Put Your Feet Up

Breakfast In Blankies

"What??! It's Sunday!!"

The Boston Black

Black fur can be a pain to photograph - it is quite easy to end up with a featureless bunny-shaped blob in your photo. Yet if you set the exposure long enough to show the detail in the fur, you get overblown highlights around the rest of the photo, i.e. everything that's not the bunny just comes out white.

HDR photo mode, if you've got one on your camera, seems like a solution - multiple shots are taken in quick succession then merged together, in or out of camera. This works just so long as the bunny doesn't move between the shots...so it generally doesn't work. And I'm pretty lazy, so for me that only really leaves two simple ways of dealing with it without resorting to Photoshopping multiple versions of the same photo together.

The first is to take the photo as normal and then pull the shadows up in software after. Sometimes this works, but you can end up with a photo that has little contrast because you are also lifting all the other dark regions that are supposed to be dark. The final photo may look washed out.

The second (really lazy) method is to expose for the black bunny and then put a heavy vignette on after to bring the scenery back. It gives the photo a strange, cheap old camera look, but I actually kind of like it. The downside is that this generally involves messing around changing the metering mode and/or taking a few test shots and adjusting manually, all at the point where you take the photo, so it's not always easy to do in a hurry. If your subject isn't patient, you can miss your shot. Luckily, all the residents at RRR are...erm....hmmm...

"Whenever you're ready. Aaaaaanytime. Just you keep fiddling with your camera. No seriously, any time is fine, don't mind me, I'll just sit right here, hungry, while you sort it out..."

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NB - This is not a great example actually, I usually have the bunny bigger in the photo so you don't get such a big ring of blown out highlights around the middle, but it does kind of show the vignette so....er...yes. It was deliberate for demonstration purposes. [phew] Think I got away with that! [shuffles off quietly]

Keeping It Quiet

"Sure, we could tell her that you are here with some parsley, but how about we don't? Nobody has to know the truth."

The Secret Is Out

"Wait, did I hear you say you don't give treats for cute appearances?"

The Grand Sulk

Our own big barrow-inhabiter and snack disposal unit Archimedes has recently been sporting a new fashion accessory- a brightly coloured bandage. Unfortunately for him, he somehow injured the bottom of his foot and caught an infection that has meant Caroline must regularly treat him, re-bandage him, and take him to see the dreaded V.E.T.S. As you can see, he isn't looking his usual confident self.

New Boys

When cleaning the aviaries Monday last week, imagine my surprise to find we'd been invaded by a trio of the most hideous little things known to Man. Yesterday they were not only a horrible distraction from my hard work but I ended up spending several minutes pinned to the floor of the hutch by two sitting on my back, who both decided my jumper didn't have enough holes in it.

It turns out, somewhat infuriatingly, that these little guys are the produce of not one whoopsie from a missexed pair, but two in a row. Caroline felt compelled to take the males from the latest litter to avoid a third generation accident.

They appear to have been the advanced scout party for baby bunnies, as a further four may be making their way onto the Blog in the near future!

Better Stealth Required

"Where did she go? She was here a minute ago with food in her hand!"

"Rita, it wasn't food."

"It was! What else would she be waving at us? I rushed right over and smooshed my face against the mesh and now she's vanished!"

"It still wasn't food..."

"There she is!"

Sigh...

Herby Devourance - by Dion

Nemo

Today's post comes from Lea, volunteer and recently foster mum to little Claudia and Nemo.

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In November, Caroline offered me the chance of fostering a pair of long term residents and I jumped at the chance of having Nemo and Claudia as they had been in the rescue for so long.

Nemo stole my heart that first morning, he was so adorably cute and curious of his new surroundings. He was a greedy little bun who would come racing out for his breakfast and dinner at break neck speed. Nemo steadily became much braver and would come over for a quick nose rub and a treat every morning; he would follow round whilst I cleaned and always make me laugh by sitting in the dustpan.

He loved cuddling up on his blanket with Claudia in the sunshine and also munching through his daily ration of grass and forage.

Nemo was such was a handsome little guy with his super soft slate coloured fur, he was so joyful and was always so very full of life.

Nemo became unwell on the evening of 31st January and was rushed to the emergency vet for treatment. Sadly, he passed away the following morning whilst being prepped for surgery for a stomach blockage.

Nemo will always hold a special place in my heart and will never be forgotten.

Words and photos by Lea.

That Famous Scene

To round off a week of Valentine posts, Courtney and Tarzan have agreed to re-enact the iconic Spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp.

Our version deviated a little from the original however, as instead of a surprised kiss and snuggles, the lady and her man decided to have a tug of war. Oh well. 

Amateurs.

New Love For Old Buns

With the unexpected passings of Gretta in January and Nemo at the beginning of February, two of our older residents found themselves suddenly alone again. Nemo's sister Claudia, who had been much loved in foster for some time, came back to play the dating game and after a short attempt with Bugsy Malone, who unfortunately then had to go back onto medicines, she was tried with Gretta's widower Desmond. This, delightfully, seems to have been a well-fated decision.

Yes, they may not look impressed with me crawling along the fence-line with my mobile phone, but happily they seem more than content with each other!

Whoever Said Romance Was Dead?

