Caspian's Stupid Move

Last night, I had Caspian out for play time. Since Carson's pen is close to the play area, I put a sheet over the side of his pen so he and whatever rabbit is out to play won't fight. Caspian kept digging at the sheet, and he eventually got an area open enough for him and Carson to box at each other.

Being the good bunny mom that I am, I put one of the 36" high gates up to block Caspian from Carson's area, and I went back to reading my book. I was stretched out on the floor with my feet towards Carson's area, and I hear what sounded like the gate being knocked down. But no gate hit my feet, so I turn around. No Caspian. I then hear a fight from inside Carson's pen. Caspian had leapt over the gate and landed in Carson's pen. Carson, not one to take guff from anyone, was spinning around and the two of them looked like a fuzzy yin-yang.

Fur was flying, and I was able to grab Caspian's butt and lift him out of Carson's pen. Caspian immediately cuddled up to me, like "What happened? That was very scary." I couldn't really feel too sympathetic for he was the one dumb enough to leap into another rabbit's pen. I didn't see any bites, though one chunk of fur was pulled out that made a mark on his butt. Carson seemed to be fine.

I mean, wouldn't you fight if you were a rabbit hanging out in your pen and some strange rabbit comes falling out of the sky? In college, my Roomie and I would always say "Brain the size of a what?" (answer: mustard seed) whenever Wellington the resident rabbit would do something silly or stupid, and I have to ask that question of Caspian's antics.

Mama

One Adoption, and Three New Arrivals

Well, I'm up to my eyeballs in buns again. Japser went to his forever home on Sunday, and we've been scrambling to find a good rabbit to take his place at the Petco.

Saturday, I went to a local shelter and pulled a little 3 lb. Dutch mix who I'm calling Kendall. He's a pretty quiet guy, and he'd been at the shelter since January after his people no longer wanted him. He'll be neutered soon and then wait his turn at Petco.

While I was only supposed to pull one rabbit, there was another rabbit there who just had to get out of there, a little black Jersey Wooly. He had some matting and tangles in his hair, and I couldn't leave him there. He was only in the shelter for about 2 weeks, but he really needed some attention. My vet cut/shaved some of the worst mats, and I've been working on brushing out the others. He's quite a pistol - he's already sprayed me once and he's really enjoyed the brushing and grooming he's been getting. He even kicked his feet out to the side to relax even further while I was grooming him last night, chattering his teeth in bliss. I've started calling him Squiggy because he reminds me of that character from Laverne and Shirley.

On Sunday, I drove down to Indy to get a rabbit from one of our adoption partners. His name is Sammy (which might change since we have several other Sam-like names in our system), and he looks a lot like Julia. He was found outside in Michigan during the winter, along with another rabbit. How cruel can someone be? He'll go into Petco on Saturday, once we get his diet switched over to what he'll get at the store.

Even with neutered rabbits in my house, they still multiply!

Mama

Adoptions!

Greta, my shy little Dutch girl, got adopted on Sat. She's going to be bonded to a cute little lop boy. She's settling into her new home pretty well right now, after a bit of a shaky start. (She was on a hunger strike. But she's eating and pooping, so she's doing good. Funny how excited bunny parents can get over good ol' #1 and #2....) I really miss Greta, and it was really great to see her gain some confidence while under my care.

Jodi, the lop girl I rescued from a local shelter, went to her forever home on Sat. as well. I didn't get to interact much with her new family at all. I was facilitating the bunny dates, so that kept me busy. I'm sure she'll settle in fine. Jodi actually likes to be held and loves attention, and her new family has a daughter that will probably spoil her rotten.

Kristie took Jodi's spot at another foster mom's house, so I'm down in the single digits again - I only have 9 buns at my place. Wow, huh?

I'm going to get down to 7 in a few weeks, I think. I'm getting surgery at the end of Oct., so the fewer mouths for "Grampy" to feed and care for while I'm in the hospital and recovering, the better :-)

Mama

Five Years :-)

Sat. was the fifth anniversary of me bringing home my very first rabbit, Calvin Parsley. I didn't get to spend much time with him, though, for I drove down to Indy to try to get a few other rabbits adopted out. I can't believe it's been five years, yet it also seems like Cal and I have been together forever.

