usagi gohiki

Welcome to the Jungle!!!

2008-08-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

So...school has started back up again. This means coaching + grading papers + lesson planning + laying new floors in the house = less blogging. Since I have a three day weekend I decided to take some time to blog again.

Today, on this cool 80° Arizona morning I noticed Finnegan in a part of our backyard known as the "The Jungle." He is trying to camouflauge himself in this picture.

As you can see he was having a grand old time

Until daddy had to cut down the 6 foot tall weeds.

The Great Poop Pyramid

2008-08-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's amazing. Whenever I'm vacuuming the bunnies'pens I always make sure I get all of the poop and hay up; however, after I put the vacuum away there always seems to be poops I missed. This happens so often now that it really does not surprise me anymore.

This all changed yesterday when I got through vacuuming Finnegan and Missy's pen. After putting the vacuum away I walked through the door that leads to their pen, and noticed the darndest thing.

I'm not sure what Finnegan had on his mind. Was it a game of pool, a round of bowling, the construction of the great poop pyramid? No matter what his thoughts were I am most definitely impressed.

On a side note. You may be asking how I knew it was Finnegan. Well, he was sitting about three inches away from the poop site.

Roll The Bottle

2008-08-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Koya playing a game of "Roll The Bottle" with his mom. It starts out fun, but Koya gets embarassed at the end.

The Longest Groom?

2008-08-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

We have another rarity! This rarity is called the Kari Flop. It's not quite as rare as the Kibi Flop, but it is still rare. On top of that Haru comes over to Kari while she's flopped and precedes to groom her, and groom her, and groom her. Unfortunately, my internet connection timed out while uploading my video to YouTube; thus, you only get to see the 2 minute and 3 second version, instead of the 3 minute and 41 second version? Is this a new grooming record?

Rarities

2008-08-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

Today I realized that there are many rarities in life. I doubt any of us will ever see...

Bigfoot or Sasquatch

Nessy...The Loch Ness Monster

Paul Bunyan & Babe

Mermaids

and flopped bunnies. HUH?!?! You may be asking yourself why flopped bunnies Casey? Mine flop all the time. I would have to agree with you. Our Haru flops all the time, but the others not as much, especially Kibi. I can count on three fingers how many times she has flopped since we have had her.

Yesterday, I happened to be sitting on the couch and noticed Kibi was flopped. I would have snapped a picture, but I only had my video camera near me. What you're about to see is some rare footage that you may never see again (unless you read this blog post).

The Binky Thump

2008-08-01T23:39:00.001-07:00

Well, it seems as though Sir Finnegan has invented a new type of binky called the Binky Thump. You cannot hear it on the video; however, Finnegan will run, and then stomp and then do a slight binky. He has done many of these in the last couple of days, but these are the only two I have been able to get on film (along with some grooming shots). You have to figure he's about 5 1/2 years old, so he doesn't get much air (but it's the thought that counts, right).

In a further update, we found Missy grooming him today and he looked like he was in heaven. He closed his eyes and then was rolling his head around so that she could get to different spots. She then laid down for him to groom her and while he was grooming her she did a little flop (for a 6 1/2 year old rabbit that's pretty impressive). I don't think Sir Finnegan knew what to do, so he ended up running away. Unfortunately, Crysti and I were watching a movie and unable to get it on tape.

Oshibori Rabbit

2008-07-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

Oshibori is a hand towel that is commonly used in bars and restaurants in Japan. Usually your server will hand you an oshibori before you eat. After you are done wiping off your hands you usually give back the towel, or you can make a rabbit. Click here to see how.

Progress

2008-07-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of days some progress has been made. In this video you will see that Finnegan grooms Missy without trying to mount her (he's getting better), and then when he walks past her she nuzzles his bottom and pretends that she did not do anything. Enjoy!

Sir Finnegan

2008-07-29T01:41:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we chose a rabbit by the name of Finnegan to bond with Missy. So far it isn't going too bad. He tries to mount Missy and she just sits there, but then he starts to nip and tug at her. Of course Missy does not like this; thus, she stomps and runs away or vice versa. Fortunately, there has been no fighting, and they both can lay next to each other, we just need to get Finnegan to stop nipping at her.

