“Am I like that Donkey Sancho”
Last year at dawn, I found my present bunny Bean hopping happily on the sidewalk in down town Ojai. Wild bunnies watched from the bushes praying she would not hop into early morning traffic. My Australian Shepherd instantly fell in love, but I didn’t feel I had the time for Bean so she flew with me to NY to live with my childhood best friend and his kids. In April, I spoke to her remotely and she pleaded, “Come and get me. It stinks of smoke and I am never out of my pen.” …

In July, Bean flew back to California with me. She bit me twice before we left NY. I told her I stopped working with aggression and she must be nice. She squeaked, lunged and drew blood. Had Bean been traumatized? My friend told me, “If you are under three feet tall you can do anything with her. Watch her close. Her delicacy is phone and cable wires. She chews through them faster than rats in an attic” I found out quickly that my printer wires is what she desired most. It took me two weeks to find a replacement. All my previous bunnies have thought themselves to be like cats. I never had any problems. Bean has stretched my bunny awareness.
Here is what I have learned from Bean: I can walk into her cage in bare feet or flip-flops and safely pick her up. If I am wearing sneakers or boots she will lunge and bop me hard with her nose. If I reach for her with recently painted nails the smell will set off an attack. If I am playing music with bass or drums she will glare at me, thump her back paw and say, “I hate this music.” She has no fear of my wolf dog and will sit on her back or sniff her ears as if they were littermates. My Aussie wants me to state that Bean is his best friend. Bean has an escape route on the border of every room and if a curtain or wire is in her way she will quickly shred it so her path is clear of obstructions. The most amazing thing is she listens intently to my pet psychic phone consultations. When I want Bean to come inside she normally hops around the back yard for eight minutes until she goes under a lounge chair and allows me to pick her. The other day as I stepped towards her, she froze in the middle of the yard, looked me in the eyes and said, “Am I like that donkey Sancho? He doesn’t like to go in either. He doesn’t like to be haltered and I don’t like to be picked up. I am going to take myself in.” She then hopped a few steps, kicked up her back legs, and darted into the house, through the living room, and into her pen in my office. A few days later as I was carrying her outside she said, “When I dig outside I am being careful not to dig up wires and the sprinkler system. I don’t want to be gased.” A client was having problems with prairie dogs and wanted me to warn them that this may happen if they don’t stop being destructive.
I ask Bean now if she wants to say anything to my readers. She replies, “Tell them it is hard to learn everything about life. But if you pay attention you get smarter.”
WHO SAYS A WOLF-DOG AND BUNNY CAN NOT BE FRIENDS?