I AM IRON BUN! (insert scary robotic voice here)

You hear me talking to you?







What's that scary thing in your hand?

I am the TERMINATOR!

Later, I'm slee......................ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,ZZZZZZZZZZ

This is our darling girl Miss Millie. She is the first bunny at Heartland that bit me and on my first day there as a volunteer! I love this girl. She has been the apple of my eye every since. She puts on quite a show of being a "tough girl". She is really just a big snuggly bun.

I hate the expression "aggressive rabbit". It does such a disservice to bunnies. A bunny will bite out of fear and defense not because they are aggressive. I prefer to think of them as assertive. Lets take Miss Millie for example, when she was rescued by Heartland, she was found in a cardboard box, in an ice storm, in a parking lot, with a severely broken leg. The parking lot where she was found was suspiciously close to a daycare............live toy for the kids at the daycare perhaps? Maybe an accident with an unsupervised child? Who knows.

It took a long time and many vet visits to repair Millie's leg. What took much longer was repairing this bunny's spirit and trust. A loving hand turns her quickly into a big ole baby. She knows that she doesn't always have to be on the defense and that the hands that reach for her will be kind or full of treats. She is my special girl.

Bunnies will bite sometimes. You have a bunny that is not spayed or neutered and they are carrying a heavy load of hormones with no outlet to relieve them, yes, they might be "assertive". A bunny that has been handled rough or mistreated may bite out of desperation. What other defense do they have? Bunnies that are never let out of a cage will often bite. Imagine you are stuck in your house all the time, nobody talks to you, you never get to stretch your legs, you never get a hug or are shown love from another creature, maybe you don't get to eat on a regular basis. All of a sudden the roof lifts off your house and a giant hand reaches in to grab you. You might bite too.

There is a lot more work to be done in regards to educating the public about having a bunny as part of your family. It has gotten better but Millie is a prime example of how things can go horribly wrong and a wonderful example of what a little love and tenderness can do.