Deep down Finnegan is a sweet boy, he just does not realize that he is being a bit too rough with Missy. Finnegan has been at Brambley Hedge for most if not all of his five and a half years on this earth. It is our hope that we can make this a successful bonding for both his and Missy's sake.

Here is Sir Finnegan in all his cuteness.

...and here is one more

Classic Kibi

2008-07-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here is some "archived" footage of Kibi doing her early morning binkies. This was shot in late March at our old house.

Missy Update

2008-07-26T16:29:00.001-07:00

Well, Missy is eating her pellets and hay. She is also drinking a little water. We keep Missy in our den which has double doors. We keep one door open to let air circulate through the room. Missy seems to always look out the open door hoping for his return. Tomorrow we are going to down to Brambley Hedge to see if we can bond her with another bun. Cross your fingers for us.

Here is Missy...waiting.

On A Brighter Note!

2008-07-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here is Haru and Kibi snuggling together.

Here is Kibi and Maku relaxing together.

Here is Koya, Haru, Maku, and Kari relaxing together. As always Kari is unsure of the situation.

Sawyer

2008-07-22T17:49:00.001-07:00

...that being said. I should get you caught up to date with how our bunnies are doing. We ended up bonding all five of our rabbits who did not get along at first. They all live in the same pen and seem to care for one another. Occaisonally, they will have a sibling spat, but it's nothing a few veggies and and an occasional apple or banana cannot cure.

What is hard to cure is the death of a rabbit. Right after we moved into our new house (late April) we decided to foster a pair of bunnies from Brambly Hedge Rabbit Rescue (the place we volunteer at). They were both older rabbits. Sawyer was a white satin mix who was pushing 11 years old, while Missy was an agouti mix who was about 6 years old.

Sawyer had a severe case of arthritis in his hips and hind legs as well as problems with his ears. Missy was getting older but she could still get around. The reason we decided to foster these two was simply because they were older, and there were so many bunnies and not enough volunteers at Brambley Hedge; thus, they did not seem to get the attention that they needed.

From the beginning you could tell that these two loved each other very much. Their constant grooming and snuggling made it easy to watch them. Missy was very protective of Sawyer. There were times that I would try and pet him and she would grunt or scratch me. Of course as soon as she learned to trust me everything was okay.

Sawyer loved to eat. Any time you put hay, bananas, apples, pellets, under his nose he would take them from you as if he had never eaten a day in his life. He would open his mouth wide and inhale his food. Sawyer also loved to go outside. He had a favorite spot that he liked to lay down at. It was to the right of our backyard patio. No matter where you put him in our backyard he would always come back to that one spot. It was hard seeing him struggle to walk, but even with a limp he still managed to always get around.

Eventually, it grew more difficult for him to use his back legs, and he could not reach the litter box; thus, we had to give him butt baths every couple of nights. I will be honest, I did not like doing this; however, after I gave him his bath it always made me feel good that he was clean. Unfortunately, he kept losing more and more mobility and began sliding all over the place. We eventually took him to our vet, Dr. Holmes. He took some x-rays and gave him some antibiotics for his arthritis and his ears.

About a week later we could see noticeable difference in Sawyer. He was moving around a lot better, but he still had a lot of ear wax build up in his ears. Over the next couple of weeks he did not eat as much. Then his hind legs started acting up again and we had to go back to giving him butt baths. This past week we could tell he was not feeling good. Yesterday, when we came home he was lying on his side breathing heavily. We tried mushing up some pellets, hay, and veggies so that we could feed it to him through a syringe; however the food just stayed in his mouth. Fortunately, he made it through last night; however, when my Crysti took him into the vet today we had to make a decision. He lost the ability to chew his food and his body was not digesting or holding anything. Dr. Holmes has been a really great vet and felt that there wasn't much that could be done (seeing that he lost his ability to eat/digest food). Unfortunately, there was not much they could do. So... we chose to let him go.

