Patch and Alice at play!

This is a little video I put together of Patch and Alice at play. The little treats I'm handing out are dried apple bits. As you can see Alice is the master of the back flop!

We dont belong with you!

There have been a rash of phone calls of late regarding cottontail babies. Some well meaning people and some not so well meaning but either way lets try and clear up a few things. Cottontails are not like domestic bunnies. They are not our toys nor do we have the right to take them from the nest and try to make them into pets.

Do not assume a cottontail has been abandoned. Momma cottontails do not stay with their babies. Not because they are bad moms but because they are trying to keep from drawing predators to their babies.

Cottontail mothers come and feed their babies in the dark, usually the early hours before dawn. If you want to know if a mom is visiting a nest put something very small on the nest. Maybe a little piece of string or some little twigs. Check to see if it has been disturbed, later in the day. Dont assume because you don't see her, she isn't taking care of her babies.

If you do come accross a baby that needs help or perhaps your dog or cat brings one in, you need to take the bunny to a wildlife rehabilitator. They need special milk that the average person does not have access to. If you try and raise that baby yourself you will more than likely lose them. The mortality rate for cottontails raised by humans is 90%.

Cottontails are extremely sensitive and easily frightened. if you do find a baby whose has been injured or whose mother has been killed and the babies are still in the nest. Put that baby in a box with a snug lid and plenty of air to breathe. Put them in a quiet place in your home where they wont be disturbed by your pets. Do not handle them beyond what is absolutely necessary and do not let your children handle or play with them. If you will notice in the picture above the "scary eyes". Bunnies will remain frozen with fear and can have a heart attack. Of course there are some circumstances when the cottontails require our assistance. Do what instructed above and get them to a wildlife rehabilitator ASAP!

Use some common sense folks. Interfering with wildlife is often more for our benefit than the animals. If you want to help find your local wildlife rehab and contact them. They are the professionals and will know what to do.

Silent trip to the bridge

This was our darling little Wyatt. A most unusual looking bunny. A white lionhead with crystal blue eyes. A very quiet and shy buns Wyatt was dumped at the animal shelter. Perhaps because he was shy, maybe because he had molar problems that required regular trips to the vet or maybe because someone decided to abuse him for breeding purposes and he was not found useful. We did not think Wyatt was able to hear. Possibly that recessive gene that seems to go along with blue-eye animals. He was not up on the website for adoption. We were afraid that someone would take a shine to Wyatt's coloring and try to use him for more breeding or sell him to the highest bidder.

Wyatt left for the bridge sometime in the early hours this past Saturday morning. This sweet little bunny man lived a quiet life next door to his friend Shoebox. He really only made 3 friends at the rescue; His gentle neighbor Shoebox who sat and watched him closely as he passed, one of our young volunteers who had numerous conversations with Wyatt and his sponsor Rick who got the opportunity to snuggle with Wyatt. You may wonder why I am intent on telling the circumstances on how a bunny that has gone to the bridge came to Heartland? My wish is to help educate and hopefully make people think before they discard a bunny. When you bring any animal into your home, you make a promise to that animal. It is supposed to be for better or worse to take care of them. Momma Jeannie kept that promise to Wyatt when others failed him.

We will miss you bunny man

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature -- trees, flowers, grass -- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.

Mother Teresa

Darcy Update

Hi all!

Thanks so much for all the well-wishes for Darcy. She is doing much better! After talking to the vets, since Gabriel never got sick (meaning it wasn't the food) we think the problem is arthritis in her back and hips. It seems that she's been hiding the pain for a while, and eventually just started to shut down from it (as bunnies tend to do). Looking back, I can think of things that seemed relatively normal or unimportant at the time, but may have been indications of a problem. We've got her on pain meds, and the vet says that keeping her on them indefinitely is not a problem. She's still got some diarrhea every now and then, and will never really be "well," but for the most part is doing great! She and Gabriel have been playing more in the past couple of days than they have in a long time. It's so good to have my bunnygirl back!

Anger, Disgust, Possible Hatred

Today was nail trim day for the boys. Haven's ear? Well, lets just say bunnies don't have middle fingers. Draw your own conclusions.

"Permission??

Nah! You don't need that. Just sit really still and they wont even notice you. I sit here all the time."

Puzzle of the Month - June 2009

Food Warning!

Hi All!

I just wanted to warn everybody about the Kaytee Fiesta mix food. Darcy did not really eat or drink all weekend, starting Thursday night, and she was very lethargic and had diarrhea as well. I took her to see Dr Leak at Banfield yesterday. Dr Leak told me that she has seen several buns lately with similar problems, and they all use the Kaytee Fiesta mix food (as does Darcy). She's not sure if the food is the cause, but I've noticed that this bag has different foods than previous bags. Even though she's not certain if the food is the problem, she still recommended I throw this bag out and change to a different brand for now.

Darcy is doing much better today, although she's definitely not out of the woods yet. She's still at the vet, still has diarrhea, but is at least eating on her own some and is much more alert. I just wanted to warn everyone to keep a close eye on their buns-- Dr Leak said I was very lucky to have caught these problems as early as I did. So if you're using the Fiesta mix, think about getting something else for now, and if your bun eats Kaytee and has diarrhea and/or seems lethargic, take it to the vet as soon as you can!