The Salsa Family Holiday

Two summers ago this month I had one of my favourite family of fosters staying at home with me - Salsa and her litter of 6 kids Picante, Noelle, JJ, Browncloud, Boz and Silvio. Salsa was a beautiful rabbit and her kids were all wonderful characters, they were a joy to look after. Each of them looked very different from one another, only Picante bearing something of a resemblance to her mum, and each had very distinct personalities. One of the boys, JJ, soon established himself as one of my favourite fosters ever - massive personality, lots of energy, very confident, wouldn't take any nonsense.

After a scuffle with one of his brothers I had the job of giving him daily antibiotics and cleaning a small wound - JJ wasn't impressed and made it into an extreme sport, dealing out enthusiastic warning nips to any hands that came near, snatching the syringe and throwing it across the room. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't aggressive, but as far as he was concerned he'd told me he didn't want to play the medicine game and was just annoyed that I didn't care. Handling him was very challenging but outside of those moments he was very humanised, liked the attention and company and was always getting into everything. I think that's part of why I loved him so much - you were never bored or took him for granted and he always rewarded your efforts by being friendly and highly entertaining. I don't think I've ever had a foster rabbit I've wanted to keep more, but unfortunately Whisky took a particular dislike to him and, around here, what Whisky says goes.

Well anyway, Salsa found love and went to live with one of our volunteers. Several of the others became partners of other RRR residents. Noelle and Picante were re-homed as partners to owners rabbits. JJ was for a while a complete pain when meeting other rabbits, like with us humans he had zero tolerance of their nonsense, but eventually went home with Noelle's new owner as partner to one of her own does. So that was that, and I thought I'd probably never see him again...

But look who came back to find a new friend?!

"What, I don't get a hug?!"

"Ha ha, only joking, I'll let you keep all your fingers intact (for now)!"

And if that wasn't exciting enough, look who his new partner is!

"Hey, let's translate that excitement into some treats, eh?"

With JJ and Noelle having both lost their partners recently, they came in a few weeks back to try each other out on neutral territory and soon became good friends.

"Hey sis, shall we go have some more fun winding Archimedes up, or should we just strike some dramatic and coordinated poses to show we're bonded now and head home?"

"Poses it is.."

"Now, which way was it back to our human's house again?"

But that's not all - as they were wandering around the Rescue getting to know each other again (and no doubt catching up on all the gossip with their brother, permanent resident snuffler Browncloud), looking over their bond was a very special boarder on holiday with her partner:

"I'm here to make sure they behave. And for a holiday of course! Can you point me in the direction of the poolside bar?"

"Oh, and while you're at it, bring me a few more of these appetisers - I'm going to need something to soak up the carrotinis..."

This month has been tougher than usual as on top of my regular duties I've been helping cover DIY while super-volunteer Ian was on holiday. But despite all the hard work it has been a genuine pleasure being on site because I've been able to hang out with all my old friends! It's certainly been fun and I look forward to hearing about all their future adventures!

The White One Loves Saurus

"We brought Jeffrey (also known as Free or The White One) to the Rescue after our beloved eight-year-old lionhead cross, Daisy, passed away. Although I wouldn’t say that Jeffrey was depressed, he had become destructive, and it was clear that he was very lonely on his own. He needed a new friend to keep him company.

Caroline knows that my husband, Tom, and I are complete suckers for lionheads. We were shown the beautiful Salsa, a harlequin lionhead that had not long been separated from her babies: Boz, Browncloud, Jar-Jar Binkies, Noelle, Picante and last but by no means least Silvio, and we fell in love. Salsa was very timid and Caroline told us that she would need a rab friend to look after her. We hoped and prayed that Jeffrey would fall in love with Salsa as much as we had.

Jeffrey is a pretty laid back bun, so all fingers were crossed for a strong and speedy bond. We certainly weren’t disappointed. Caroline weaved her bonding magic, and in only a few short days Jeffrey and Salsa (sometimes known as Salsasaur or Saurus) were very much a couple and came home with us.

At first, Salsa was very shy and nervous of humans. However, Jeffrey soon showed her the ropes; where the food came from, how to get into the house and even how to do some tricks. The two are now very much as thick as thieves. Jeffrey is clearly the brains behind the operation, communicating his naughty thoughts to Salsa. Salsa turns Jeffrey’s thoughts into actions, and often takes the rap (see photo of Salsa on the table with Jeffrey cheering her on at the sidelines)!

Jeffrey and Salsa have wonderful individual personalities that complement each other perfectly. Thank you Caroline for finding Jeffrey his perfect match!"

Back in the RRR

After speaking to Caroline yesterday we decided that it is probably safest to return Salsa to the Rescue - one of her boys appears to be physically maturing ahead of schedule and we don't want him to be brother to his own children (or indeed have any children of his own, there being enough bunnies in Rescues as it is).

So one last picture of her before she goes back later today. This was yesterday after I'd health-checked them all (making them grumpy) and fed them (making them less grumpy) then left them to chill out in the hot summer evening (making them all sleepy and snugly, apparently). I should also point out that this is not their area, this is the hay storage part of the shed, but it was nearer their dinner bowls and when you've gotta flop, you've gotta flop.

"Darn straight. Maximum floppage in 3...2..."

Dippy Salsa

Picture the scene: I'm sat on the floor of the shed hand feeding the foster kids, five of whom are clambering all over me to get at the food. Salsa, usually wary of me, is boldly pushing her face in too, driven to ignore her suspicion of me by her love of snacks. I turn to see what kid number six is up to, only to find the clever little fellow has ignored the feeding frenzy on the floor to climb up to where I'd stashed the bowl I'd been taking the pellets from and was helping himself.

I think it seemed more hilarious because it was the super-floofy kid who looks like a little brown cloud. [sigh]

So anyway, hopefully this is a sign Salsa is gaining confidence in me - she certainly seemed happier around me, even if she did get a little stompy when the snacks ran out.

"Oh stop making a fuss - I decided you weren't that bad when you sneaked me that bit of broccoli when the kids weren't looking."