I will be quite honest. I have never been so upset because of the death of something or someone. I had pets die when I was younger, but I got over them very quickly. I had a grandfather die a few years ago. That was upsetting, but I rarely saw him; thus, I got over it quickly. On the other hand, I had only known Sawyer for a few months, but I really feel like I lost a part of me. Maybe it's because I feel I could have done more. Seven rabbits is a lot (for us) to have in one house. It is hard giving equal time to all of those buns. Maybe it's because Missy has lost her companion. She loved him deeply and protected him. We are going to watch her closely over the next few days to make sure she eats. Maybe it's because I felt like he was one of my own kids. Crysti and I do not have any kids at the moment, and we feel that our bunnies are our kids.

I guess I could find all the reasons in the world, but it would not change the fact that I miss him terribly. I love you big boy!

Here is Sawyer with Maya (his mate before Missy). Sawyer is on the left.

Finally!

2008-07-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well...Crysti and I are finally able to get on the computer again. During the first week in April our internet got turned off, and then we moved into a new house. It then took the cable company a little over two months to get our cable hooked up (long story). Now, we have been back on the interet for a couple of weeks and are ready to start bunny blogging again. :-)

Happy Kari

2008-03-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

I taped this a couple of weeks ago. Crysti and I put boards up so that the buns could not get into this outdoor shed. As you can see Kari found a way through, and then decided to be cute and pop her head out. Enjoy!

Happy Koya

2008-03-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of a very happy bun. Enjoy!

Happy Kibi

2008-03-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

I awoke on Friday morning to the sound of rustling metal. All of the bunnies were hopping and running around, so I opened up their pens to let them out. I was able to tape Kibi doing a couple of hops. Enjoy! Oh, and the picture is kind of dark, but still cute.

Bonded?

2008-02-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I know. I have not posted a new blog in roughly a month, but this is what happens when you teach, coach baseball, and try bonding five bunnies on a nightly basis.

Crysti and I thought we could never bond our five bunnies, but with a little help from lavender oil, and a heaping spoonful of patience we have made some progress with the bunnies. In fact, Kari and Haru were actually grooming each other. Below are pictures of the fruit of our labor.

BFFL's?

Isn't this sweet?

Clicker Training

2008-01-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

Over the last month or so, I've been working with Maku and Haru to clicker train them. The ultimate goal is to teach them how to get inside their cage when we're outside playing. I started by rewarding them from any movement towards me when I clicked, then I slowly moved farther away until they will run across the room to me when I click. From that point, I trained them to come when I call their name. And now, I've finally gotten Maku trained to do the trojan bunny when I say "UP!"

After he has done the trick, I click and reward him.

I think he might become a good circus bun.

Here are a couple of web-sites on clicker training your bunnies:

ClickerBunny
WikiHow

Clicker Training Videos:

The toils of 5 bunnies

2008-01-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

While we love all of our bunnies, there is one thing that becomes very difficult with 5 bunnies and that is cleaning. Right now the bunnies live in separate pens meaning 2x's the cleaning. On top of that, my bunnies are rather territorial and have a knack for dropping millions of poo pellets a day along the outside of their pens. To go along with that, all five are still young and so each pen has 4 litter boxes (just in case). All of this makes for some rather tedious cleaning.

At first, it took us 3 1/2 hours to fully clean the pens. Because Crysti is anal about cleaning, this includes taking everything outside and washing it down with white vinegar, vacuuming and spraying the heavy traffic areas, and then cleaning out all of the liter boxes. With the current set-up, we have to find a way to do one pen at a time and isolate the bunnies from their areas while we clean. This can be rather tricky and usually results in one set of bunnies having a rather large amount of play time outside.

We started doing all of this on Saturday morning, but found it to be a rather gut-wrenching task to have to wake up to (and a rather frigid task this time of year). We now have decided to do it Friday afternoon when we get home from work and have shortened the amount of time to 2 hours.

It can become a rather daunting task with all the liter boxes, carpet, and mats to clean off. But I think we'll get it down to a science soon enough.

Coach Potato!

2008-01-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

It's official, we have found our first couch potato er... bed potato er... television watcher. It's amazing that our most skiddish bunny is the one who likes watching television. Usually when I come near her she bolts away as if I'm some big hairy beast. Well, I probably am, but that's besides the point. Anyway, Crysti and I were both pleased that she was able to relax and watch television. Next thing we need to do is get her hooked on video games and then we'll have our very first teenage bunny! Woo hoo!

