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..."

Sun Visor

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."

Tunnel Challenge

"You want to see something funny? Wait 'til Gavin and Stacey are both in the pipe. Then give me their breakfast. Oh wait, did I say 'funny'? I meant 'eaten'."

Board Stiff

Earlier this week while cleaning out the spare room, I uncovered a large piece of cardboard I had been using to stop the foster bunny cage from scuffing the wall. So I did the only sensible thing a bunny parent can do when finding a large piece of cardboard - I folded it up and gave it to my little fluffy boy to play with.

He's not usually fussed with cardboard (he can't chew it, what with the no front teeth) but this time for some reason he really took to it and now Whisky has a new favourite place to sit and watch the world from for hours on end.

"I am Bunman. This is my secret bun-cave. And BTW, the bun-mobile only has one seat, so if you want to be my side-kick you'll have to go in the boot."

Often it's the simple things that bunnies enjoy. He doesn't stay in there all day of course - as well as the odd random lap of the house to make sure everything is where he left it, he also comes out for his evening yoga session...

"Ehn"

Short Ears, Big Danger

To stay safe in this world, it is advisable to always remain aware of ones surroundings. One shouldn't go wandering down alleyways or back oneself into a corner with no chance of retreat. There could be untold dangers lurking nearby.

And one should never forget that, sometimes, the chances of escape end promptly with the opening of a bag of parsley.

"[shlurp]"

Blanket Disdain

"When I asked for a blanket I meant to sit on - I DID NOT ASK TO BE TUCKED IN THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!"

Can't Hear the Reindeer

I had a go at taking some pictures of Mary and her little ones over the weekend in the hope of creating some promotional pictures for the Rescue. Being for use in December articles, I tried introducing some festive decorations and asking the bunnies to pose in front of them. They were not impressed and the shoot did not go well.

I tried telling them it really isn't that far off, but apparently they refuse to acknowledge Xmas is approaching when it is still only November...

"Tra la la, not listening, tra la la!"

Calendars for 2013

With the end of 2012 hurtling rapidly towards us, you will no doubt all be wanting to start planning for 2013. Well we have just the thing you need. Our friend and fellow volunteer Nicola has created a new calendar to raise money for the Rescue and this year she has based it on this very blog.

So now you can have high quality pictures of Whisky and friends staring down at you from your wall, or up at you from your desk, for the bargain prices of 10 quid (wall) or 7 quid (desk), plus postage! And remember, all profits go towards supporting the bunnies at the Rescue.

Everyone who's seen them so far seems to be quite happy with them. Well, nearly everyone...

"I think it's time we discussed my commission."

If you are interested in one of these items, please contact the Rescue's fundraising team via the email address given below.

Possessive Much?

"Keep on walking, friend. This one is mine."

Twilight - Our First Silver Bunny

"What's the matter? Worried I might...bite?"

Cup of Sugar?

"Yes, well, unless you've come round to return the sock you borrowed I'm not interested."

Jinny Bunny

Rabbits evolved to have superbly functional ears - large to capture as much sound as possible, located high on the head and able to rotate 180 degrees to listen for approaching predators from all directions. Then evil humans came along and bred bunnies that looked "cuter", with floppy ears that hang over the ear canal muffling sound and dramatically reducing the owners ability to see or to point the ears in any particular direction. I can't help but feel sorry for these beautiful creatures so badly mangled by human selfishness with no way of experiencing life as nature intended.

I feel particularly sad in this regard for the great French Lop. Not only are they (relatively speaking) as deaf as a post and constantly surprised by things suddenly appearing close by, but they also have to suffer the indignity of dragging those big funny things around in the dirt and mud. There's literally nothing they can do to experience sounds properly like a straight eared bunny.

Isn't that right Jinny?

"Say what? No, no, go ahead, I'm listening now...?"

Set Sail and Slumber

"Sure, laugh it up, but when the floods come I'm gonna just float off into the distance and sail until I reach the Land of Carrots. Now leave me to sleep while I await the rain..."

Sunday Night Fight

Today I thought I'd update you on how Jemima and Elvis are getting on.

They are still living separately but for the last week have been sharing the spare room, staring at each other through wire mesh. There has been a complete lack of tension for the last few days, so I thought I'd try them in the garden together again - either they'd get on or it would give me the opportunity to take a couple of pictures of her aggressive body language to show Caroline. If you've been around rabbits with issues you know the sort of thing, the head down "No, YOU groom ME!" stand-offs, the ears back "I'll attack you if you even think of trying anything..." stances.