Mama

Caspian Out and About

Yesterday, I took Caspian out on a harness and lead. I'll have to take pics next time - he was looking so handsome. He did very well and only flipped out once when a heineously loud motorcycle went by. He didn't eat grass, but he did run around quite a bit.

At first, he wasn't sure what to do. The wind was rippling his fur, and he sat looking around like "What is this place?" He didn't appreciate one low flying single engine plane, either, and hid under a bush. I told him that Mama wouldn't let anything get him, and he actually hid under me as I squatted there.

He's such a cuddle bug that he didn't freak out when I put the harness on or took it off, though I think he was pretty tired when I put him back into his house. Now that the weather is cooler, I might have to take him out a lot more. He liked it more than Calvin usually likes it, so I think Calvin is off the hook.

Mama

Calvin Need a Hearing Aid?

Saturday night, the local PBS station was airing The Who Live at Kilburn concert. I thought, "Huh, too bad I won't get to watch much of it" because Calvin hates The Who. He'll start thumping and thumping and looking rather disturbed whenever I play their music.

Well, I watch and watch the concert, and no thumps. I know Calvin can hear, for he heard the crinkle of the Critterberries bag earlier that night and also came when I called his name.

Maybe his taste in music finally expanded, or else he just gave up. He never thumps at the neighbor kid's "music" (screaming, heavy bass and guitar - I'm still under 40, but I do see the difference between just noise and actual music), so I always wondered what made The Who so special.

Mama

Attention All Humans

This is Greta, the foster rabbit, with an important message for all human parents of rabbits. We hate, I repeat, HATE, to have our shedding tufts of fur plucked off our butts, backs, or anywhere else. As primates, I know that these tufts must really bug you. I even understand your misguided sense of trying to help us not ingest this fur when we groom ourselves. However, this fur plucking must cease.

My fur looked like a badly mowed lawn the other night, when Mama started plucking my butt. She had tried brushing me first, but so much came off that she just gave in and started yanking away. After conferring with the other rabbits, I decided to sneak into the study today and post this on the blog. While I can't quite call it a No Plucking Manifesto, I can say that you can all consider yourself warned. Further plucking will be undertaken with the understanding that blood or appendage loss may be involved.

Greta

Photos of Jodi

Hi. I took some pics of Jodi, Jasper's former girlfriend. The lighting at my place is just awful, so sorry for the yellowness.








She's a sweet girl, and I know she'll do great at her new foster mom's house.

Mama

Jasper is in Petco

Taking Carson's place at the Merrillville Petco is Jasper, the lop mix boy who I rescued from the local shelter:





I never saw his ears so low - usually they're more like 1:55 or 2:50 than 3:45 or 4:40 like they were at the store.

He seemed to settle in fine, and hopefuly he'll get a new home soon. I'm taking one of the big foster girls from another foster mom's house down to Indy tomorrow to go to her forever home, and Jodi will be going to that mom's house in her foster slot.

If it wasn't for Carson coming back, I'd be down to 10 buns again. Still, I'll have 11, which is one less than I've had for a while.

Mama

Carson's Back

Well, Carson is back at my place. Tuesday night, I met a family interested in adopting him, and I saw that he had some white bunny snot he'd sneeze out of his nose, as well as a slightly sticky/wet butt. So, he came home with me and saw the vet on Wed.

Carson is doing well, less than happy at having to take Baytril, but otherwise his old self.

I swear, they have it so good my house that they put their little bunny brains to work plotting ways to come back here. I have a few people to call who are interested in adopting (probably him, but not sure), so hopefully he'll be on his way to his forever home soon.

Mama

Bad Bunny Karma Today

What a morning! I go downstairs to get the salad for everybun, and Julia (Calvin's girlfriend) somehow got out of her pen and was loose. She went back in on her own with some parsley for a bribe. Then when I'm putting the water/pellet bowl in Rose's house (she's the unspayed female I'm fostering for the local shelter), Rose attacks me, boxing and nipping. I had a small cut on the palm of my hand and a tiny scratch. When getting Kristie's water/pellet bowl out of her house (she buried it under hay), she attacked me. She didn't have her heart in it like Rose did, and I have no cuts or anything.