I thought at first she might be looking at the carrot on the stand, but then remembered that's not her favorite snack.

Here she is again with Crysti petting her.

More Pellets Please?

2008-01-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

I snapped this photo of Maku the other morning. He enjoys flipping the dish into the air and then attempting to eat it. By the looks of it you would think we never feed him.

Root of the Problem

2008-01-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

We received news from our vet this evening that the bacterium Bordetella bronchiseptica was causing the problems in Haru, as well as the rest of the bunnies. I guess this is quite common in dogs (Kennel cough). It is also highly contagious which must be why the rest of the bunnies (except Koya) started sneezing and having mucus build up.

Needless to say we are relieved to finally know what has been causing all this sneezing. We will be starting a new antibiotic soon. We are fortunate to have a bunny savvy veterinarian. His name is Dr. Holmes and he is very kind, gentle, and knows how to properly handle rabbits. If anyone from the Phoenix area has a rabbit (or any animal for the matter) you should bring them to Dr. Holmes.

A Rough Week

2008-01-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

So...Crysti and I came home from work on Monday and noticed that Haru had a huge gash on her nose. It looked as though half her nose was pulled off and there was blood on her mouth. We're not sure how this happened. We made sure that both pens were separated by a few inches, but maybe she could have caught it on the edge of the pen.

I called our vet, but his office had just closed. Thus, there was nothing much I could do except to clean up her mouth a bit. It was then that I noticed the left side of her face was soaked. Her tear ducts were so clogged that mucus was just oozing out of them. I guess this is what we get for taking her off her antibiotics. Both her and Maku had been sick for a little while and we had been giving both of them .4 cc of Enrofloxacin orally, and Tobramycin in their noses for about three weeks. Our vet wanted us to take them off the antibiotics and see how they do. Well, they went a week without the antibiotic and this is the result.

On Tuesday, the vet was nice enough to get us in so that he could check out her nose and eyes. We left her overnight so she could get a saline flush the next morning. This involves anesthetizing her and flushing out all the mucus. The mucus samples our vet collects he will send to get cultured to see what causing build up in her.

Haru came home Wednesday feeling groggy and lackadaisical.

Looks like shes been in a brawl.

...and her mucus ridden face

Jealous Bunnies

2008-01-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here is Kari, Kibi, and Koya peering through the sliding glass door at Haru and Maku playing in the yard. They had already been outside, but that doesn't matter with these guys. They'll even drop what they are eating to steal the other's food.

Big bunnies need love too

2008-01-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

This week, Crysti and I spent our time going down to the Brambley Hedge Bunny Rescue barn to try to help groom and let out some bunnies to play. We were fortunate enough to find Brambley Hedge during our search for bunnies. If you are in the Valley of the sun (ie Phoenix), and would like to help or adopt a bunny, I would definitely recommend Brambley Hedge (or you can check out the Bunny Basics link and buy bunny supplies whose profit goes straight to Brambley Hedge). They currently support over 120 rabbits and do an amazing job trying to find them forever homes.

Since we were off from work for Holiday break, we decided to put ourselves to good use and help out. Currently, there is one volunteer who tries to take time out of her week to go down and feed and play with the bunnies. However, as we found out this week, taking care of all of those rabbits is more than a full time job.

I have to say that there was nothing harder to see than 120 adorable, lovable bunnies without a home. There were big bunnies, small bunnies, young bunnies, old bunnies, healthy bunnies, and sick bunnies and Casey and I definitely developed some favorites. After spending a week with the bunnies, we definitely realized the difference between different ages and types of bunnies. Had we had the chance to play with some of the older bunnies, we probably would have made a different decision on which bunnies we got (though we DEFINITELY love our bunnies). As a first time bunny owner, an older bunny would be a much easier bunny to try to handle and would have gotten over a lot of the young behaviors that our little ones are going through. Here are a couple of the older bunnies that we fell in love with.

