Big and beautiful

"Yes, I'm very beautiful and very soft, and if you bring snacks and a dustpan you can experience both up close."

A brief moment of sunshine

With such wet dreary weather this Christmas, any moment of sunshine is precious. The other morning a small patch of sun appeared on the lawn for about half an hour. My husband was soon out there with his camera attempting to get Boo and Milo to sit in the right spot for long enough to get a photo.

"I'm sure it's not normal for us to get a picnic on the lawn at 10 am." 

After dinner nap

Christmas dinner is followed for many with an afternoon nap. Seems carrot and greens for breakfast has the same effect on some bunnies.

"zzzzz"

Life With Mars

We lost dear Dexter a few weeks back. He had been soldiering on through breathing problems for some time, had gone to live with Vicki for an easier life and some close attention, but very sadly went downhill quickly and passed away. I will leave his story for Vicki to tell some day.

Dexter left behind his partner Mars, a very shy little straight-eared black bunny we hardly ever saw. So shy, she wouldn't even eat in front of me at the Rescue. Knowing she would quickly become stressed on her own, Caroline decided to bond her straight away with Kirk, a big handsome agouti bunny who has been with us waiting for a home for too long.

It will be interesting to see how their relationship affects her and whether she becomes more confident. Kirk is very bold, friendly, quite full of energy, almost the opposite of Mars.

So far it is looking promising - I don't think she has ever gotten this close to me (of her own choosing) before, with or without parsley!

"Husbuns are supposed to share! Now let go so I can go and share it with myself!"

Do The Tansley

Having found out we now have a YouTube channel, Tansley is preparing to take the world by storm in 2013. Here we catch him putting the finishing touches on his new routine.

"..then you finish with a turn, making an 'X' with your ears and front legs, like this. It's gonna make Gangnam Style look like the Birdie Song!!"

Un-Boxing Day

"There's more presents hidden in here, right? 'Cos I KNOW you wouldn't just give me a box of hay..."

Merry Xmas 2012!

Wishing you a peaceful day and a jolly holiday, from Jemima, Whisky and myself, all the Rabbit Residence team and all the bunnies at the Rescue!

Merry Christmas!!

"Merry Christmas everybun!"

It's a Yin-Yang Thang

I don't hold up much hope for bonding Whisky and Jemima - they are both too bossy and un-yielding to accept each other. Plus, he REALLY likes humping, she REALLY doesn't.

They've been out in the garden at the same time and seem to cope when supervised, but at some point one of them will march over and demand attention, then get grumpy when they don't receive it. As with many of the other bunnies we've tried him with, it seems the only time Whisky gets on with Jemima with no problems is when he's distracted by food.

Photoshy

"Ha ha, you can't see me, I'm hidden under some hay!"

Well actually Wellington, it's only a couple of strands, if I wanted to I could probably remove it with Photoshop and...

"Ha ha, now you can't take my picture because I'm shaking my head!"

OK, OK, I get the hint, no photo. I'll try your wife instead...

"Photo? Really? A little warning would have been nice! I could have done my fur, cleaned my ears, maybe spent some more time putting my eye-shadow on..."

Work Out

"Your day job has finished for the year, making you my full-time servant until further notice - so WHY ARE YOU SLACKING?? Sweep up this mess I just made! Now!"

Just Leaf

"Oh, you haven't put our breakfast in the bowl yet?! For a second there I thought this leaf was it!! Er...hang on a moment..."

>>Agouti Team, stand down, I repeat, stand down, operation bad-snack-revenge is aborted<<

Stocking

With the holidays almost upon us, Whisky has been checking we are properly stocked up on the essentials...

"It looks like we might have too much of this tasty Timothy hay...sooo...I just need to thin out the supply a bit..."

Gridlock

"Motorists are advised to avoid the Bunwall Tunnel this morning as the whole area is in gridlock and there are queues in both directions. Here's what our traffic camera shows from the south end:"

"And here's our camera at the north end:"

"I guess somebun should really have sign-posted it 'one way'."

Seeing Them Cross

I was frustrated enough about this picture being focused on the background instead of Whisky when I only thought I'd missed a great shot of his cute mouth. Then I looked again and saw the feets! OMG-SUPER-CUTE-CROSSED-FLUFFY-FEETS!!!!! I can't believe I missed it! Would have been the cutest pic ever!

:-(

What's Orange and Sounds Like a Parrot?

So I guess the breakfast veg was extra juicy this morning...

Six Degrees of Grassification

Did you know that grass will pretty much stop growing when the temperature drops below six degrees centigrade? This makes winter frustrating for our bunnies as their daily garden snackage depletes in the cold weather. It's not exactly a walk in the park trying to eat it when it's frozen solid either.

So joy of joys, we are suddenly having a winter window of warmth this week in the UK with temperatures around eight degrees. And no-one is more pleased about this than Lady Porkins McChompsalot.