What the heck did I do to deserve this treatment today? I wonder if tonight will be the boys' turn.

Mama

2 New Members of the Warren

I went to the Porter Co. Animal Shelter on Saturday and pulled 2 rabbits that are very good candidates for our Petco program. It was a male and female living together in one cage and neither neutered (sigh).

The boy is Jasper, about 7 pounds and with some lop in him from the way his ears are droopy (much like Harrison's). He's white with gray rings around his eyes, gray ears, and brownish gray markings on his back and butt. He's quite a charmer, with his dark eyes and manly jaw.

The girl is Jodi, about 4 pounds and either a full mini lop or mostly mini lop. She's white with gray Himmy markings (sooty nose, gray ears) and very light markings on her back. She has dark eyes and so far loved getting newspaper to shred.

I felt bad breaking them up but my vet thinks Jodi is pregnant (as do I - they've been living together since 6/25, so I'm sure Jasper took care of things on his end). Jodi is getting spayed now (for her health, too, since Jasper is twice her size, and she could have complications if she tried to give birth), and Japser will get neutered hopefully in the next week or two.

So I'm back up to an even dozen. Time to light the "NO Vacancy" sign again :-)

Mama

Two Adoptions and Carson is in Petco!

Nadia, my second foster bunny to graduate to living at Petco, was adopted on Sunday. There were two approved adopters meeting the 8 rabbits we have available up here. Nadia went home with a young woman who doesn't have kids (a quieter home was best for Nad). The other approved adopter was a family with a 10-year-old or so daughter.

The daughter met everybun (except for Cassandra), and it was down to Greta and Joshua (Josh being one bun I brought back from Indy on 7/3). The girl picked Joshua!! They're getting him tonight. I had a vet visit scheduled to get a handle on Joshua's sneezing and stuff, to see if there was anything I should be doing for him, and they're going to be there for the exam, too. He and the girl really hit it off, and he just loved being petted. I think she'll have a great confidant and snuggler in Joshua.

Since Nadia had been living in the Merrillville Petco, her being adopted left an empty hexi. I had mentioned Carson to the chapter head before, and she felt it'd be fine to enroll him into the IHRS system. It was hard leaving him at the Petco, but I'll know he'll do great there. He's such a sweet guy, and he'll love everyone who comes to see him. I'm trying not to think about my "empty cage" syndrome, and I know it's for the best that he's at the Petco. A lot of people will get to see him and fall in love with him. Hopefully his forever home will find him soon.

Mama

Caspian at Work

Last Thursday, we were getting out of work early to get a jump start on the holiday. I asked my boss if I could bring in Caspian to "cute-n up the office" - she said yes. So, Caspian got to come to work. I should have brought my camera.

Everyone loved him, especially when I put him down on the floor and he went hopping around, entering other peoples' cubicles and offices at whim. (I work in publishing.) The production group really loved seeing him hop around, especially since his lop ears bounce and he moves along. He even did a few binkies, though mostly out of sight of his adoring fans. He stretched out on the floor in the hallway, too, for a little bit. He stayed that way until I brought some of the gang over to check it out and one touched his big fuzzy feet and made him sit back up again.

I think Caspian liked being here with me, and it was nice to have somebun cuddly here at work.

Mama

Bunny Swap

Well, all sorts of things have been going on in the warren in the last few weeks. Kristie, my first foster bunny "graduate" who went to live in Petco, is back with me. She was getting stressed out at the store (she'd been there for 6 mos., I think).

Greta, Kristie, and I went down to Indy on June 22nd for bunny dates. Harrison came along, too, and he went to a different foster home and I got Cinnabun to keep my big bun slot filled. Kristie was pretty cranky on the first date, so she was left alone for the 2nd date and the meeting with a potential adopter of a single bun. Greta did okay on the dates, but the first boy bun didn't really hit it off with the girl buns there. The adopter of a single bun, though, did pick her. I was going to hand her off to her new Mama that following Saturday. Kristie, Cinnabun, Greta, Jazmine (a bun for another woman in NW Indiana to foster), and I all came back home.

That following week, Greta stopped eating. We were at the vet every day getting X-rays and other tests done to see what the problem was. Unfortunately, her new Mama (a first time bunny owner) decided that she should probably choose another bun instead - Greta has a few other issues that might cause problems in the future. Poor Greta. She's pretty much back to normal now. I did get to learn how to give subcutaneous fluids, though, which was a goal of mine.