This is Poppy. She VERY badly needed to be groomed. Unlike some of the more energetic baby rabbits, the older rabbits were much more content with just chilling on our laps. Poppy was definitely one of those bunnies. This is about an hour into grooming her and she was still just chilling. She wasn't shaking, or digging, or looking around and never nipped me to get down. Crysti fell in love with Poppy and her kindness.

Another thing we found was that the white bunnies (which many people don't really like because of their red eyes) were much more comfortable with being picked up and carried around. They were still timid, but seemed to enjoy a good snuggle and petting better than a lot of the other bunnies.

This is Pat Boy. He's been at Brambley Hedge for almost 6 years now. According to one of the volunteers, Brambley Hedge doesn't charge for his adoption because they just want him to spend the rest of his time happy. Crysti and I LOVE this bunny. He spent over an hour on Crysti's lap and almost fell asleep while being groomed. Pat Boy is very very docile and would make an amazing 1st bunny to anyone who is willing to give him a loving home....Crysti's thinking that she might try to get her parent's to take him in .... we'll have to work on that.

So the moral of our visit was that older bunnies are in no means inferior to younger bunnies (in fact they could be much more enjoyable and loving). We realized that white "scary" bunnies are some of the most timid and docile bunnies at the barn. We would also LOVE to be able to take home some needy bunnies, but we lack the space (and energy). But we would love to try to educate others about the amazing pets that bunnies make and about the reward of adopting a bunny from a rescue instead of a pet store. So if you know of anyone out there who is interested in getting a pet, suggest a rescued bunny, it'll be a win-win for everyone involved!

Loving Bunnies

2008-01-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

It's official...we have a group of love buns.

We found this while cleaning up their cages this week. You know your bunny loves you when they chew a heart shape out of a piece of the phone book.

Koya loves his stuffed bunny - enough to share some kale with him.

Haru just can't get close enough to Maku. You know that's a sweet bun when he'll let his sister sleep on top of him.

It's hard to tell what's going on here, but let's just say it was "every guy's fantasy" (hmmmmm)

Dead Bunnies?

2008-01-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

You could imagine the surprise one would get when you're typing along at the computer and suddenly you hear a flop. You look over and see your bunny with her eyes closed flopped on her side...motionless. This is what we like to call the dead bunnies. Of course they really only do this when they're at the height of ultimate comfort and contentment.

Dead Bunny Haru (We use this time to do the ritual belly shaving, no not really that's the spay).

Dead Bunny Maku (comfortable?)

Dead Bunnies Kibi & Koya (you can't really tell, but both of Koya's paws are around the wheel)

Dead Bunny Kari (she's hanging half out of a box)

Speed Racer

2007-12-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

Personally it's been difficult taping the bunnies running sprints or doing binkies. I just happened to have my camera rolling and caught Kibi sprinting. Enjoy!

Bedtime

2007-12-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

This week, Crysti and I bought a bed for her rabbits (they're starting to wear a spot in the carpet where they lay). For the first couple of days, no one would go near the bed. At first they seemed mad about the bed sitting on their spot (often nudging it and digging at it). But this weekend Crysti caught a couple of them slyly using their new gift:
Kibi's really trying to resist the urge to use the bed, but she just can't help it!

Binky Anyone?

2007-12-28T21:50:00.000-08:00

I finally filmed Haru doing a binky. Enjoy!

My Little Digger

2007-12-28T20:48:00.000-08:00

Maku is the resident digger. Well, most of the bunnies dig it's just that we usually catch Maku in the act. Today was no exception.

The cave

2007-12-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is Kari, Kibi, and Koya's little hide-out. It is pretty much separated from everything else and allows them to sleep in peace. We originally had the pen end at the back of their carrier....but that didn't last long.
Aside from the stray poo, this pen stays rather clean. These three pretty much spend their time napping or chewing on the boxes. If anything exciting happens, it's usually in the dining room where no one can watch. We originally had these guys around the fireplace (because it was bigger), but we decided to open it up and put these three there. They seem to be a lot happier here with the extra space :)

This is their "happy" place that these two almost NEVER leave.

Maku and Haru's bunny palace.

