Abandoned bunny??
So last week it was watching a kitten cross a busy intersection with two working legs that caught my eye, and today there is an obviously domestic rabbit in my backyard. The shibas alerted me to its presence of course. I was just back there, lounging. Our yard is 15/16th's fenced in, the back yard has a 5 foot chain link with a 3 foot area that was knocked over in a flood last year. Our front yard has low, wide wrought iron fencing (for show) and there is a gate leading to the back from the front yard. This rabbit is either very very resourceful or was dropped into the yard. So our neighbor (we live in a duplex) lets his rottie mix into our backyard at times so I really couldn't leave the bunny there to an uncertain demise, and no one was calling or looking for it. And we live a block away from the main road which is fairly busy.. So now I have a rabbit in Kitsune's pen in my front yard in the shade with some grass and dandelion leaves and water until I can figure out what to do with it. I'm currently making a "rabbit found" sign from work while my husband gives me updates on "bunny".
Honestly...
Honestly...
Comments
is it OK to leave a rabbit in a pen outside if the weather is nice during the day with food, water and shade?
Rabbits tolerate cold much better than they tolerate heat. So as long as there is constant shade and constant water then staying outdoors will be no problem unless there were a storm or something. Rabbits must maintain a constant digestion. So it eats constantly. Use broccoli, carrots, coreander (cilantro), mustard greens, and grasses. Lettuce is just water and not alot of vitamins so keep the lettuce to a minimum unless it is designer lettuce like romaine or leaf lettuce. Grasses are good. Sliced apples are good for them. They even like cantalope and watermelon. Typically any store carries the traditional pellet food.
I cannot imagine that someone would toss out a flop-ear bunny. Someone must be so worried about now as to where he is. He is cute.
When you reach down to a bunny towards the face. Hold your hand still in front of him. If he wants to be friendly he will "nose-butt" your hand. It is a sort of a nudge and a bunny's way of saying hello.
Wishing you luck.
You know my Shiba does not mind rabbits. Also there is a local girl here that I met and she has house bunnies with a shiba. She said that she never lets the shiba outside when the bunnies are roaming the yard but the other day she forgot and they spent hours together with no problems. You might find that the bunny chose you to be his friend and caretaker.
take care, Ron
As to weather, they are hardy little creatures, but I would agree that keeping a rabbit in the hot, beating sun with no shade would be a bad idea. The bunny stayed on our screen porch, in the heat of the summer, and even throughout the coldest of MN winters. She did have a wooden hutch well-fortified with hay bales, but made it through even some -30 degree Fahreheit nights and very cold days (likely not above 0 degrees) with no problem. (Sometimes on the coldest days we would not see her leave her shelter for 2-3 days at a time.) I recall we have an electrified watering bowl that plugged into the wall to keep her water from freezing.
Funny thing, the bunny and our (eventually 75 lb.) dog were the best of friends. Joe, the dog, would lick her face and ears until they were literally dripping with doggy slobber. If Joe did not engage her in play, she would butt her nose against just as described above, to get his attention. They were introduced to one another when the dog was 5 lb. and she was about twice his size. Maybe that helped with the relationship?
Anyway, here's a pic of Joe, the dog and Snoball, the bunny. They have both gone on to that happy doggy/rabbit place on the other side, so this has been a bit of a nostalgic post. Enjoy!
Yesterday I bought apples, carrots, and timothy grass for it as well as pellets from our grocer. Its in the shade and has two water bowls. It really does eat all day! No kidding! And poops all day! Messy little thing. But its friendly and looked a lot better after I cleaned it up and it even let me snip its nails - which were unusually long but a veterinary friend of mine came over to show me how (and told me it was a girl bunny) to do it last night. After a little kicking and fussing it was fine.
Someone contacted me from my craigslist ad and said she'd take it if no one claimed it so it didn't have to go to the shelter and she'd spay her and let it join her 4 other rabbits. I'm considering that if no one claims the bunny by Friday.
*it did nose butt my hand last night when I gave it apple pieces!
holy moly! that white rabbit was huge!! but very cute! I think the bunny in our yard might be a miniature lop?? I've been looking at pictures online and he looks like a mini black lop if there is such a thing. I think if our dogs were still pups we'd try to integrate but they aren't so i'm not going to put Bunny-aka-Fenrir through any more stress!
