Rescue Round-Up June 2013

June was a very busy month at the Rescue, with usual re-homings, bunnies being given up, site maintenance and events. But it was also a very sad month.

In the first week of June we had to say goodbye to dear Joseph.

Then Lara, who had been having problems for a few months that our vets could not resolve, went downhill over a few weeks and passed away from what a post-mortem revealed to be liver problems. This hit me quite hard. Lara was a really sweet and shy little Dalmatian Rex who had been at the Rescue from when I first started volunteering. When her previous partner died in 2011 we tried her with Whisky and she spent about 6 weeks living in my house. For reasons I never really understood, they absolutely hated each other and when put in the same space would charge aggressively at each other and fight. I was really sad to have to give up on bonding them, but it clearly wasn't going to work. After getting to know and appreciate her so well over that time, when she was back at the Rescue I would always take extra time to interact with her during the breakfast rounds. Though she wasn't really a big fan of human attention, she certainly appreciated getting her pick of the morning vegetables! It is awfully sad not having those moments with Lara anymore. I do miss her.

Lara surveying my garden in 2011

The following weekend I was delivered more bad news when Vicki arrived at the Rescue to board her bunnies. It transpired that the very same day we lost Lara, our dearest little Cora also passed away. A black and white Dutch with cute little stubby ears and distinctive markings, I can't really explain why I had become so attached to her. Perhaps it was her slightly unusual looks and terribly sweet nature, and perhaps on some level she also reminded me of my own little Megan. Cora and her partner Clarence had only fairly recently been adopted by Vicki, one of our key Trustees and fellow author on this blog. They had been staying with her on and off or the last year as Vicki had been fostering some of the special needs buns of which Clarence is one. I had been looking forward to seeing Cora while she had her holiday at the Rescue and was absolutely devastated to hear of her sudden passing. Binky free little one.

Cora

Then last week we suddenly lost Goldilocks from what appeared to be some sort of digestive impaction. Goldilocks had come to the Rescue via volunteer Hannah and quickly after arrival was bonded with special needs bunny Flin. A perfectly happy and healthy bunny her whole time at the Rescue it was a shock to suddenly lose her so quickly.

Goldilocks

But life goes on and all those other bunnies at the Rescue still need us to keep going regardless. All we can do is look forward to what we hope will be a brighter, warmer, happier July.

Thank you for reading this post and giving thought to all the dear souls we have seen leave for the bridge this month.

And then there were four

Hi All. Gary and Whisky's intehweb connection is down this evening so I have been hurriedly trying to see what furry faces I can find for you to enjoy tomorrow morning. Given that Clarence and Cora are likely to soon become permanent members of my furry family, it seems appropriate to mark the occasion with a pic of them doing one of their favourite things. Sitting.

"So we're staying here forever? Might as well get comfy then."

Make mine hay!

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Yesterday we held an educational event at Cineworld in Cambridge as part of their kids club. In preparation, I attempted to to create a series of child friendly posters about key bunny welfare points: e.g. pellets are better than mix, bunnies don't really like cuddles, rabbits need space, rabbits need a friend, and so on. I think next time I should get Gary to do them based on his bunny basics theme and photos from this week, as my posters are rather more basic....

Anyway, for one of the posters I wanted a photo of a bunny with a blob of hay the same size, to illustrate the point about how much a bunny should eat each day. I thought little Cora might be the best at posing out of the bunnies in my garden. I was wrong. Cheeky Mr Clarence was actually more helpful.

"You want me to eat the hay now? I thought letting us out was usually a sign you want us to mow the lawn for you." 

"And it's only polite that I wash my paws before dinner"

"Hay, for me? Don't mind if I do!"

We hope all you hoomans will be enjoying lots of chocolate today, whilst your Easter bunnehs enjoy lots of hay.

It's food - don't let go!

I find that some bunnies are perfectly happy to eat veg that I'm holding and don't mind that there's a human on the other end hoping to stroke them whilst they're distracted. Others seem to prefer not to eat anything that we've got hold of for fear we'll take it away again (or stroke them when they'd rather just eat in peace!).

Cora is somewhere in between. Sometimes happy to eat from my hand, but often pretty determined to get that food in her mouth asap and make sure it's all hers. She also has a tendency to mistake hands for food...

The other day I was putting in their food and as always she was eagerly waiting and nuzzling at my hand and went in for a bite of food - but instead got her teeth round the flesh between my thumb and index finger and proceeded to tug as if she was trying to drag away a juicy leaf of greens that I would not let go of. Ouch. Surprisingly painful. I'm afraid to say a few expletives escaped my lips whilst I tried to work out how to remove her cute little face from my hand with minimal damage to both of us. She soon let go when she realised her fuzzy friend, Clarence, had found the real food. At which point I immediately apologised aloud to her and any neighbours who might have overheard my profanities. Dear little Cora's cute little ears were not designed to hear such things.

