This is Rosie. She is oozing with sweetness...
And guess what? We have another bunny...
This is Anakin. He's the brains of the bunch. Yes, I did write bunch...
This is Heavy (named after a clone trooper) and he's all personality.
Oh, but wait! There's more...
Lastly, this is Thumper. Everyone has to have a Thumper eventually.
I know what you're thinking. Is she auditioning for some animal hoarder reality show? No, I am not. Let me start from the beginning.
About 2 months ago, we noticed a domestic gray dwarf rabbit in the neighborhood. The rabbit seemed quite content with living the free life, so we decided to leave food and water out at night for the rabbit. Our next door neighbors did the same. We decided to name him Gunther. They decided to call it Roger. We all enjoyed taking care of Gunther/Roger and would talk with the neighbors about where we last saw him and how much fun it was for the kids to experience this.
Last Friday, my daughter decided to practice her cartwheels out in the front yard when suddenly mid-cartwheel she noticed a white fur ball run across the yard. She went to see what it was and realized it was a baby bunny and alerted us to her discovery. Quickly, we ran outside and saw the little bunny balled up in the corner of our door step. My husband scooped the bunny up and placed him in our dog kennel (minus the dog). It was then that we realized Gunther/Roger was not a boy after all...it was a Jessica! At this point we were all oohing and ahhing over Heavy our new baby bunny, not realizing that there would be more to come over the next two hours.
Approximately, one hour after we found the first bunny I noticed a cat trying to get something in the bushes. Well, as I'm sure you've figured out by now the cat was trying to capture 2 more bunnies dashing through the yard. I quickly shooed the cat away and added 2 more bunnies to the kennel. My kids were elated to say the least that we had 3 bunnies. And, at the moment, so was I. I love animals. I love babies. I love baby animals. It was my birthday too! I was thinking to myself, "Wow! We have 3 bunnies!" Then, 24 hours later I was thinking to myself, "Yikes! We have 3 bunnies!"
We began to stress about if we had done the right thing by taking the bunnies in. Maybe we should put them in the bushes where we think the nest is. What if the cat comes back? Does the Mama rabbit miss her babies? Will the raccoon eat them if we put them back (oh yes, even a raccoon was trying to get a piece of baby bunny)? Will they die if we keep them? Will they multiply again? My poor husband! So after all of the what ifs, we decided to call our veterinarian. He said that the bunnies best chance for survival was with us and not the wild, because they are domestic rabbits. That was all we needed to hear. My maternal instincts kicked in and off to the pet store we went.
Ah...but there are 4 bunnies you say. Yes, that night after we returned from the vet's office we were outside with my neighbors talking about the new additions when my son noticed a little black ball of fur by the trash cans. "How many do they have," I thought to myself? We were already committed at that point with the 3 bunnies, so we added Aniken to the family. I don't think there are anymore bunnies in the front yard. If more appear, I may have to take Jessica (a.k.a Gunther) in to get fixed. That is if I can catch her. She's a free spirit.
The good news is that my neighbors have agreed to take 2 of the bunnies after they get a little stronger and older. So in the end we will only have 2 bunnies... I think =)
Have I showed you Rosie...
Do you see the wittle arms? Too cute!
I think she's my favorite.
Cheers to baby bunnies,
Jamie