2007-12-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how this ended up working out, but in the course of a month the size of the bunnies' pens have been expanding to the point of taking up just about all of the living room. On top of that, we must have picked up some of the messiest bunnies because there always seems to be a trail of hay leading from their pens to the kitchen and enough poo to fertilize the lawn.

Here is a picture of Casey's bunnies' pen. We've had to put a piece of plywood and a towel over the fireplace. They have their little hay and litter corner (though they prefer to sit in the hay and eat out of the liter box). There's the abundance of cardboard chew toys and boxes for them to burrow and hop into and Maku's favorite sleeping hole, his carrier. This is what it looks like after a very detailed vacuuming. Oh, and I can't forget the white box that allows Maku to perch and look over the other bunnies. During the busiest parts of the day, Maku tends to perch there as though he were the king of the kingdom watching his subjects frolic.

The Assistant

2007-12-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

This timid looking girl was named Sally, but we changed her name to Kakaricho, which means "the assistant" in Japanese. From the moment we brought her home she was some what of a whipping post for Kibi. The first thing she did when we let her out with her siblings was to drop her head and try to establish dominance. Koya didn't really seem to mind, but Kibi wasn't going to be having any of that. Kibi quickly put her in her place as the second in command (Koya kind of does whatever the girls want him to do).

Kari is a very shy bun who rarely comes out of her shell. Up until last week, she spent most of her time in the carrier huddled in the corner :(. We recently moved them into a larger corner of the room and she has started to relax a little. She has now started to stretch out (only when she thinks that no one is looking). Kari still runs away when someone enters the pen; going to hide under her siblings. Kari is slowly allowing us to pet her, but still doesn't show much happiness inside. She does do the occasional sprint between the kitchen and living room, but will only do binkies outside (where she reaches true Nirvana). Kari will only do things after both Koya and Kibi have done it, and is still very hesitant to leave her post under the piano.

Kari playing shy. Look at those adorable little paws and little body. She's getting larger, but is still smaller than her siblings.

Kari in her favorite spot, snuggled up in the towel in her carrier (though she's definitely opened up and isn't as attached to the carrier).

Captain Commando

2007-12-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

This bunny is El Capitan of Crysti's little bunny ring. Her former name was Lucy, but we changed her name to Kibishii which means "strict or uncompromising". Kibi had a little difficulty adjusting to life at our home. When she first arrived, "Kibi" would hide, would not let us pet her, and did not (still does not) get along with the other rabbits much (except for Kouya). Once Kibi has her mind set to something, she definitely sticks to it and NOTHING (not even a banana) can persuade her otherwise.

Since her first couple weeks in the house she has come out of her shell and will let you pet her (for very brief periods of time). She has to be the first bunny to explore areas of the house (in fact, the other bunnies won't go into another room unless they see her go). She's also very jealous. If someone else is getting attention, she'll run over and snuggle up on top of the other rabbits to also get attention (though she doesn't really want to be touched). When it's dinner time, she'll drop her food to go and steal food from the other rabbits. Kari and Koya have gotten good and grabbing and running away (Koya will even tuck his food under his body to keep her from getting it). She's the only one who will jump into her carrier when it's time to go outside and use the ramp to come inside. She'll also find any way she can to get under the sail boat in our backyard (despite the 5 foot tall fences). She constantly has to know what is going on and will always keep an eye on everything around her. Though she definitely tries to dominate the others, she can also be diplomatic and do her fair share of grooming.

This is her chewing on a box, one of favorite past times (although we've also caught her "sampling" the furniture).

As always, she's got her eye on us with her oh so strict looking expression. For more pictures click here.

The Wild Hare...no not the bar

2007-12-25T18:05:00.001-08:00

Crysti fell in love with this unpredictable bunny. His original name was Charlie Brown, but we changed it to Kouya which means "Wilderness". When we first got him, he didn't like being touched, picked up or looked at. He always had one eye on you when you entered his area and had an ear that always stuck straight up (this ear has actually dropped so he looks less wild and more floppish).

