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If you do not have pop cans, but would like to help, you can click here to see how you can help these bunnies. |
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MEET THE BUNNIES |
Mouse - One of Duchess' babies, born September 6, 2002, is not as friendly as some of the other bunnies. She is very protective of her hutch and is one of only a few that makes a grunting (warning) sound during feeding and hutch cleaning. This seems to be a trait of some does (female rabbits are referred to as "does", males are "bucks"). I cannot remember having a buck that makes a grunting sound. She has a very thick heavy coat that sheds for long periods throughout the year.
Flopsy, Mouse's brother, was named for his thick heavy ears, one of which would "flop" over when he was young because the muscles could not yet support the weight of the ear. (Not to be confused with a lop-eared rabbit which is a different breed). His ears are fine now. He is a very friendly, loving buck with a lot of character. He has a very round fat face that makes him especially adorable and a thick brindle colored coat that feels wonderful to the touch. He loves to be petted and have someone run their fingers through his coat. "Brindle" is not recognized as a color in rabbits, the correct term is "agouti", which means that a hair shaft has three or more colors. I use the term "brindle" because most people can visualize the tan, brown, black, or dark color.
Plumpsie, Flopsy's sister and the third of Duchess' babies, has a more elegant, delicate build than her siblings. Her coat is a slightly lighter brindle color than her brother and has noticeably lighter, finer fur, much like her mother. Both she and Duchess (her mother) have slender, delicate front feet and small bone structure throughout. She is easy to manage and always eager for attention. She is particularly fond of her morning treat and the attention that comes with it.
Ms. Whitehead was rescued from a hole in the foundation of one neighbor's house. She too was pregnant when rescued. Rescued January 24, 2003, she had her babies February 9, 2003. Named for the snow white patch of fur on the back of the ears and neck as she ran away from us at first. She is the most popular doe in our rabbitry. We routinely let all the rabbits out one at a time to exercise and visit each other's hutches. We also have a large outdoor exercise pen that they use year long. Ms. Whitehead is a real lover and enjoys human contact very much, as well as her weekly "visits" with her pals in the rabbitry.
Tar-Baby (Please to not infer anything about the name of this bunny) is one of Ms Whitehead's babies. Because of years of inbreeding, MANY of the offspring eventually were black in color. This is also true for cats and dogs that are allowed to roam free and interbreed. Tar-Baby, like Mouse does not like anyone messing around with her hutch. She is very protective of her territory, even during feeding. Although eager for a morning snack, she does not readily accept her treat, but will wait patiently until the food is dropped into her feeding bowl. She is one of several does that periodically start "nest building" even though they are not pregnant. The "broom" of hay in her mouth has been gathered to build a nest in a quiet corner of her hutch along with hair that she strips from her underbelly. She is not easy to manage, so we use extra care when feeding and grooming her.
Holly, Tar-Baby's sister, was successfully housed with an older female rabbit named Scruffy, now gone many years. The loss of her roommate does not seem to have affected her. Most of our rabbits appear to be descended from the Rex Breed lineage, however, a few are obviously from the Dutch breed. Holly has "Dutch" genes somewhere in her ancestry, thus the name "Holly". She is happy and playful, and also a nest builder. Our bunnies have a stuffed toy animal as a surrogate pal. Holly will actually place her stuffed toy into the completed nest like an offspring. We removed it once to see what she would do, and she promptly returned it to her nest.
Blacky White Foot has one white front foot making him easily recognizable. He was rescued the summer of 2003. He was apparently the loser in serious encounters with other bucks as he had a torn ear and other scrapes that needed mending when he was rescued. Rabbits are highly social and emotional animals, and Blacky White Foot exhibits this when out of his hutch for run time. However, he will occasionally become VERY withdrawn when in his hutch, even refusing to come forward to accept a rabbit's favorite treat (banana or papaya). More than once we have removed him from his hutch for a thorough "physical exam", only to find nothing wrong with him. We even tried moving his hutch several times to live near different bunnies thinking he did not like his neighbor, but he still goes into a funk occasionally. He is the smallest and lightest of our group.
The "Boot Brothers" (One Boot and Two Boots) were rescued the summer of 2003. We believe they are brothers because they are nearly identical. Each has an agouti coat where the body fur is tipped with light gray, then black, and a slate gray underneath. Both of them have a solid black head. They are named for the white fur on their front feet. One Boot has white fur on his left front foot, and nowhere else. Two Boots has white fur on both front feet, and nowhere else. Though pairing of two males is very rare, these two get along just fine and thoroughly enjoy each other's company without any conflict. They each have their own hutch to ensure they each get the proper amount of food (Two Boots being the smaller of the two could easily be crowded out of chow at dinner), but spend play time together.
