with and insert saying "it's all in really small print." I was undaunted and started reading right away as she had gone to get something or other. I think she thought I was a real weirdo. She explained that they usually don't stitch animal bites, but she could tack it in a few places to keep the skin stretched out over the wound which is slightly bigger than a nickel and the flap is about as thick. I was moved to the "Procedure Room" where I finished reading the insert and found that the booster was not just tetanus but also Pertussis (Whooping Cough) and Diphtheria. I declined the jab having an aversion to being vaccinated extraneous conditions. By this time I think the Doc thought I was definitely a weirdo, I'm sure they get plenty, I didn't really care since all I wanted was to get my hand tacked up. I even let her numb out the wound so she'd feel better about the needle bit. I told her I get all my dental work done without anesthetic, then she thought really was a dangerous weirdo. She started talking about horses, she was getting nervous, but I can talk about horses and pretty soon we had a good conversation going. Then she said she had rabbits, that her son had found a pair of white rabbits with black noses in Scotts Valley. Ha, ha I had her now "Is your husband J___ S___?" I asked "Yes! I'm getting chills, how could you know?" I explained that my Facebook avatar is California rabbit face and a friend of a friend had commented on it saying he had two similar rabbits etc, etc, etc.....Then she remembered that he had indeed shown her the picture. It is a small world and with a little luck you can pull just about anyone down the rabbit hole.