October 4: Rabbits


Martini.
In reality it should be Antenna, but I cleared out that picture in a mistaken fit of homepage housecleaning, and currently I dunno where it is. (There's a stack of 3.5" disks, there's also about three boxes of pictures. Somewhere.)

I don't think of rabbits as very satisfactory pets. They sit in their cages and eat and defecate. Occasionally they get out and eat the veggies in the garden, and have to be caught. They make the odd connection with the other beings around: Martini had a nice relationship with Gummitch, for instance, and Antenna wanted to play with Sailor and sometimes come let me pet her, but usually they seem to be instant compost machines.
However, we have had a goodly number of them. I only ever bought one. The rest just come our way. (Rich and I agree, no more rabbits, at least till the spring. And only then if, again, it appears.)

DOMINO was our first rabbit. Rich's former landlady called us in spring of '78 and told us that there was a rabbit hopping around in her yard, did we want it? Steve already had a pet rat, so there was no real reason to say no. Rich and the girls went over and caught this black-and-white rabbit. He built a cage with an open area and an enclosed private area.
My inlaws were visiting, and Rich had taken them to San Francisco with the "bigs" in June. I stayed home with the "littles." I looked at Domino, and noted that "he" was losing large patches of fur... then I saw something pink and ugly and squirming in the fur! My first thought was something awful like rats, then I realized "he", Domino, wasn't. Rich called and that was my announcement. "Guess what? Domino is a female!" It didn't take him long to realize what I was saying.
There were 9 in the litter, but 4 were either born dead or died in the first day. A 5th succumbed during the first week, and we were left with four babybuns. Naturally, they were Flopsy, Mopsy (the two white ones), Cottontail (the tawny one) and Peter, a black and white.


Roni with Flopsy and Cottontail, Monica with Mopsy and Peter at about a week old.
They are about the same height as the cage!

The girls would play with them in the yard whenever the cats were indoors.One of the white rabbits died at about 3 or 4 weeks, and a week later the other one, and Peter, died. We were heartbroken. Monica decided to keep Cottontail and get rid of Domino, who bit. We gave her to the brother of one of my Girl Scouts. He was in the Agriculture program at Encina High and assured me that they didn't eat the rabbits.

MARTINI. So Cottontail became Cot-tail, became Cocktail, became Martini. Monica was worried that he would die like the others and took him with us to the Fourth of July picnic in Carmichael Park, an all-day event. He did go blind in one eye from the disease, but otherwise was healthy. He had a happy life in the yard, with daily walks and occasional escapes under the shed. In the summer he would get hot and we froze bottles of water and put them in his cage, and sometimes he would do unspeakable things to these or to his toys. When he was about 4 or so he had a absess behind his eye and had an operation.
Martini helped raise Gummitch, who thought he was one of the best kitten toys ever. The two played together often. When Martini was about 5, we brought him home the best thing ever...

ASHLEY! Ashley, a small black and white bunny, belonged to one of the sisters at the High School. She was moving to a different building and wanted her "baby" taken care of. Roni said "sure." Well, Martini was thrilled. At LAST! A girl bunny! Apparently, though, all those years of frozen bottles warped him, and he first attempted to mount the wrong end. At last he got organized, and wham, bam! it was all over! Somehow, the term to "mate like rabbits" sounded a lot more interesting than the actual event!
Ashley got pregnant, though, and gave birth to a litter of three. Naturally, they were Gin, Vermouth, and Olive. Vermouth died young (it was a bad year for "V" pets as we also lost a V-lizard that year, and I was looking carefully after Vince and Veronica!) We adopted out the other two.
In fall of 1985 Monica was home for a break and discovered Martini dying. He died that night and is buried in the backyard. Ashley stayed with us a number of years longer and also died at 6 or 7.

BLACKBERRY was the rabbit I actually bought to be Bernadette's 12th birthday present. She didn't adjust well and died within a few weeks.

THE TWO OLD ONES were given to us that same year by a BBS friend who needed the room. She'd had them a long time. Bernadette picked one up badly and it kicked out and broke its own back. The vet told us this happens a lot. The other lived a couple of years with us, and died of old age.

GEORGE was a big old purple lop that Roni had. "I will love him and pet him and call him George." She stayed here a few years in the late 80s and early 90s, and was killed by a pack of pitbulls that broke into our back yard. We never found out who owned the dogs.

ANTENNA was a rabbit given to me by a homeless woman in 1992 when (I believe) she was afraid her boyfriend would kill it. She was a dwarf black of some kind. The homeless woman had obviously loved her and cared for her a great deal. I gave her some money for the rabbit, though there was never any indication that she was selling her. (But she had bought a cage, and supplies, and I thought I should reimburse her.) Antenna (who had been named "Easter"), was a spoiled little bunny, fed raisins and sweet things, till she came to us. She still had a sweet tooth. Just last week I gave her some of the wild plums from the fruit cocktail tree and she was delighted. She thought it would be great fun to play with Sailor, but we thought it could be fatal, and never allowed it. They would run together, she in the cage, he out. She was nearly 7 when she died.

For someone who doesn't much like rabbits, I've certainly had my share. We aren't going to go out of our way to get any others (though I'll think of it every time I cut a pepper!) but we might have more someday.



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