Shaggy was also rescued in the summer of 2003. He had a bad case of fur mites at the time making his coat look very bad (shaggy). He looked pathetic to the casual observer, but won our hearts instantly. A quick treatment eliminated the fur mites and his coat quickly grew in thick and full. He is crazy for bananas and can smell them from a long distance. One evening, my husband was starting to peel a banana and Shaggy jumped onto his lap and went after the aromatic fruit. To discourage the start of any bad behavior, we put him back on the floor, then offered him the end of the banana so he could take a bite. He sank his teeth into it and wouldn't let go, even when my husband lifted up the banana. It was interesting to observe his tenacity. His surrogate playmate is a "shaggy" teddy bear. They are inseparable.
Brownie was rescued in June of 2003. We had been enticing her with carrots to facilitate rescuing her. Remember, most of our bunnies were born and raised outside of any confinement, so they were naturally wary. She was brown when we first adopted her, thus the name "Brownie", though as soon as she changed coats, her fur came in slate gray. We now believe the carotene in the carrots and sunlight were the cause of her brown appearance, but, since she was already named, "Brownie" she will always be to us. She is very gentle and loving.
Easter, actually born Easter Day 2004, early in the evening, is indeed an "Easter Bunny". Her mother (Nina) is no longer with us, but had a tan/brown/slate agouti coat. As you can see, Easter sports the "Dutch" markings. Easter is probably the most active rabbit we have with never a dull moment when she is running around. At every feeding, she acts like she hasn't eaten for days. Easter is shown here enjoying a "nest" that she built.
Good Friday is the brother of Easter. We were running out of appropriate names and "Good Friday" he became even though he was not born on Good Friday. He looks much like the Boot Brothers with the agouti fur. He's really a lover and easy to handle, but has one comical characteristic. He loves to "DIG". My husband always covers his lap with a couple of old towels when handling any of the rabbits. "Friday" as we call him, will start digging right into his lap just like he was making a new burrow outside. He's the only one to do this when being petted.
Princess - Rescued November 18, 2004 was a very young doe that was brought to us by a middle aged couple living near a downtown park. She appeared in their small yard having apparently squeezed through the wire fence. After making an earnest effort to locate the owners to no avail, they contacted us. We believe she may have been released by a family with small children, because she was quick to bite anyone that tried to handle her. Rabbits are not stuffed toys, but little children tend to treat them like they are toys. Though my husband was never bitten by her, lots of gentle love and petting between the two of us helped her to quickly overcome her biting habit. She is now a sweet and loving bunny, grown to be very large, with beautiful markings that you can see here.
Black Bunny, so named because we ran out of "black" bunny names, was rescued November 20, 2004. We nursed many cuts and bites on this poor little fellow. He undoubtedly was attacked by other male rabbits still loose in the neighborhood. Notice that he too has one white foot. He seems perfectly content to have a stable home with the other rabbits and seems very appreciative of the care and grooming he receives.
Chico, rescued December 14, 2004, has a serious problem with "under-bite". The upper front teeth close BEHIND the lower teeth. As a rabbits teeth grow continuously throughout their lifetime, and since his upper and lower teeth do not meet to keep them worn down, we need to clip his teeth about every two weeks. This is not painful or bothersome to the animal, no more so than trimming the nails. If left untrimmed, the teeth could potentially grow so long that the upper teeth penetrate into the lower jaw and the lower teeth into the roof of the mouth causing sores, pain, and ultimately starvation. He is healthy, happy and another one of my husband's "favorites".
Conejo Negro de la Noche, Conejo for short, (Spanish for Black Rabbit of the Night) was rescued April 6, 2006. It is unknown why his owner "set him free" to run wild. He was not doing so well on his own as evidenced by his many sores and parasites that we quickly treated. A little bit of care goes a long way to improve the quality of life for these animals.
He is a neutered male that was returned to the breeder, after originally being purchased as a house pet for a terminally ill little boy. Sadly, the child succumbed shortly afterwards and the parents simply could not keep the bunny (Understandably it was too much of a reminder of their loss). He weighs just under 15 pounds now, and takes a hefty "two handed" lift to get him off the floor. 
Little Big Foot, another Flemish Giant adopted in February 2007, like Ladybug, is not quite a "show" quality rabbit. None the less, he is very special to us. He loves to dig in the outdoor pen and can burrow a sizeable hole in a matter of minutes. We have to watch him more closely to be sure he doesn't dig his way out. Even in the rabbitry, we cover the floors with newspaper and he can dig them into a heap, really trashing the place in a very short time. He is highly animated and kicks up his heels when he runs. Hopefully, we will never have to chase him down, it would be a very long day!
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Copyright November 2009, all rights reserved. Diana's Rabbit Rescue, P.O. Box 2, Eastlake, CO 80614 email - drabbitrescue@aol.com |