Darcy & Gabe

Hi all! I thought you might like to meet Darcy and Gabe. Darcy is a Holland Lop I've had for four and a half years, and we moved to Oklahoma from Virginia about a year ago. Her best friend is her Blue Ball, but a couple of months ago I decided she needed a bunny companion. I found Heartland, and met Gabe! He's a New Zealand mix (we think), absolutely sweet, and he and Darcy instantly took to one another. Gabriel was mostly ignored for the year he lived with his former family, so now he gets nothing but spoiling. If his love of binkies and racing around the room are any indication, I'd say he's pretty happy with his new home!

This is Darcy and her Blue Ball. Blue Ball goes wherever Darcy goes. Darcy washes it, pushes it around, and sleeps next to it. Even with Gabriel around, Darcy still loves her ball. In this picture, I had put it in a hole on top of a box while I was cleaning, and Darcy jumped up to "rescue" it. A minute or two after this photo, Darcy had pushed it back onto the floor.

To the right is the first meeting! Darcy and Gabriel did pretty well the first time they met, and they were bonded in less than a week.

A couple of weeks after Gabriel joined us, we all took a trip back to Virginia to visit family. Even though it's a long drive, being in the same carrier made both bunnies much calmer. Darcy, of course, knew that Grandma's house meant treats, and Gabe quickly learned! My mom spoiled her "grandbunnies" outrageously, and now whenever I go into their room (yes, they have a bedroom all to themselves), they expect treats IMMEDIATELY.

Darcy and I love having Gabe around. Darcy likes to be pet, but is picky about it. Gabriel, however, turns into mush whenever you want to rub him, and will snuggle up next to me and push his nose under my hand. Their new favorite thing to do is to squish their noses together so I can rub them both at the same time. I love walking into their room and seeing that they've been snuggling together, or watching them race around each other while I'm getting out the treats. Yep, they're spoiled, but that's just fine with them!

More Romance

Bailey and Arven came to Heartland at different times but both for the same reason - eye problems. Bailey's eye problem is a rare disorder, which even after 5 surgeries his left eye still had to be removed. Arven came to us with a severe infection in her right eye. The vet was able to save her eye, but not her sight in that eye. Bailey and Arven fell in love at first sight. Once again two bunnies bonded themselves, without any help from us. Go figure. We had tried to bond Bailey with a few other females here before. If he became blind we wanted him to have someone that would give him comfort and help him get around. But he was intolerant of the females we introduced him to. We hadn't thought about the bonding possibility when we brought Arven into the same room where Bailey was. She had just had surgery and Bailey's room was quiet and perfect for recovery. Arven was the one who made a pass at Bailey, and the rest is history, as they say. Bailey and Arven must always remain with us because Bailey's remaining eye must be watched closely. He has to be kept out of sunlight because it stimulates the aberrant growth that took his other eye. And so the blinds will be drawn for the two and a blanket covers their playpen. We think it is a beautiful love story of two special needs bunnies who had a chance meeting that was meant to be.

May/December romance

Allen, a young, energetic guy and Wilma, one of our seniors have bonded. We did not know what was going on between the two neighbors until 3 weeks ago. Wilma (the white New Zealand), with eyes closed, had her nose pressed through the side of her cage with Allen( the chinchilla mix) doing the same from his cage. Their noses were touching as they seemed to bliss out. It was SO sweet. When we saw them do that again a few days later we knew we had to put them together. Being careful to move at a pace that was acceptable to both of them we gave them more and more time out in the play yard together. They were all smoochy face and snuggly each time. It was obvious that they were bonded.

Playtime outside tires out our Wilma fairly quickly and she finds a cool place in the grass to nap. Allen however, binkies until he is exhausted. Wilma watches with eyes half closed while athletic Allen bounces all over the place. There is at least 6 years difference in their ages, but it doesn't matter to them. It is not a bond that we would have tried, but we must honor it now that it has happened. We will never separate them. Bonded rabbits grieve when taken from each other. Wilma will live out her life in wedded bunny bliss to Allen. Anything other than that would be totally unacceptable.

Bonded takes on a whole new meaning ...




