Because of BUNS (click here for their website), a deeper understanding of bunnies has rooted inside of me. I have learned through talking to the rabbits at Bunny festival and at the shelter just how conscious and intelligent rabbits truly are. I hate to admit this but for some reason, in my younger years, the rabbits in my household always seem to come last. I loved them for their cuteness and their soft fur, but I did not respect them like I do today. My childhood rabbit, Forgery, was won during an Easter Fair at my elementary school by forging my parents’ signature on a raffle ticket. He lived down in the barn in a deluxe hutch my father had a master carpenter build. Knowing now how much exercise a bunny needs it makes me sick to think how long Forgery lived in that hutch. I let him out only once a week to run in the pastures amongst the horses. When it was time to catch him he would run to me, let me pick him up for hugs and kisses and then jump out of my arms for another hour romp. Then came Sera, then Boomer, then Noah and Grace and now Bunny Bean. I was a bad bunny mom. Sera went to go live somewhere else when my wolf came into the family and wanted to eat her for a snack. Boomer had to live at Doggie Day Care when I had a rental crisis, Noah and Grace were happier with some one else and now Bunny Bean is making me live a living amends to my prior bunnies. Boomer was the easiest of all my bunnies. He got along with everyone and always went to the bathroom in the litter box. He had a room of his own but mostly had free range of the house. He was perfect. Bean is very smart, but can be extremely mischievous. She demands a huge pen in my small house. She bribed me with the agreement that if she has the large comfy ottoman in her pen she will not scale out. She shreds any electrical wire she can spot exposed. She chews books and curtains and digs elaborate tunnels in the yard. When I try to communicate my frustrations with her behavior she argues that I do not know bunnies. Though we have made progress. She no longer bites me, she enjoys snuggling, takes naps on top of my wolf and comes when she is called (If I have her favorite treats).
Each of my rabbits has taught me something about the way rabbits think and live in the world. The rabbits at BUNS give me a completely different perceptive and expand my knowledge of bunnies.
At the first Bunny Festival I worked, a rabbit told me, “Thank my person for talking to me from a distance every night. I loved seeing the Eiffel Tower.” It amazed me when the woman told me she had just come back from France.
Last month I spoke to some Bunnies that are up for adoption at the BUNS shelter. Here are some of the things they said that astounded me.
Sugar said, “Sometimes outside you follow a smell and then you look up and think, ‘I shouldn’t be right here”. I didn’t know that rabbits follow smells.
Skittles said, “I bite when I feel people are not paying attention. I do not like it when their eyes are not focused. If they want to handle me they should be focused on me. I feel it is dangerous when someone is thinking about two things at once.” This is such a basic concept that people forget about when they are handling animals. For animals that are so in tune with nature it makes sense that they would feel more secure if people handled them with concentrated awareness.
Leo was very frightened of me. When I asked why he told me, “I am scared of people because I do not want to be made into bunny stew, to be skinned for my fur or have someone put something bad in my eyes” This broke my heart. The bunnies listen to everything we say around them. It is important not to joke or talk about bunny abuse around the rabbits. Leo didn’t know that his future wouldn’t come to harsh treatment.
Lyla has been watching Andrea the bunny trainer work the bunnies. She says, “I am not a stupid cute rabbit, I am an athlete. I want to learn to jump through hoops, run through tunnels and pick things up.” Not only do rabbits need exercise but they need mental stimulation as well.
Trudy says, “I want a different cage every week. I get bored of the scenery.” Some bunnies need variations. I was told Trudy digs tunnels after she said; “I think that I could solve everybody’s major problem in just one week. I would tell them to dig a hole, put their problems in a hole and come back in a week to see if it is still there.” This is the best advice I have heard in a long time.
Bunnies also have a sense of humor. When I told Melissa that the volunteers think she has an attitude she replied, “You know salt blocks? Those volunteers that say I have an attitude have salt blocks in their head.” She added, “I don’t want any one to dislike me. I want to be friends with everyone.”
What I have learned from all my bunnies and the rabbits at BUNS is that they are intelligent, funny, and need my full attention when handling them. Because they do not bark like a dog or are able to roam freely outside like a cat they are commonly mistaken for not being intelligent. Bean has reminded me that if I put the time into her, like I would a new puppy, she too can be free around the house and well behaved. They need just as much are attention as the other animals. The bunnies are so pure in their spirit and amaze me every time I open my eyes to watch, understand and talk to them.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADOPTING A RABBIT PLEASE GO TO BUNS. CLICK HERE FOR THEIR WEBSITE
BEAN, MAIA & STORM