Koya is a rather difficult bunny to get to know, and to be honest he doesn't really seem to want to have much to do with me. However, with Crysti he's very inquisitive, will jump on her and snuggle up into a ball for a good petting and sometimes follow her around the living room (when she's pretending to be a rabbit - but that's a whole 'nother blog).

When we first e-mailed Brambley Hedge about selecting a pair of buns, they had recommended either Wyatt and Cassidy or Sally and Lucy. Koya was never mentioned, though Crysti had fallen in love with him the first time she had looked at his picture on the web-site (it must have been the crazed look in his eyes). Koya had made quite a reputation for himself at Brambley Hedge and in some ways it's easy to see why.

He's definitely not the type of rabbit that can handle being caged up. He loves running laps from the kitchen to the living room and doing binkies two to three feet high (a binkey is a rabbit's ultimate display of happiness). You could be reaching down to pet him and in the process of running away he'll do a giant binky. Or if he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to, when he sees you coming he'll run away and do two or three binkies in a row. He'll only let you pet him on his terms and he wants to be able to crawl all over you, but doesn't want to be touched. Sometimes he enjoys being chased (more like crawled after). And if there is any form of "danger" he'll be the first one to thump... over and over and over (even if all forms of life have left his pen). You'll need battle gear to pick him up and when let outside he spends most of his time watching you (as though he thinks that someone is hunting him). He's truly a wild child.

Here he is sniffing the surrounding area, or so it seems. He's really pretending to be good while thinking of a way to get over the wall behind him the second I turn my back on him (he's one sneeeeaaaky snake).

Here he is sleeping underneath our computer chair. How can you not totally love those beautiful floppy ears and adorable little paws. For more pictures click here.

One sleepy bunny coming up...

2007-12-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is Haru's brother. His name was Wyatt, but we changed it to Makura. Unlike some of the other names, it wasn't difficult to come up with this one.

Right from the very start, "Maku" spent most of his time conked out in his carrier or under a table or any dark place. Maybe throughout the day he would have a 5 minute burst of energy, but most of his time was spent sleeping. Thus the name Makura which means "pillow" in Japanese. Eventually, we realized he was because he was sick and not sleepy, but we still liked the name.

Maku is also an extremely sweet bunny. Like his sister, he enjoys being petted, though unlike his sister, he's not as trusting. He's the one most likely to be found chewing on the cords, scratching the couch, or chewing on the door. On top of that, he'll be the first to try to start trouble with the other (Crysti's) bunnies. Right off the bat, he was attempting to find a way to hop into the pen of the other bunnies. The first night we had him, sometime around 3:00am, Crysti and I were awaken by a loud FLOP and some quick running. Fortunately, we got there in time to prevent any attacks. He's climbed tables, dug through pillows, and moved cage bars in an attempt to get to the other cage (I guess it's one of those, the grass is always greener on the other side). It's gotten to the point that any time we hear a "flop," we both shoot out of bed, no matter what the time of night. Despite these minor annoyances, he was also the first bunny to hop on the couch and sit and watch tv with me (my ultimate bunny fantasy:). What can I say, he knows how to touch a man's heart!

Did we also forget to mention that these two tear things up around here. Maku and Haru have mastered the art of Fung Shui'ing their pen. Every morning we wake to find they've shredded every ounce of paper, wood, and plastic. They've peed on every visible centimeter of carpet. And anything that can be turned over, is turned over. Their pen has pretty much become a rabbit disposal...any paper bags, cardboard boxes, toilet paper rolls get dropped in and are shredded and peed upon within hours.

Here is a picture of Maku doing what he does best. All cozy on the newspaper and a towel. This seems to be his preferred pose, almost as popular as his Trojan Bunny pose; reminiscent of those old hollow chocolate Easter bunnies.

This is the infamous Trojan Bunny Pose...he is a NOOOOSY bun.

Here he is scoping out the area for the perfect blade of grass....or wondering whether I'm going to eat him for breakfast. Other pictures are here.

Single, orange and brown bunny looking for love...

2007-12-22T22:39:00.000-08:00

This is the bunny that has captured my heart. Her name was Cassidy, but being the Japanophiles that we are, all the bunnies got new Japanese names. Because of her beautiful color and sweet, carefree disposition we decided to call her Harumi. It means "Springtime Beauty" in Japanese. "Haru" is a seven month old harlequin mix.