One fine day not long ago, we decided to set Dodger (the one ... uh ... on top) into the playpen inside the North Warren (where Heartland's special needs bunnies live) to let him play. At the same time, Thymus was free-ranging in the warren. He came up to the playpen, parked in front of it, and just stared at Dodger. Did he remember that they had been cage neighbors before we "rearranged" the warren? If so, the memories must have been pleasant ones, because when Jeannie came into the warren later that day, Dodger's playpen was empty (who would have thought the boy could jump so high?????). When she looked around, she found the two boys happily and peacefully cuddled next to each other in the corner. The boys have bonded each other and are inseparable ever since. WAY TO GO, BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simon, the one-eyed bandit

"Hi, my name is Simon, and after long years of being a bachelor, I have finally found a girl-friend. Her name is Dandi (actually, Dandelion, but she is much too sassy for that gentle name), and she is the chinchilla-colored one in our playtunnel. I´m, of course, the handsome one in front, with the stern look. I don´t approve of being approached too closely by humans - unless they have treaties, of course.
Some four years ago, I came to Heartland, and Momma Jeannie took real good care of me. I felt safe there after I had been abandoned in the wild and had to fend for myself. I probably wouldn´t have survived if I hadn´t followed some cat to its house (yes, I know I´m pretty smart!). Like I said, I had a good life at Heartland, but still missed running around all the time, and my eye (or what was left of it) kept bothering me a little. Then, all of a sudden, I found myself on some gleaming white table and when I woke up, I was robbed of my manhood!! How dare they! Jeannie said, though, that now I could have a girl-friend, and I moved to Lawton to my new parents. I had the time of my life there... until I met my "girl-friend," Briseis. Boy, she was mean to me, chased me all over the place and tried to rip me apart. I was sooo scared, and my new momma lost her nerve and ended the short-term "relationship." But there was another girl in the house - Dandi. Momma seemed reluctant to have me meet her; I heard her say she was very grumpy and very bossy. Uh-oh. Keeping that in mind and already traumatized by the encounter with Briseis, I kept running for my life everytime I just caught a glimpse of Dandi. But - surprise- she turned out to be so sweet and patient, and soon I couldn´t resist her and slowly, very slowly started talking to her. Now I have a great girl-friend who is looking out for me and grooming me. What? I should groom her, too? Nahhh, I rather sit here and play macho bunny ... it can´t get much better than this."

Bunny love?.....Maybe

We have been trying for some time to pair Haley with someone. She is so needy and wants a companion so badly. We had tried all of the available boys in the warren and they were mostly just frustrated with her. She was too needy in their opinion - wanting to snuggle all the time and have the boys groom her. We had overlooked one of the lops, Boomer, because he is such a grump. We just didn't think he would be interested. Well, he was interested. He was very interested. Boomer liked her immediately and wanted to snuggle right away. Haley played hard to get, pretending to be unaware of his interest in her. It didn't take very long for her to acknowlege his presence though. The bonding process is coming along and in time we believe the two will be a couple. This taught us to look beyond the rough exterior of a 'grump' - there might be a Prince Charming under there.

Bilbo (Buster, Butter Butt) Baggins-Sears aka Abigail's Husband

Although Bilbo wasn't considered a "rescue", he was. He was in a local pet store *gag* at 5 1/2 weeks old and in an aquarium right inside the doorway standing on his hind legs begging for attention from anyone. When he let me pick him up immediately, I knew he was coming home with me. He was a tiny baby and so full of life. Although Bud protested profusely (actually it was a more than firm "NO", I took it upon myself to retreive him anyway. The people at pet stores are idiots and at that time, I was very ignorant about the care of buns. So after much research, I determined that nothing should be alone, pairs are better (goes for anything really, dogs, cats, etc.) so off we go on a wild advenure with Heartland to find Bilbo a wife. Jeannie can relate the wonderful stories of bonding. My poor little baby was even "B*tch slapped"! I was losing all hope. Then we found a spark of hope, our darlin' Abigail. After buns in a bucket going for a car ride with them coming home completely covered in urine to Abigail trying to thump him away with his very vigorous "humpty dumpty" sessions, we finally, after a couple of months, achieved success. What an adventure. My little boy has a wife! After a recent vet visit, Bilbo weighed in at 2.5 pounds. Abigail's weight isn't listed. Could it be that she refused to get on the scales and takes after her Mother-In-Law?

Abigail

Abigail (Abber Dabber Doo, Abs, Babbie) is the new bride of our son Bilbo, a Netherland Dwarf Rabbit. Abby is a rescued gorgeous Holland Lop. Bilbo (Buster, Butter Butt) was extremely lonesone and after many attempts at finding a bride decided that he loved Abby only the feeling wasn't quite mutual, yet. Herein lies the "peanut butter" saga. Once the PB was applied to Bilbo's forehead, Miss Abby proceeded to "groom" the peanut butter from Bilbo's head. It was then a love affair. He is ever so happy to have a new bride and Abby is happy as long as her Mother-In-Law (ME!) keeps her hands off of him. Should that occur, she diligently proceeds to groom him until all traces of the wicked witch is gone. She loves to be held and sang to but resists every attempt at being caught. She is a darling and has made an excellent addition to our family. Heartland, and especially Bunny Sister Jeannie have changed two little bunny's lives and we will eternally be grateful for their help and support.

Diana Sears

Yukon, Oklahoma