Back in March of 2012, we purchased a bunny, Bruce, a grey Netherland Dwarf, for the purpose
of bringing home a companion for our female Mini Rex, Cotton. Cotton’s
original hutch mate, Bullet, passed away in late October 2011.
Bruce and Cotton lived happily together until early November 2012, I believe the 7th, when Cotton began showing signs of being in distress. Later that night/early morning around 12:30 a.m. she died. I’m so very thankful I was able to hold her during her last hour of life. I cherish the memories we enjoyed w/her. She was a wonderful first pet for our daughter. (See photo of Bullet and Cotton in the right margin. Cotton is on the left and Bullet is on the right.)
A few weeks prior to her death, my mother in law found a little black bunny hopping around in her yard. A couple of days later, there were TWO bunnies! It didn’t take long before we were asked to get them, because she feared they’d get attacked by the dogs in her neighborhood. I searched the internet for ‘Lost…’ ads, but found none. I really didn’t want two extra bunnies! They were someone’s pets, because they were very domesticated. I couldn’t understand why someone would put them out! As it turned out, the bunnies were male and female. Ha! It’s funny now when I think of it, but at the time, figuring how to house them was a tad bit stressful. We ended up dividing the hutch. Cotton and Bruce shared one half, and we took the ramp out on the other side, and separated the male (bottom) and female (top).
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| This is Betty. |
I really tried to find a home for them, but we did not get any takers. Every day we fostered them, meant another day we grew more attached to them, of course! By the end of that week, I was resolved to keep them.
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| This is Klondike. |
I look back now and thank the LORD for His sweet compassion towards us in those days.
We’d just lost Mark's father one week prior. In fact, the day following
his memorial service, the female showed up in Maw maw's
backyard. ‘Betty’ was a sweet distraction for all of us, then ‘Klondike’
came a long too! We named the bunnies after Mark's parents, which only seemed right at the time.
Tricia, Mark's sister, said, “Daddy sent Mother a bunny”. We all laughed when we realized, "Oh my word, Daddy
sent Mother TWO bunnies". Ha!
I scheduled neuter surgery at
Maverick Animal Clinic for February, so we had that to look forward to, but then on November 7th,
Cotton passed away. : (
Bruce grieved. He wasn't like
himself. After the black bunnies’ neuter surgery, I thought bonding them
would help and Bruce wouldn’t feel so alone, but that didn’t go well. We tried
bonding several times, and each time they tussled and fought in such a way that
made me think ‘this will never work’. Bruce regressed to marking his space. He had always been such a clean bunny, so I knew
sharing space w/another male rabbit was going to be a challenge for him, esp’ly
since there was only one female. The boy bunnies were friendly through
the wire wall that separated them…they sniffed one another and laid next to one
another; We even switched them around so they could sniff one another’s
space to get used to one another's scents, but to put them in a neutral space together
did not go well. They each rec’d a few bad scratches and needed time to
heal. I pretty much decided bonding would likely never
happen. I hated the thought of that. I didn’t want Bruce to be
alone on his side of the hutch for the rest of his life. Bunnies take care of one another, so to think of him not having that anymore was sad to me. I also realized, I'd never be able to put him out
in the yard w/another rabbit. He’d always have to do everything alone… :
( . I failed to say, after the black rabbits’ neuter surgery, we
were able to reunite them and they didn’t take long to re-bond, so they now share
the right side of the hutch, top and bottom, and do everything together.
Well, something happened a few weeks ago that I was not anticipating. I saw a post on our vet’s FB wall of a
couple of rabbits that had been dropped off at their office, so they were
trying to find homes for them. There was a male and a female and they
were being offered ‘free to a good home’. They were not a bonded pair.
They were dropped off separately. I was shocked when I saw the
female. She looked just like Bruce, but w/out the white spot on the
nose. She appeared to be a Netherland Dwarf, but I can't be too sure. If not, then she's possibly a Netherland Dwarf mix...?
I could hardly wait to make a visit to the vets' office the next morning, which the post on Facebook encouraged those interested to do. Everyone in my family
agreed I should go to meet her. So, the following morning, Katherine and I went to our vet’s office soon after they opened. We
were taken back to a room to meet the bunny and spend time w/her. As soon
as we were able to hold her, we knew we’d bring her home. She was
extremely docile! It was sad to me to think she’d been someone’s pet, but
evidently, released to fend for herself. She was and still is soo tiny!
Our vet was told she was found
hopping around an apartment complex. Dr. Hart gave us plenty of time to love on her. He'd already examined her and said she appeared well, and guessed her age to be between 2-3 years, but she seems much younger than that to me. What do I know?
We couldn’t have been more
excited. My only concern at the time was that Bruce had to be willing to bond
w/her. So, Dr. Hart encouraged us to bring her back if bonding didn’t go well.
My plan was to return her on Monday if need be.
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| Katherine and Belle at the vet's office. |
I can hardly believe how easy and quickly Bruce bonded w/’Belle’ after we brought her home. They didn’t tussle. They were not aggressive. Belle seemed fearful, so it took a little time for her to allow Bruce to get close to her, but when she finally did, he was slow and gentle w/her, and they immediately faced off, nose to nose, and submitted to one another. Eventually, they did start humping, but that didn’t happen until after I’d put them in the hutch together, so I figured they would work it out. We left to meet friends for dinner, and when we returned, they were fine…no injuries or fur anywhere in the hutch to show they’d tussled or fought. YAY!!
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| Bruce and Belle's first bunny date. |
It wasn't until the next morning that I was able to witness them grooming one another, which is the best sign of two bunnies' acceptance of one another, and this is what I saw…
Bruce and Belle are soooooo happy to be living together.
The first couple of days after bringing Belle home, Bruce was very protective of her, thus the first photo above. Ha~ His forward position, and even his "You can't have her." stance was quite humorous to see everyday. The honeymoon is over, so to speak, and he is at peace with our checking in and routine maintenance and feeding/watering schedule.
Within a week or so of Belle getting situated in her new hutch, she started showing signs of nesting!!! Of course, at the time, I was crying..."Oh Lord, please don't let it be so!!!!", but now she's given us another pleasure to laugh about!
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| Belle's beautiful nest. |
Since there was no rushing the reality of this, we had to "wait and see". I knew Bruce couldn't have impregnated her, being that he's neutered. However, that didn't mean another boy bunny didn't try before we brought her home. As it turned out, she was not pregnant, but only hormonal for thinking she wanted to be. Poor thing. She must've really loved her new home, because after settling in, she was very protective of her space, and had a lot to do for her 'ghost babies'.
So, all this to say, we've had plenty to keep us occupied while in the midst of our kitchen renovations, not to mention unpacking boxes, and attempting to restore peace and order to our garage, where everything was packed.
I can always step outside the back door, and feel the tension flow out of me. Our rabbits bring me soo much joy, and all the more so when I see each of them enjoying life with the bunny they love.
