Monday 30 September 2013

Every Cloud

September was a truly heart-breaking month for us, with so many of our elderly and special needs bunnies unexpectedly leaving for the bridge. One of those was Montana's dear partner Cookie, with whom she shared a space at Caroline's house.

Super-floofy bunnies can be more difficult to home because they need more experienced owners who can confidently handle and groom them. Rather than risk leaving Montana alone for a long period while we wait for a suitable home, Caroline decided to bring her back to the Rescue last week and bond her. Fortunately, the perfect partner had just recently returned to the Rescue himself...

"Do you mind? This is our honeymoon you're intruding on!"

Sunday 29 September 2013

Nice Clean Sunday

"No, no, I *meant* to get my face this wet!"

"How else would I wash my fur?"

Saturday 28 September 2013

Wedged

"Purdy? Grab my tail and pull would you?"

Friday 27 September 2013

Thursday 26 September 2013

The Parsley Persuation

"Parsley, eh? I'm not sure I've had that before..."

"...but I think I'd like to try..."

"...OMG-this-is-delish-I-gotta-have-it-all!!!!!!"

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Serving A Sneezer

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhchoo. Drat, that's ruined it. Maybe I'll give this bit to Pico."

Monday 23 September 2013

Angus

Angus, 27th April 2013, quietly helping himself to a sack of dried grass.

It is with very great sadness that I bring you this mornings post. Our dear cuddly teddy-bun Angus has passed away.

Angus arrived at the Rescue around February suffering from back problems which we later discovered were from old fractures in his spine. He spent a lot of his time with us on pain relief and was even treated with acupuncture which seemed to help. He had many ups and downs over recent months and several times took us close to having to make difficult decisions, but he also had his good days and always seemed to enjoy life. Then, after what was actually a good week for him, he went downhill Saturday and died in Caroline's arms on the way to an emergency appointment with the on-call vet around 1am on Sunday.

Few bunnies have we become so attached to in such a short time as we did with Angus, as you will see looking back at his appearances here on this blog. A sweet and friendly giant, he will be very, very deeply missed. Binky free our big orange friend.

Sunday 22 September 2013

Whisky Day

"I own Sundays. This also means today I own you. Don't make me explain - just ditch the attitude and get with the servitude."

Saturday 21 September 2013

Friday 20 September 2013

A Very Fonzie Friday

"Aaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Thursday 19 September 2013

Rubber Chomper

"Again, putting me on the blog? Haven't you bugged me enough this week?"

The trust training with Noelle continues. I don't have a formal system of training or assessing progress, I kind of 'wing it' based on the individual and the sum of my previous experience, but certainly I count:

"If you sit on the floor, will jump on your lap to say 'Hi!', even if you're not holding snacks"

as a milestone. Question though - should I count it if, once perched on my legs, she promptly went about eating the rubber soles of my shoes? I mean, it's not a REAL snack...

NOTE: As you can see from the wide-eyed expression in the above pic (taken on my phone), she doesn't quite trust me to take her picture this close yet, otherwise you'd have had one of the chomping itself!

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Shlurpa Capcha

I'm closer to starting those bunny photo tips I promised you, I just need a little more time to finish training Whisky to operate the other camera. (I kinda need one of us to take the pictures of the other demonstrating the techniques.) While you're waiting for that, if you want to know how to set up good bunneh-tongue shots like Mondays picture of Teal, there's one simple trick I've learned:- It's called parsley.

Wave some tasty snacky herbs at some buns and the ears go up, the eyes light up and the tongues come out shlurping.

There are some drawbacks to this method I should warn you of. Many of the best bunny pictures you will capture are not the ones you set up but rather the crazy and adorable things you come across randomly. But so powerful is the parsley technique that wander round the Rescue carrying a bag and suddenly all your photo opportunities are going to look pretty much the same...

"[shlurp]"

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Behind With The Calendars

I am in trouble. I am about three weeks behind schedule coming up with the photo's for fellow volunteer Nicola so she can start creating next years Rabbit Residence Rescue calendar.