"The sun took the frost off it. Now if only you'd take your big fat feet off it, I could press on with the important task of eating it."

Ejected

"OK, I moved. Now your turn. To get your fat butt off my floor and out of my room."

Noir

Whisky has a new favourite spot. Now I can't be sure, but I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that when he's sat there:

• I can't shut him in his room
• since I can't shut the gate, I can't get to the spare room behind, which means I can't go make a fuss of Jemima or let her out

The main problem with this in terms of the blog is that all pictures for the foreseeable future are going to look very similar while he won't budge his fluffy bottom.

So today, to avoid having a picture that looks exactly like yesterdays, I decided to switch the camera to "high contrast black and white". I think the setting is intended to produce pictures that look like a forties Bogart movie still.

So here he is, Sam "Whisky" Spade, private detective.

"Spade eh? I could find a use for one of those."

Facebath

Well, after 2 eye flushes and a course of antibiotics (drops and oral), I'm not going to win the human-of-the-month award from my little fluffy boy. My only consolation is that the new regime of daily face bathing is likely to seem like pure joy compared to dropping stuff in his eye.

"Cotton wool? Bowl of water? I know what this means."

"It means until you put them away and come back with your hands full of snacks you'll be speaking to this end."

Jaws

Sat on my "to do" list for some time has been the task of producing a simple guide to health-checking bunnies. In the meantime, I have lots of strange images of Caroline poking and prodding various bunnies that I need to decipher so I can add instructional text. There's even one in this set of her apparently giving Bacardi a big fat kiss on the lips - not exactly sure how that one fits in as part of the health check guide, but it would seem a shame not include it!

The meaning of these two pics is clear - rabbits seem curiously prone to abscesses and this shows how you can feel for them in the jaw. Early detection of abscesses often means you can avoid any serious problems, so it's definitely something worth doing regularly between their regular vet visits.

"If you are trying to lift the corners of my mouth, I think you are being rather optimistic."

As shown, the idea is to feel along the underside of the jaw for lumps. I would also suggest checking the bones from the side too by placing the index fingers along the line of the jaw from ear to nose (like you are underlining both their eyes simultaneously with your fingers).

Simple huh? And don't worry, the disapproving look fades eventually...

The Boo Snackleys

The most exciting new happening is Caroline being on the radio yesterday, but since neither Caroline nor radio's have cute fluffy ears, here's a couple of random pictures of Vicki's buns eating snacks while bonding at the Rescue last month.

"[munch]"

"Ditto"

Who's That Bun?

He looks like Rocket. He moves like Rocket. And yet, not only did a family dare to pet this rabbit then leave the enclosure with the same number of children as they arrived with, but another unsuspecting visitor picked him up for a cuddle and lived to tell the tale! Who is this strange bunny living in Rocket's house??!

Napday Grumpus

"Who dares disturb my sacred Sunday naptime??!!"

"And just in case you couldn't work it out for yourself, the only correct answer to that question is NO-ONE."

Warmer Feet

"Yes, they are quite cosy thank you very much, and no, you most certainly can't put yours under me too."

Feeling Flushed, Part 2

"What? The vets AGAIN? But look, my eye is fine this week - I don't think I need that re-flush after all!"

"Oh, so you're NOT stupid enough to fall for that? Well what a time to pick to surprise me."

Up, Up and a Snack

"C'mon Dad, if you make me stretch up too far it will hurt. And I'm not talking about me."

Defying My Fluffy Master

"I'm fairly sure I told you NO photo's after the mess you made of cleaning my face. If YOU had an ugly bald patch I bet...err...never mind."

Elvis

My last mention of Elvis on this blog was to call him a silly nickname. "Humourless". Had I even a clue at the time that my handsome boy would not live to see himself appear on here again, his life taken by a tumour that was quietly eating away at him from the inside, I might have chosen better words.

"Humourless" was a reference to his real nickname at home, "Chuckles", a somewhat sarcastic jibe at his overly serious attitude towards me. Never have I met another rabbit so stern. Try to stroke his head and, whereas other rabbits would enjoy the attention or move away, he would keep dodging his head out the way but stand his ground. He'd glare back at me as if to say "What the heck do you think you are doing, mister?! I have Jemima to groom me, not you, thank you very much!". If I had to pick him up he wouldn't freeze of wriggle like other bunnies, he would go completely floppy like there wasn't a bone in him. I've heard of animals "playing dead" in the terrifying clutches of predators, but he did it every time I lifted him off the ground, even when I'm sure he knew he was only in for a quick brushing - it was both bizarre and disconcerting.

Human interference aside, he certainly did enjoy being a rabbit doing rabbity things, like digging, exploring and mowing the lawn. Of course he also enjoyed playing and snuggling with Jemima (when she wasn't telling him off). He was a handsome chap, had the most perfectly formed, highly expressive ears and, because life is ironic, the most beautifully soft, strokable fur.

