Once it was obvious that we would soon have more rabbits in the pen, I began trying to train Peter and Daisy to use a litter box. Peter took to it in one day. Daisy, on the other hand, refused to go into the litter box, but preferred to do her business right beside it. After trying every trick I knew (after all I had raised 5 kids), I narrowed the space until Daisy had very little choice. It worked splendidly.....until I widened the space again. Daisy and I finally agreed to disagree. To this day, she does what she does right next to the litter box, but NEVER in it. Guess who gets to clean up after her every day?
Paulito and Daphne arrived on my birthday. Because there were only two, they were bigger than the other litter, and (please don't tell them this) they really weren't as cute. Daphne has a flattened nose, and Paulito looked like a roly-poly Peter, only with a devious glint in his eyes. This deviousness was well hidden at first, since baby rabbits don't leave the nest for several weeks. It became obvious soon enough!
We had become accustomed to letting the rabbits run free in the chicken house at night while the chickens were roosting. They seemed to enjoy hopping about and burrowing in the straw, and just having room to run. In the morning we would entice the rabbits back into their pen with fresh greens and hay, then open the door and let the chickens run free. It seemed routine and simple enough.
One morning I went to the chicken house and found only 3 rabbits. Paulito was no where to be seen. I looked everywhere, whistled and called his name. Nothing. I decided to try being very quiet. Sure enough, I heard a noise on the chicken roost. There was Paulito, hiding behind a post, chuckling at me. I was not laughing. First of all, the roost is 3 feet off the floor. How did he get there? Well rabbits can jump, silly...but 5 week old rabbits shouldn't be able to jump that high!!
Soon it became almost routine. Paulito would escape. Mary would chase him. In time he began to find holes that would let him escape outside. Mary would patch the holes. He would find another one. He loved playing hide and seek. He would hide inside the bale of hay. He would hide behind the old machinery stored in the hen house. Each time he escaped, he would run and jump and shake his little short tail at me as if to say....nanner, nanner, I won...again!
I began to get worried about Paulito. He would sometimes run away and stay out over night. I was concerned that some predator might get him. I was also concerned about a cute little cottontail rabbit that seemed to be hanging around Paulito! Since he lived a protected life, I was sure he would fall for her feminine wiles. At times he would be gone for two nights. Just when I would decide that he was gone forever, he would be in the chicken house, lazily munching on a piece of hay, looking at me as if it were all MY fault that he couldn't get back into the locked rabbit pen!
At five and a half months, Paulito made the trip to the pet clinic. He didn't seem to be too upset about his new condition. Miss Hussie Cottontail, however, was later found as roadkill, on our road. She must have been so distracted that Paulito was no longer the play boy bunny she once knew, she just forgot to look both ways before crossing the road. Poor Miss Hussie Cottontail!
As the rabbits grew, they seemed to need more space. It was a real quandary for me. I don't like to see animals caged, yet sometimes that is the only way to protect them. I decided it was something to discuss with St. Francis. After all, he talked to the animals. He would know what to do!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I'm With You, Beatrix......
Many years ago, when I first read The Tale of Peter Rabbit, I didn't really appreciate Beatrix Potter's love of animals, or her understanding of their characters and personalities. Now that I have time to appreciate our farm critters in a way that I did not when they were just part of my chore list, I value Ms. Potter's insight. Each little critter has a unique and individual personality.
I first met Peter Rabbit (not the one in the afore mentioned book!) when our neighbor came to our house wanting to know if we would "like" a rabbit. She had been raising them as 4-H projects, but now she was moving on to another phase, and had to get rid of her rabbits. Reluctantly, we agreed to become Peter's adoptive parents. What an adorable critter he is. He is gentle, loving, and VERY quiet. He loves munching on fresh greens, and talking (VERY quietly) to me.We fashioned him a pen in the chicken house. He had been raised with chickens, so he adapted very quickly to his new digs.
Things became complicated when the neighbor returned one day to say she had one more rabbit to "get rid of," and her dad was going to put it in the soup pot if she didn't find a home for it soon. She assured us that this rabbit was as tame as Peter, and even though she was a girl rabbit, Peter had been "fixed" so it would not create a problem for us. Since I had by this time become completely smitten with Peter, Daisy was welcomed into the rabbit pen.