My main problem isn't that I don't have any decent photo's, it's that they are all the wrong shape. It seems that sometime around late 2012 I became very good at taking "portrait" pictures and since then have taken very little else. Unfortunately, the calendar needs "landscape" pictures.

No worries though, all I need is a couple of weekends of good weather...oh.

Well anyway, I have been forcing myself to take more landscape pictures over the last couple of weeks in the hope we can make up the shortfall. Since I thought it would be nice to feature some of our extra special buns who have been with us for some time, I have also focused on some of those. And the good news is, I FINALLY got a decent picture of Fonzie and Rosetta, standing still, together! Only thing is...

It's no good. Even with this one - still too behind.

Monday 16 September 2013

Teal Time

Oh Teal, I do share your opinion of Mondays...

Sunday 15 September 2013

Wellies

Today saw the first autumn storm of 2013 roll in, following several days of showers. It's definitely been the weather for wellies and hard going for all our volunteers. But volunteering can never be too bad because there's always bunnies to cheer us up, including of course our very own Welly!

"Great idea! Get me two pairs, extra extra small."

Saturday 14 September 2013

Her Name Is Noelle...Maybe

Since the fight with her sister, poor Noelle (as we are currently calling her) has been stuck in a cage for most of the time. With space here in our house in such short supply recently and with tensions running high with her sister, she rarely even got out to play.

Her brothers having been packed off back to the Rescue Thursday, yesterday morning I moved her outside into the shed and run, so she now has more than 75 square foot of space all to her self with lots of stimulation and fun things to do. Now I've got her back in a decent space, the next project is to get her "people confidence" up before she goes back.

Well anyway, since she hasn't had a day on the blog all by herself, I thought today should be that day. So here you go.

"It can be a bit lonely out here on my own. You know what else is lonely? This last snack in my bowl. Best you scoot off and get it some more friends."

Friday 13 September 2013

Velcro Floof

I have now had several people ask me for bunny photo tips, so I've put it on the list to blog about in the future. When/if I ever post about my "method", I will no doubt waffle on about how I mostly shoot without looking at/through the camera, largely because with the camera at bunny height I'd otherwise have to lie on the floor by which time bunny will have hopped off to do something else. Don't worry, it will all make sense when I explain it properly.

Well anyway, this is all great, but if you are looking down on bunny and the camera is directly in front of bunny, the camera will spot things that weren't apparent from above. Pictures you *thought* were going to be perfect...

"If this is going to be our last little photo session before I go back, don't you think maybe you should BRUSH ME FIRST??!!"

Thursday 12 September 2013

Hidey Hide-Away

Excuse the terrible picture, but this is Whisky in the lounge on Tuesday night. He had just barged his way in there to have a nosey, only for foster bunny JJ to threaten to tear Whisky's ears off through the bars of his cage. In complete contrast to his usual behaviour in such situations, instead of blasting JJ with jets of wee and trying to punch him in the head through the bars, Whisky went and sat in the lounge hutch and refused to come out.

Well good news for Whisky, the foster boys are all moving out this morning. I will be sad to see them go, though perhaps relieved that some order and sanity might return to our house! I will miss JJ's utter craziness, Boz's strange blend of sweetness and (recently) teenage violence, Silvio's curious shyness and absolutely everything about little floofy BC. Another chapter ends. See you back at the Rescue, guys!

Before the violence: The last picture I took of the boys together, 10th August.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Havana and Dreamy

Havana and Dreamy are a pair of two-year-old does who came in to us in February. Realising I had still not really gotten to know them properly yet, last week I spent some time with them to figure them out a bit more.

My first impression was that Havana is the stern, serious one, while Dreamy is the friendly and sillier one. Now, armed with just those few words from my first impressions, see if you can guess which is which from these photo's.

"And exactly what are you looking at, Mister?"

"Thppppppppp!"

Tough, huh?

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Life At A Slow Pace

"I quite fancy being a snail. I'd still get all this tasty greenery but with no chance of stoopid humans trying to stroke my head while I'm eating."