Then after work on July 3rd, I drove down to Indy to trade Cinnabun for Cassandra, another former foster bun of mine who has gotten into some trouble. She had bit a few of the volunteers at the Petco store where she was, and this last one nicked a blood vessel. So the decision was made to pull her from the store, and I brought her back home to live with me. She is a lot sweeter than she used to be, but she did nip me on my wrist when I was putting the refilled pellet bowl back into her pen. It didn't bleed, but it bruised right away.

I also took in 2 short-term foster buns because their old foster Mama had to take in a relative who needs surgery and there are allergies. Honey, a gray-ish agouti Dutch, is 11-12 years old, and I feel very honored to be caring for this matriarch of IHRS. She's finally starting to warm up to me - dried fruit treats really help, as do great butt scratches I give her. Joshua is the other bun I took in. He's a brown agouti and has upper respiratory issues at times. He's pretty sweet.

I certainly have no more room at the Bunny Inn!!!

Mama

Caspian, the Explorer

I had Caspian out tonight a couple of times - the first, in a snuggle session on the couch when I got home from work; the second, upstairs while I lay on the floor reading. Well, after ump-teen million times of him, um, getting frisky, with various parts of me (shoulders, legs, head, etc.), he will stretch out to rest for a few seconds (30, tops), then be back grunting, circling, and showing his misplaced lust. Tonight, I lay reading undisturbed for 45 seconds, then turned to see where Caspian was. He was down three stairs! With me chaperoning/spotting him, he went down to the last step, where I scooped him up and said that if he got too close to Harrison, Harry would eat him. I mean, Harry is twice Caspian's size, easily.

What a quick learner! I guess if he can't get me interested in what's he's selling, he'll go find someone who is :-)

Mama

Caspian, the Cuddle Bunny

Finally, Caspian's amorous advances are slowing down. He still jumps from one end of his house to the other when he sees me, and I've finally figured out why. He wants to be held! Is he the oddest bun or what? When I hold him, he just nestles his head under my chin or on my shoulder and just laps up the attention. The first night I held him, he was licking my face and neck. He will give the occasional grooming nip, and sometimes his love switches to the kind that shouldn't be shown by a boy to his Mama, but otherwise he's the quintessential lap rabbit.

I finally got a cuddler!! :-)

Mama

Am I a Bad Mama....

To be laughing at Caspian's, um, problem? He's still very randy, and he's been launching himself at me if I have the top door to his house open. He'll then try to attach himself to my arm and molest me. Well last night, I was bent over and talking to him while standing near the short side of his cage. No door or anything nearby - just the bars between us. He flings himself at me and I hear "clunk" as he hits the metal bars of his cage. I couldn't help but laugh. I could almost hear him thinking "WO-MAN! WO-MAN!" like he was a cave-bun or something. The incident didn't even slow him down.

So am I a bad bunny Mom to laugh at this?

Mama

Caspian - Doing Well

Caspian has calmed down a tiny bit from his surgery. He's definitly eating more (though not lettuce), and there is no swelling or redness or anything from the incision or empty spots. I do still have to pin him to the floor of his house with one hand so my other hand can handle the pellet and water bowls (literally) unmolested. I'm going to take him in on Sat. to get him microchipped.

Mama

"Shop for Hop" is Now Open

In an effort to raise some money for rabbit rescue-related causes, I am crafting items to sell on Etsy.com:

WhiteStix's Shop for Hop

People who order from me can choose where the donation (listed for each item) will go - Red Door (no-kill shelter/foster system), the Indiana House Rabbit Society (rescue/foster system), or an emergency fund that I'll send to help with costs entailed from big seizures of rabbits anywhere in the US.

I'll be making several other kinds of afghans (including a doll-sized version of the one there now), heavy and warm winter scarves, and (if I can figure the patterns out) stuffed rabbits. I'm hoping to come up with some bunny-safe crocheted toys to make, so I'll keep everyone posted. My kids (foster and otherwise) don't play with the stuffed carrot I have now, but other buns might love to toss a carrot-shaped toy with jingles in it.

Mama