Now, I don't want to admit that she (the neighbor) knew a sucker when she saw one, but it wasn't long before it was obvious that Peter and Daisy had become a couple, and that Peter was indeed fully intact! Ergo, we soon had a rather large litter of absolutely adorable baby bunnies hopping around the pen. We knew this was going to happen, of course, because of the nesting habit of Daisy. She had fashioned a snuggly, warm home for her babes out of fur from her own body. She placed this little nest in the farther most corner of the pen. Voila! There they were one morning when we went in to feed the critters.
Six weeks later we were able to place the bunnies at a local pet shop, whose owner assured us they would be easily adopted because they were so cute. Ah....., now all we had to do was get Peter to the veterinarian ASAP. There was, of course, some heated discussion about the necessity of spending that kind of money on a RABBIT, when fried rabbit was considered a delicacy!
Having grown up on a farm, I had eaten almost ever critter I had helped raise, so I understood the theory. I no longer accepted that theory however, because we did not need the meat, not the income from selling the rabbit for meat. Besides, Peter had become my buddy. He trusted me, and I loved him. In the end, he spent a day with the veterinarian, and was placed back in the pen with Daisy.
A few weeks later, Daisy was again building a nest of fur and straw. We could not believe this was real, because Peter was not longer capable of pro-creation. As it turned out, that sneaky rabbit had pulled one last little surprise on us BEFORE he made his visit to the pet clinic! Thus we acquired Paulito and Daphne!
I don't want to suggest that those sweet and docile rabbits are capable of revenge, but Peter's son, Paulito arrived in the nest a contrary and wretched little creature who tugged at the heart strings one second, and raised the blood pressure the next.
Did Peter encourage him? Or... could it be that Paulito is just the wild hare in the hutch?
I first met Peter Rabbit (not the one in the afore mentioned book!) when our neighbor came to our house wanting to know if we would "like" a rabbit. She had been raising them as 4-H projects, but now she was moving on to another phase, and had to get rid of her rabbits. Reluctantly, we agreed to become Peter's adoptive parents. What an adorable critter he is. He is gentle, loving, and VERY quiet. He loves munching on fresh greens, and talking (VERY quietly) to me.We fashioned him a pen in the chicken house. He had been raised with chickens, so he adapted very quickly to his new digs.
Things became complicated when the neighbor returned one day to say she had one more rabbit to "get rid of," and her dad was going to put it in the soup pot if she didn't find a home for it soon. She assured us that this rabbit was as tame as Peter, and even though she was a girl rabbit, Peter had been "fixed" so it would not create a problem for us. Since I had by this time become completely smitten with Peter, Daisy was welcomed into the rabbit pen.
Now, I don't want to admit that she (the neighbor) knew a sucker when she saw one, but it wasn't long before it was obvious that Peter and Daisy had become a couple, and that Peter was indeed fully intact! Ergo, we soon had a rather large litter of absolutely adorable baby bunnies hopping around the pen. We knew this was going to happen, of course, because of the nesting habit of Daisy. She had fashioned a snuggly, warm home for her babes out of fur from her own body. She placed this little nest in the farther most corner of the pen. Voila! There they were one morning when we went in to feed the critters.
Six weeks later we were able to place the bunnies at a local pet shop, whose owner assured us they would be easily adopted because they were so cute. Ah....., now all we had to do was get Peter to the veterinarian ASAP. There was, of course, some heated discussion about the necessity of spending that kind of money on a RABBIT, when fried rabbit was considered a delicacy!
Having grown up on a farm, I had eaten almost ever critter I had helped raise, so I understood the theory. I no longer accepted that theory however, because we did not need the meat, not the income from selling the rabbit for meat. Besides, Peter had become my buddy. He trusted me, and I loved him. In the end, he spent a day with the veterinarian, and was placed back in the pen with Daisy.
A few weeks later, Daisy was again building a nest of fur and straw. We could not believe this was real, because Peter was not longer capable of pro-creation. As it turned out, that sneaky rabbit had pulled one last little surprise on us BEFORE he made his visit to the pet clinic! Thus we acquired Paulito and Daphne!
I don't want to suggest that those sweet and docile rabbits are capable of revenge, but Peter's son, Paulito arrived in the nest a contrary and wretched little creature who tugged at the heart strings one second, and raised the blood pressure the next.
Did Peter encourage him? Or... could it be that Paulito is just the wild hare in the hutch?
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