Monday 9 September 2013

Lucky Dip

In today's grass-based bunny-lucky-dip...

...the winner is...

...whoever finds the dandelion leaf!

Sunday 8 September 2013

Red Friday

I had a very long and tiring Friday. So long in fact that it's taken me until now to post about it.

In the morning something didn't seem right with the foster boys. They weren't squabbling or anything around breakfast, but there was an underlying air that something had changed in their relationships. Just as I was about to leave them, I noticed Boz had a small bald spot on his face with a scratch. Everything seemed otherwise OK, but I resolved to check on them as soon as I got home after work.

A few hours later, I was at work enjoying a delicious hit of caffeine when all the subtle and not-so-subtle clues of the morning came rushing back and punched me in the brain. I called Caroline to warn her I might need to bring them back quickly and skipped out of work as early as I could.

I was right. Stupidly, stupidly right, and I can't believe I wasn't quicker to put the pieces together. Back at home, I discovered that during the day Boz was being forcibly kicked out of the little group and was fighting his ground, especially with JJ. The two of them were covered in little cuts, there was fur all over the run and worse still, somebun had taken a chunk out of the base of Boz's beautiful little ear. I could have cried.

So the rest of the evening was filled with a trip to the vets with three of the brothers, a trip to the Rescue to pick up some cages (Caroline had a similarly sudden breakup with one of the groups at the Rescue using up all the conceivable space so I couldn't leave them there), then a couple of hours setting everything up back at home. Three brothers in my lounge now stuck in individual cages for the next few days until some holiday boarders go home and they can return to the Rescue.

They are none too impressed with their new housing arrangements, not surprisingly, and poor Browncloud is all lonely in the big shed and run on his own, but at least there will be no more violence and injuries. Whisky, it has to be said, is also not impressed by the situation what with all the cages in the lounge, especially as it means losing his late evening sessions chilling with his dad in front of the TV.

Meanwhile, the sisters are still trundling along in their room OK, though we did have one little incident last night - it seems Picante is quite the little adventurer and I found her high up on a bookshelf when I went to check on them, having used the space left where the pet carriers had been before the vet trip to get a step up. So instead of bloody ears and faces, let's have a picture of her cute little face for today shall we?

"Well if my brothers have been naughty, surely it would teach them a wonderful lesson if you gave their snacks to me instead?"

Friday 6 September 2013

The Ring

"He who breaks the magic circle, formed for the ancient and traditional Ritual of the Snacks, shall pay the ultimate price! Death! By a thousand fluffeh-head-butts!"

Thursday 5 September 2013

In the Home

What does a bun think of,
As he watches the world?
Does he dream of green fields,
Or a burrow full of girls?

Is it carrots and parsley,
Are they served at his feet?
Or out growing in sunlight,
But ready to eat?

What does a bun think of,
When he sits all alone,
In the comfort and safety,
Of his man-made home?

"Hmmm...I wonder what I can con my human slaves into doing for me today?"

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Patty, The Grass

"So, like, maybe there's enough grass here to last me until this afternoon? Did you hear what I said? I said you have until this afternoon to grow me some more grass."

Tuesday 3 September 2013

The Sarcasm Appreciation Society

"Wow. Chopping AND grating. Next stop Masterchef, eh?"

Monday 2 September 2013

Top Carrots

I wonder why my local supermarket is selling carrots with holes in? Is it supposed to make them look more natural? I mean, this is how I found them when I started breakfast. It was just a few minutes after I'd emptied the bags into the wheelbarrow then returned from putting the shopping bags back in the car. I can't think of any other explanation...

Oh well, on a completely unrelated note, here is a picture of Archimedes, who along with his partner Boadicea regular roams free around the Rescue site.

"Hmm, this grass smells lovely! Not sure I've got any room left in my tummy though...for some reason."

Sunday 1 September 2013

Bobbing For Water

Well I guess I figured out how come Whisky gets through so much water, despite no kidney problems showing up in any of his tests...

"Oi human! Why is the floor always wet round my bowl? Sort it out!"