Bad Bunnies
Way back in the early days of our relationship my wife thought it was a good idea to add some rabbits to our farm. At this point we had no other animals other than the dog. We had a massive garden and lots of fruit trees, grape, kiwi and hops vines. I figured it would be alright so she got a Dutch Lop from someone, for which I needed to build a coop.
My first coop was not up to her liking, so I had to build another, which was also not to her liking. I then built the ultimate coop with polished hardware and all sorts of amenities. It only lacked central air.
After only a week, she deduced that her rabbit was lonely, so she got another rabbit. This time it was a Hoto.
Sexing rabbit kittens is difficult so you generally can’t determine their sex until they are adults. Two females would have been nice, but we ended up with two males. When they reached maturity we saw their constant need to express their sexuality. Yes, we had gay rabbits. The constant humping was maddening, so we made an appointment to have then fixed. This is a difficult procedure because rabbits’ testicles are actually inside their body, not a dangling appendage like most mammals.
Fixing them helped, but they still partook in the occasional hump every now and then. It was tolerable.
Besides their mansion they had an enclosed pen on the ground where they could eat grass and dig holes. They got to live freely in the greenhouse during the winter.
One day I went out and found the Hoto was dead. Rather than restart another rabbit adventure we found it best to give the Dutch to someone who really wanted a rabbit. After giving the new owner the rabbit and the coop the Dutch somehow got away from the new owner and lived a wild life for the next year and a half. The Dutch could not be caught.
I post this story as a warning for those who have the intention of getting rabbits for their kids for Easter…Don’t Do It! That is unless you want to show the kids what rabbit love is all about or want to teach them about diversity if you get rabbits of the same sex. These critters never give it a rest.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 5:25 AM
9 Comments:
Yes, rabbits are gruesome. When I was young my cousins kept rabbits in some hutches. The buck was always in it's own hutch. One time when the doe had bunnies, she must have felt threatened by the buck (whose hutch was only a foot away) and she ATE every blasted one of those bunnies. Maybe stupidly she thought they would be protected that way.
And its "coop" not "coup". LOL
And I do believe as wordy as you have every been over almost TWO years with your blog this is the first time you have ever uttered the words "sexing rabbit kittens".
Though, Auntie, if you let them breed ... well ... "like rabbits", a "coup" is a real possibility. LOL!
My cousins had a guard rabbit. Seriously. If that cute lil' bunny didn't know you - it would attack like a rabid wolverine. Well, maybe not like a rabid wolverine. I've never actually seen a rabid wolverine. But I've seen an attacking bunny - up close and personal. Damned thing had sharp teeth.
Just another of my "crazy animal magnet" adventures.
We used to raise rabbits for meat; quite yummy, really. And you can butcher about 10 rabbits in the time it takes to dress a chicken.
Warning heeded - but I think we're done with that whole pet thing. We're down to a dog and two fish tanks. (Fish are very discreet...)
This reminds me to post about how a friend and I caused an island to be renamed 'Rabbit Island". And Donna's absolutely right, less mess than with chickens, but less eggs as well:)
Thanks again for the spelling lesson, Auntie. I fixed my error. And that term is only used by me every ten years or so, so stick around.
Walt, get your gun. It will be a sad but funny irony when an animal does one day get the best of you.
I agree, Donna. They are pretty good tasting for rodents.
Beth, you should then avoid guppies and cichlids.
Mike, you are forgetting Easter Eggs.
I can't believe we're just now hearing about your homo rabbits.
Don't get your kids chicks either. Trust me.
Or dogs for that matter. Our Satchel is fixed, and so is Simon, but does that matter? Heck, it doesn't even matter which end Satchel's going after on poor Simon.
SH calls him a Greek Terrier.
I have had two pet rabbits, and I have to say, on their own, they are the best pets around. I had two dwarf Netherlands. Each at different times.
But parents who buy kids pets for any holiday are nuts. It hardly ever works out for the animals.
Syd, the topic never came up on your blog, so I never commented. How have you avoided that topic I'll never know.
Mo3, it seems rampant in the animal kingdom.
Post a Comment
<< Home