When I met my beloved, I warned him. Children, and animals. He was either head over heels- oblivious, or seriously underestimated what I would seriously need. But a good sport he is, probably out of devotion. And at least it wasn't horses and mules and goats. Could have been worse.
Oh, the water snakes and fish and crabs and snails and hamsters and the beautiful rats and cats and dogs and eels and rescues and ferals and founds and all. But then, there were the rabbits.
Yes, we fell and fell hard for the rabbits, my two younger ones and I.
We began with one, who lived in the entryway, a house rabbit, looked like a Dobie, and hated everyone.
When we moved to a sheep farm, he kept escaping over and over, until we realized he was happy being wild. And was safe and well-fed.
In winter, we would see his tracks, as he came out of his burrow, dug deep beside the barn, wander over to the sheep to say hi, ate their grain and pumpkin and whatever else was on the menu, went over to the spring and drank, and hopped by the chickens for a hello and a gander at what they were having for breakfast.
We rarely saw him, but saw evidence of him. He was far happier than before.
We then got three rabbits at Dave's, little beautiful babies. We just couldn't help it. I was more than a push over. I WAS the pushing over.
Turns out two boys and a girl, and eventually they all have to be separated anyway, either due to fighting or procreation.
We visited a woman up in the hill-towns for ceramics lessons who had two angora house rabbits rambling about her cottage, and friends for years who had a fence built far into the earth, for their outdoor rabbits.
So we constructed fences and let them have burrows and gave them small houses to perch upon.
We then decided to go visit the House Rabbit Connection, where they rescued rabbits. Yup. deadly move. We came home with three rabbits. One angora, which my daughter, of course, swore she would brush every single day. Right.
One fateful day, we got home to find that the girls had climbed to the top of their little house, and leaped to freedom,one after the other. And so the boys, in a huge 6'x8'x6' cage, had dug their way under and out, for the first time, to hang with those girls. Needless to say there had been fights, and sex and racing about. We caught everyone, and lo and behold of course we learned we had three litters of babies. Oh joy!
But they were all beautiful, one litter Himalayan like their siamese-looking Mama. We eventually found homes at local pet stores,and settled down to one sadly lost escapee in the woods and two babies we just had to keep. Eight bunnies.
I bartered with a good friend to build them four huge luxury cages, 6'high, 8' long, divided,with weather protected areas at the end. We then lined up the four cages with eight rabbit runs, so that they could all hang out together (without sex or fighting, of course) , and they were very beautiful and happy. HIgh up from the ground, and strong enough to deter the frequent passing of bears, and other creatures who would not mind a tasty snack. In winter, I would plastic the outside walls and we kept their little nooks filled with fresh fragrant hay to eat and nestle in, against the winter cold.
We would bring them inside (the parent always has to remember, or the rabbits are forgotten...it's always up to the parent, the welfare of the creatures) and make mazes and nests and let them hang with the cats and hop about the house and let them help with homework, and sit on laps and make them cool toys and leave trails of treats for them to follow and cuddle them and love them.
My kids learned to relax the bunnies, on their backs on your lap, and make them fall asleep. A trick or a gift...one or the other. Their big or little bunny feet in the air as their beautiful bunny faces slept in repose.
The amount of poop was just astounding, obviously, and eventually two of them became paralyzed and needed to be inside, with diapers. Yes. Really.
But over time ,my kids grew up and the rabbits grew old and there came the day when we were all done with beautiful, inquisitive, intelligent, individual, curious, affectionate, wise, loving rabbits.
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