Sometimes visitors to the Rescue seem very hung up on choosing rabbits that are friendly towards people, as if there is no joy unless the rabbits attention is directed straight at them. If those visitors had met Elvis they would quickly have seen the joy that can be gained just seeing a bunny wrapped up in doing their own thing, or even in just watching them watch the world go by from their favourite spot in the sunshine. Some bunnies we love with all our hearts just because they are who they are, no compromise, that is how I felt about by wonderful little Elvis and I will miss him dearly.

Elvis and Jemima were spending some time together at the Rescue as they'd fallen out after his last bout of illness. He'd seemed fine all the first week, but then on the next Monday just seemed to go suddenly downhill. On Tuesday 27th November 2012 at around 1am, following a very difficult 24 hours, Elvis lay in Caroline's arms and eagerly gulped down a syringe full of food. Then, by 3am, he was gone.

Two buns in a tub

We all know that every bunny needs a friend - but sometimes I wonder whether they know this given some of the challenges of bunny bonding! I recently made my second attempt ever to bond bunnies at home. The first time I was successful. This time I was not.

As I might have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, our beloved Buddy passed away in August from kidney failure, leaving bossy queen Boo on her own. Not long after, by coincidence, we came into custody of a cute little bunny named Milo (see Little Devil) who at the time we did not know whether we would end up keeping or just fostering for a bit on his way into the rescue. Well we fell for him and thought we’d give bonding a go.

So, I set up the our foster bun accommodation as a bonding area (neutral territory I hoped) with the playhouse split into two with metal panels so they’d be able to see and smell each other but not touch. After 3 days spent next to each other (switching them between the sides now and then to get them used to each other’s smell) I let them out for a bonding session in a large pen area. After an initial couple of minutes of not noticing each other there was chasing and attacking (and a bite to my arm). I gave up for the day. Two days later I tried again with the same reaction.

Deciding a change in tactic was needed I started trying short sessions in an even more alien environment – the bath.

These sessions went somewhat better with not as much outright aggression, and on a couple of occasions Milo attempted to groom Boo. Strangely he seemed intent on grooming her eye-balls quite vigorously which was not always appreciated. After nearly a week of these sessions she would still lunge at him sometimes and I was nowhere close to trusting them together.

We were then due to go on holiday, with the bunnies taking their break at the rescue. So I asked Caroline to see if she could persuade them to be friends, and if not to bond Queen Boo with a boybun who she would accept.

Five days later I had an email from Caroline to say that they were bonded! She clearly has the magic touch. They have been home with us again for a fortnight now and are very happy in each other’s company with lots of following each other around. We haven’t seen all that much grooming each other yet, but there has been no sign of upset on their return to Boo’s domain. And to be honest they are both such busy, active bunnies that there isn’t a lot of time for sitting about washing.

Welcome to Blinky's Adventure Land

Here is a little more of my husband's playtime with Blinky.

"So you say you have come to play!"

"We'll start with some box-climbing..."

"...followed by some tube-balancing."

One year on

Two of our lovely group of Rex buns have now been in their new home for a year. For those of you who remember we had a group of 11 baby Rex bunnies (mostly caster colour) handed in around August 2011 – they were two accidental litters fathered by the same dad – an owner had two girl buns and was given the third bunny and told it was also a girl...

The first pair of these beautiful bunnies (Columbo and Lassie, renamed Marple) went to a new home in December 2011. They have a lovely 8ft by 8ft roofed aviary, with a 7ft x 2ft x 2ft hutch, plus they get supervised playtime on the grass in part of the garden. One year on, here’s a few photos of them enjoying their forever home.

"Nom nom nom...."

"So how do you think we're supposed to get to those juicy weeds over there?"

"Thou shall not pass!"

Instinctive lack of lawn

As you all know, domestic rabbits still have quite strong wild instincts. Digging is a key instinctive behaviour leading to tidy lawns being a thing of the past.

“You didn’t need this patch of grass, did you? Thought I’d turn it into a new veg patch.”

“Carrots, cabbages and dandelion planted. Time to wash my paws ready for tea.”

Don't blink

I have a real soft spot for beautiful agouti bunnies. And it’s hard not to fall for ones as handsome, gregarious and photogenic as lovely Blinky. My husband had great fun meeting Blinky when he last visited the rescue and managed to catch this lovely photo.

“Hello, have you come to play?”

Queen Bee / Queen Boo

“Yes my subjects, I am your queen, and you will worship me!”

Mary and Joseph

Eagled-eyed readers of 'Yours' might spot some familiar faces in this weeks issue. Mary, who currently lives with Joseph in Caroline's bedroom, is featured in the magazine along with two of her five babies. We did try to get them all in but...well. Let's just say that was probably a bit optimistic on my part.

"Er, guys? I think maybe we're supposed to be facing the other way..."