Needless to say, I did not capture the incident on camera, but here's a couple of pics of them enjoying the grass.

Weekend Filler Shopping

I have run into a slight problem blog-wise. I am only at the Rescue during daylight hours one day this week and that day was yesterday. It was dark, wet, windy and rainy. Which means no pictures. Not only that, but Fatty and Humourless are away on a romantic holiday together to try and rekindle their love, leaving just the boy for long-eared company. Now that would normally be fine, no-one would complain about a week of Whisky, but his face is a mess (he's about due for an eye flush) and he doesn't feel much like being photographed. Even if he could work the the camera with his little fluffy paws, I don't think anyone reading this blog wants to see pictures of me, even if I put on a pair of rabbit ears. So that's that. Problem.

Well, while I decide how to deal with that creatively, here's a recent pic of Cora just to get us through til Monday. Because you know what they say - if you don't have a decent picture, Photoshop a not-so-decent one!

"Do you think you could maybe 'shop these greens into strips while you're at it? Just sayin', they'd be a bit easier to eat is all."

Cora-lation

I sort of feel sorry for Clarence and Cora, being turfed out of their five star foster accommodation so Vicki can care for the next pair that need daily meds. In particular, I know how much their temporary foster parents had become attached to them - the amount of attention they will get back at the Rescue, living alongside 100+ other bunnies, just won't compare.

So in the interests of their welfare, I think it's only right that I ease them back into the routine with some extra attention and nose rubs. If anyone asks, that's why I'm sat on the floor of their aviary making a fuss of them. Providing a smooth lifestyle transition, for their benefit. Honest.

"You again? Don't you have hutches to clean? Or at the very least, parsley to feed me?"

Fuzzy face (snotty nose)

Well, I’ve decided you ought to see Clarence’s nose after all and his very fuzzy face. Might as well be made of cotton wool or candy floss instead of flooff.  Fortunately I caught him on a not so snotty day in this photo. (He has chronic snuffles and is on antibiotics.)

"nom nom nom...dandelion..."

And let’s not forget little tiny sweetheart, Cora. Big mouth for a tiny bunny!

Lounging Lodgers

Hi all, Vicki here, and this is my first blog post ever! Due to Gary’s intermittent internet problems he’s (foolishly) asked me to take over this week and I (foolishly) agreed.

So, for my first post how would you like to meet my current ‘lodgers’ (aka foster buns from the rescue)? This is Clarence (the fuzzy one) and Cora (the little dutch bun). They are quite famous down the rescue for their tendency for lots of cute snuggly lounging around. These are my best photographic attempts at capturing said lounging so far.

Clarence is also quite famous for his snotty nose (poor boy) and his tendency to wipe this on anyone who might (or might not) have food – but perhaps I’ll spare you the photos of that.

Parsley Mouth

Bunny + parsley = goofy-face. Fact.

Goofy-Faced Rocket

Goofy-Faced Giggles

Goofy-Faced Cora

Goofy-Faced Flin and Goofy-Faced Goldilocks

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Cora and Clarence

Two gross things happened to me at the Rescue today. And I figure, if there's something gross going on you want to hear about it right? No? Ok, well put down your dinner and read on anyway.

So the first gross thing that happened to me was that I was assisting and assessing a bonding between a rather large girl and one of our larger bucks. It wasn't going well, more like violent anarchy, so we decided to try her out with one of our innocent little as-yet-un-neutered rex boys. Well firstly, I have to say, he was a little confused, being still a little too young to know what to do with a lady. He was certainly willing to get to know his new friend but all she wanted to do was bite and dominate him. But she was no match for his youthful speed and agility and very soon the tables had turned - despite being four times his size, she was running away and hiding behind me trying to avoid him. He still wasn't quite sure what to do with her, so he kept chinning (rubbing his scent on) her as if she was something to own. But really the thing that turned the tables and switched the dominance from her to him was when he started spraying her with wee. Which would have been fine, and not uncommon behaviour for two bunnies getting to know each other, except that I was sat between them at the time.

So that was gross thing number one. The second, and easier to wash off, came from our little long-term snuffle-bun Clarence. His partner Cora is probably my most favourite little character at the Rescue (not including the bunnies who have at some point lived in my house of course). So to cheer myself up after the bonding incident, I went and sat with Cora and Clarence to relax and hand-feed them some crunchy treats. Which should have made me feel better about the day, but every time Clarence took one he would in doing so wipe his snotty snuffly nose all over my hand.

Thanks Clarence. I think I might go home and shower now.