Well, sorry I forgot to tell you the messy bit (rabbits seem to be eating / pooping machines)... We were amazed at the amount of cleanup needed constantly (had a big "toilet" cage with a removable tray on the porch). Good thing you are keeping her outside. I've never understood how it works when you hear about rabbits that live and roam in someone's house just like a cat or dog. Another thing they do is chew -- just about anything, it turns out! So keeping in an outdoor place may protect your house, furnishings, sleeping bags, electric cords, etc. from surprise nibbles.
(I guess there are surprising numbers of house bunnies who electrocute themselves by chewing on an appliance cord. Snowball actually did that once to a clock radio my daughter had on the porch, but came through with no discernible ill-effects! In fact, we didn't know it had happened until Megan tried to turn on the radio or something.)
Yeah, Snowball was an amazing rabbit -- we called her the "Wonder Bunny". Considering all the digestive issues we went through with her, its incredible she got to be big, true to the size of her breed.
We miss her a lot--- rabbits can take over your heart, too. She was purchased by my daughter when Megan was about 7 (an after-Easter concession by Mom). We had her for 3 years, and I recall my daughter and her friends had fun having screen-porch sleepovers in the summer sometimes, and playing with her a lot. Funny thing, we at first thought we had a male bunny and when she was full-grown Megan took her to a rabbit show (similar to a dog show). Surprise, surprise, when she tried to enter the rabbit as a buck she was told she had to go to a different registration line since she had a doe! I guess the way to tell gender on a bunny is a bit mysterious! But I recall Snowball took 2nd or 3rd place, so she came home with a ribbon and a higher level of notoriety with all of us in the family!
My rabbits also have a 20 ft run and I have never seen a single dropping out there. Instead they go back in thier building to use the litter box. They are amazing creatures. It is a shame they live such short lives. I truly believe that when a person experiences the friendship of a bunny they are touched for life.
Sending good thoughts to Mr/ms Bunns, Ron
Tomorrow afternoon we'll be taking her (him?) to the humane society as a cage has opened up. I'm sure better things will happen to her from their, I don't feel qualified to give her to some random person who offered to take her from my craigslist ad, I'd rather the shelter do an application process and get a donation for it.
Thank you for all the rabbit info, if we ever decide to get a bunny in the future, we are much more informed now!
I hope I did the right thing!
Good for you for being such a responsible pet lover. I wish the whole world had your attitude.
If this new owner has other rabbits then you found the right person. Rabbits are all about body language and respect. Once they are disrespected they will stop communicating with a human. This new human sounds like the perfect bunny-respecting soul. Very good deed!
Huggs, Ron
The dog was in the house for at least a month before it was found, according to the local news and Animal Control asking my husband about it today.
F-ing sick and selfish.
I'm a little shell shocked that this is happening in my own neighborhood, dogs being left to fend for themselves, domestic house cats and bunnies being dropped into various yards and the owner not confessing until he is caught.
All I can say is there ARE OTHER resources out there instead of dumping the animals that depend on you for daily care and safety... shelters, humane societies (which has established a foreclosure fund to help such animals), animal sanctuaries and other animal safety initiatives.
This man now has to pay a $2,500 fine because of the abandonment, but this is one case out of hundreds of thousands across the country...
Its good that they're getting fined. They deserve it. They had other means to get rid of their pets, instead of just dumping them in other people's yards and making them deal with it. I still can't even believe that people do that sort of thing. Thats disgusting!
You did a good thing and it sounds like bunny will be happy in its new home.
Snf
I have no tolerence for people who just leave their pets someplace.
Even the rabbit's former owner, he know has to pay $2,500 for abandoning the rabbit, the cats and the dog where he would have just had to pay maybe $5 per animal to surrender them to the Humane Society.
Did anyone read this story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080801/ap_on_fe_st/odd_big_cat_found
About the fat cat in NJ?
This lady abandons it, its found and is a media sensation! Even on Regis and Kelly! I bet that lady who abandoned the cat is feeling pretty sheepish now!