"I would have been perfectly happy with a bunch of nice, tasty roses... What am I going to do with an oven mitt?"

Smooth Moves

Quite coincidentally of the time of year, we've had a few bondings going on recently. One of these involved old-timer Bugsy Malone who, as you can see, put on his most suave behaviour towards his new potential amour.

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Trials Of Cohabitation

Don't you hate it when your other half hogs the bed?

The Valentines Day Mastication

Somebun's in trouble...

"Excuse me, but how was I supposed to know they wouldn't deliver Velveteen's flowers on a Sunday? They were great flowers too. Really TASTY flowers. When they arrived yesterday I just assumed they were breakfast..."

Neon's Niggles

"So tell me - when I get to the bowl, will I be happy? Only it seems to me that, even though I'M the one with ONE ear, it's YOU that seems unable to hear when somebun asks for treats..."

The Greatest Gift

You may recall that February marks the 9th birthday of little Gavin and we were thinking of planning something special for him to celebrate. Well now, it seems that the Great Bunny God reads this blog on occasion, as an angel appeared (having lost her surviving teenage rabbit) and, after Gavin and Dakota conducted themselves wonderfully at their "interview", they went off to their new home as house rabbits yesterday.

We couldn't be more pleased for them and wish them the best of luck for the rest of their pampered lives!

A Thistle In The Grass

"You know what makes this particular patch even better? It's mine."

Bun-Eater

There now, isn't that better? Bonita enjoyed Take 3 of Photo Time, as I let her out into one of our Binky Areas for a ramble and managed to bribe her into looking a lot happier. That said, she continued her Houdini streak by somehow managing to get out of the enclosure for a saunter around the main site until she unwittingly wandered into the area I was working.

(Cameo by Bob... What did I tell you?)

A Fluffy Pair of Sleepers

Winter has been quite kind this year, especially compared to my memories of this time twelve months ago and a lot of snow. Even so, there have been a few mornings when dipping hands into containers of freezing cold water has been necessary or several layers of socks hasn't quite staved off nippy toes and sometimes you look at some of the occupants at the Rescue and are reminded of more snuggly times...

Robin The Place

As well as BHV's garden, the Rescue is also home to a few feathery companions. There are at least three robins on site at present (all called "Bob" in accordance with family tradition- or, occasionally, "Mrs Bob") who have decided 'tis the season to be a moderate nuisance. Last year they took some pleasure in following the veg barrow around in the mornings, even going so far as to attempt to steal those strange little grey worms out of the food bucket. This year it seems I'm under great scrutiny for a lot of the time as various brown-and-red blobs hop around, get under my feet, check out the bedding and generally ensure that I'm earning my wages.

Supervisor Bob coming to see if I'm pulling my weight.

Makes me wonder what they've got planned for 2017...

All Queued Up

"We got up early, formed a queue and have been waiting here patiently - if only you organised YOUR mornings so well, maybe we'd have our breakfast already, eh?"

A BMB On Grass

For all the difficulty in getting Bugsy Malone to bond with our single girls, he has no problem making friends with humans. He's one of those bunnies you could sit with and make a fuss of all day.

"Thanks for letting me out to run around for playtime, only...are you SURE you are going to be able to keep up with me to keep my nose properly rubbed?"

Mighty Man

Remember this little chap? He's certainly changed a bit...

Mini Photo Shoot

With Caroline going on holiday at the end of the month, one of our current projects is to make sure as many rabbits as possible have new ID cards if they require them, either because they were never updated from temporary intake cards, or they've lost the card, or lost or acquired a partner.

As a result, I was requested to supply photographs of rabbits not in the official photo folder. My solution to this was to place the target bunbuns on an isolated hutch top and voila, snap away. If that sounds too easy to be true, you are entirely correct.

I started with Bonita, who true to form still was not amused about my presence and decided she must have her face pointing away from me at all times. This turned into quite the merry-go-round with me circling the hutch as Bonita stubbornly rotated.

Unfortunately for me, the rest of my line-up psychically followed suit, with one volunteer and then Caroline observing my attempts with some amusement... and then the wind got up a bit.

"I'm only a little thing, I'll blow away! I don't know what I did to deserve this, but can I go home now?"

Snugglebottom

Neroli's Surgery

One of our special cases right now is Neroli. Recently she developed an abscess behind her eye, which caused somewhat of a dilemma for the Rescue as the only treatment option was complete removal, a procedure we have never achieved successfully. In the past we have even opted not to have it performed, merely because we didn't want to put poor rabbits through the usual aftermath. Our current supervet, however, felt that he could change our luck and so we agreed to go ahead. Our girl has made things more complicated as she also had surgery to her mouth, which was the cause of the abscess, but after a period of uncertainty we hope she is now going in the right direction.

I've resisted showing most of my images of her since the operation as her face looks a little worse for wear at the moment but she's a fluffy girl so I have high hopes she'll come right once her fur grows back. At least her husbun Oslo is looking after her well.

"Hey! Paparazzi! No photographs of the lady!"

Cheeks Of Guilt

I know I had my lunch here a moment ago... You place something down and then seconds later, it's gone... You haven't seen it, have you Fidget?

"Mmphf mmphf?"