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!
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