Haru is by far the sweetest bunny we have. She is usually very trusting...almost too trusting; she definitely wouldn't survive long in the wild. She is very friendly (will let just about anyone or thing pet her) and is the first one who has groomed me. She was also the first one to try to eat the litter and the little box. We have to keep an eye on her to make sure she's not mistaking her poo for food. She definitely has her blond moments. There are times when she can be stubborn (when taking her medicine), but she is very quick to succumb and lower her head to be pet. She is extremely loving, jumping on her brother and then trying to squeeze between him and a wall so she can snuggle. Unfortunately, she also tries to dominate him by shoving her head under his and not giving up until he gives chase. She's also very territorial and rubs her chin on EVERYTHING (even individual blades of grass in the backyard).

This picture is of her first time in our backyard. As you can see she did not hesitate to munch on the grass (which is untreated!).

Here is another picture of her gazing into the sea of green. To see additional photos click:

here.

One Bunny, Two Bunny, Three Bunny, Five

2007-12-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

We've finally reached the point in our life when Crysti and I feel ready to take on additional responsibility. This does not mean that we're ready to have children...no, it means that we're ready to start having pets (quite primitive at this stage in the relationship, I know).

Both having grown up with dogs, our first notion was to get a pooch. We spent months on-line researching the perfect type of dog for our schedules and our rather modest lifestyle. And though we found numerous possible matches, we noticed that most dogs didn't do so well with families that spent long hours away from home. With both of us working 10 - 12 hour days, we thought that maybe we could get 2 dogs. This didn't sit well with either of us...having 2 dogs pooping all over the backyard (which is already neglected) just didn't sound like our cup of tea. At this point we decided to broaden our horizons and look at other pets. As we searched through the local pound's website, we started to notice that most pounds had a large number of rabbits..... hmm, rabbits...might not be such a bad idea.

After looking on different websites, Crysti stumbled upon Brambley Hedge Rabbit Rescue. They had some of the cutest bunnies we had ever seen. After looking at the bunnies for hours, we decided that we could handle a pair of rabbits. We had a couple of weeks before we could head down to adopt, so we decided to get our house organized and bunny-proofed (I didn't care to have fried bunny lying around my house).

Honestly, I didn't know how much time it would take to bunny proof the house, but it definitely was quite the feat. We ordered a new computer desk and entertainment hutch that would be closed off in the back and picked up a 100 feet of clear irrigation tubing. It took us 15 hours to bunny proof the living room. Had Crysti not been so anal, it probably would have only taken 4 or 5.

Adoption day finally rolled around and we couldn't have been more prepared (or so we thought).
As soon as we arrived, we were shown Wyatt and Cassidy. Two of the cutest little rabbits. As soon as I stepped into the pen, Cassidy jumped right into my lap and spent the next 30 minutes allowing me to pet her. I was in love. In the meantime, Crysti tried petting Wyatt, but he wasn't going to be having any of that.

Feeling jilted, Crysti wandered through the different pens, trying to find a rabbit that would give her the loving she needed. And sure enough, she found it. At the very back of the adoption office were three little balls of fur waiting for attention. She stepped inside and right off the bat each rabbit came around sniffing her. Within 5 minutes, Crysti had Charlie Brown sitting in her lap enjoying a good petting. It was at this point, we realized that we had a problem. I wanted to take Cassidy home and she wanted Charlie Brown, but the Brambley Hedge staff didn't want any of the bunnies to be separated from their siblings....quite the predicament...which was easily solved. We decided...heck, two...four....what's the difference. That day we came in for two and left with four (it's funny how bunnies multiple like that). However...that definitely wasn't the end of it.

Two weeks later, we had gone to another adoption day to pick up some hay and litter for the bunnies. My "wife's set" of bunnies (yes, we have "his" and "hers") had a sister who was on hold the first time we were there. Apparently, she had not been eating..and was just down right depressed. Not wanting her to wilt away, we graciously offered to take her home to her siblings, giving us our 5th...and FINAL bunny.

So much for two bunnies!