Unfortunately...

Well. Here are the pictures. The camera was on burst mode, which means it takes a bunch of pictures in a row. These were the last two shots in the sequence, the blurring is what happens when the photographer lets go of the camera because he suddenly has something more important to do...

"[OOF!]"

"[GROWL!!]"

"[CHOMP!!!]"

Like Eating the Red Pill

"Someone call The Matrix and tell Morpheus I know how deep the rabbit hole goes. This bucket of snacks however..."

Saturday Night Fight

"What do you mean, 'staying in after all'?! You must go out! I have friends coming over to watch Wallace and Gromit. We're going to laugh at the silly humans being terrorised by the giant rabbit!"

Seasons Change, Eat the Scenery

"I love all the seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer and Salad."

Spot the Parsley

Can you spot (or guess the location of) the parsley in this picture of Nightingale and Toby?

Why not have a go, then click the picture to reveal the solution and see if you got it right! (Bunnies - gotta love 'em!)

Filing Helper

"I've finished sorting the vaccine cards. I thought I'd get started on the veg inventory next..."

Twit

Don't worry Dakota, Rummy is not going mad. He's just trying to tell you the Rescue is now on Twitter!

@residencerescue

Interruption Disapproval

"For the last time, I don't buy services on my doorstep, I don't take surveys and I am perfectly happy with my electricity supplier. Now hurry up and be gone so I can get back to drinking my carrotini and watching Bunny's Got Talent."

Bun Shady

"I'm the real Bun Shady."

Return of the Ghiblis

I was at the Rescue yesterday. My day started with helping Robin to fill his trailer with wet and very heavy bags of bunny waste. Not surprising then that last night, exhausted, I fell asleep on the sofa and so didn't post anything here on the blog.

So apologies for leaving you bunny-free for a day, but here is yesterdays pic of the foster bunnies enjoying their first day back at the Rescue!

"Oh, THIS is where you were bringing us? You should have said, we wouldn't have complained so much in the car. For a start it smells much better than your house."

Lady Porkins McGrumpychomps

Still no progress with Jemima and Elvis, as any time he gets near without mesh in between she tries to bite him. This means they remain apart and my daily morning routine of feeding, cleaning, watering and exercising everybun at home is currently around two hours.

Jemima is particularly high maintenance as she is needing to be completely cleaned out every day - she has decided that, indoors, wee should go everywhere EXCEPT the litter tray.

"Well just be thankful I spared your shoes. Then look in your shoes. And realise I didn't."

Serena Bunny

As you may be aware, we lost Serena on Saturday, just a few days after surgery to remove a growth behind her eye. I just wanted to share here today a few of the happy memories I have of my time being around her.

Caroline asked me to foster Sushi and Serena last winter as she felt Serena would benefit being indoors during the cold months. I happily agreed because I had a real soft spot for Sushi, a super friendly but odd little chap who in many ways reminded me of my dear departed Santa.

It seems odd to say this now, but Serena I wasn't so keen on at the time. She looked strange for a start - small, oddly shaped (kind of elongated), massive dewlap - and for some reason I’d never experienced much of any character in her. If anything she seemed like a bit of a grump. But as is often the case, it's the ones you don't expect to that end up taking up the biggest space in your heart.

My perceptions of the pair changed when they arrived at my house. My usual experience of opening a pet carrier of foster bunnies was seeing either fear or extreme caution. Sometimes they don’t even come out without major encouragement. Not so Serena. She marched straight out, looked around and then gave me a look that seemed to say “Oh. So this is where I'm living now is it? Fair enough.” Then promptly made herself right at home. Meanwhile, though calm and not particularly bothered by the move, Sushi was clearly going to enthusiastically blame me for everything he didn't like from that moment on.

In those first moments in my home she gave me a quick peek at her true character and somehow it already felt like she was part of the family.

The next few months Serena was a joy to live with (though her bottom wasn't always low maintenance), packed full of little quirks I'd not seen in any other bunny. She continued to surprise me daily and even demonstrated her bold, fearless attitude to life on a visit to the vets. I found myself having to reassure the vet that the reason Serena's heart and breathing rates were so low compared to other bunnies was that unlike them she was perfectly happy on the examination table pottering about and discovering new things. She was like that everywhere.

So that's how I will always remember her. The bold and beautiful little soul who enjoyed life wherever it took her. Rest in peace Serena.