Tate Catch-Up

"You came to visit? And you didn't bring me basil plants or 'nana? What kind of friend are you??!!"

Back To Bed

Tate and Lyle went back to the Rescue today. They were stressed (they thought they were going to the vets again), then relieved (much hay and arrival treats were nommed) and then sulked. It was very difficult leaving them there, I don't know who was more upset.

"This will not do. The mattress is made of hay, the big TV plays the same show all the time and the indoor area is just a little too...outdoors."

My house will never be the same without them. Cleaner, less wee on the sofas, but not the same.

Spruced

Tate is sprucing himself up ready to go back to the Rescue tomorrow. Got to look good for all the visitors and volunteers he needs to con treats out of...

"Darn straight."

Looking Up, Looking Out

Many of us with house rabbits choose to confine them to their rooms when we are out or asleep for their own safety. It's one thing to 100 precent rabbit-proof one room, but over a whole house there is so much unexpected catastrophes waiting to happen for a little fluffy beast - especially one who can and will squeeze into or jump onto something without properly assessing a safe escape route. Then when you let them out roaming, if you do hear a tremendous crash, or the sound of a scrabbling stuck fluffster, you can go running to the rescue.

But if you are going to shut them in somewhere, especially if they will be shut in at dawn and dusk when rabbits are naturally at their most active, you need to make sure that space is sufficient for them to run about and play. My own bunnies get a 120 square foot room, which seems like a decent space for them. The Rabbit Residence Rescue suggests a minimum space of 60 square foot if they will sometimes be shut in it, which happens to be the size of our spare room where RRR foster bunnies sometimes stay.

Bunnies like Tate are generally here in our house out of necessity, as in Tate's case where his fragile body wasn't coping with the outdoor temperatures at the Rescue. I try not to feel bad that I can only give them the minimum space as by the time they have asked me, the RRR team generally don't have any better options, so being stuck in a 60 square foot space for the time they are here is often preferable to the alternatives. As it has turned out, Tate has somehow managed to wrangle them lots of free-roaming time, so the foster bunnies have themselves a pretty sweet deal here and I dread to think of the demands for premium service the RRR staff and volunteers are going to have to deal with from them when they go back.

One thing I think they will be grateful for when they go back though is the improved view. They can't really see much outside of the spare room except sky (the window is high up the wall if you are a rabbit) and occasionally a grumpy-looking elderly lop glaring at them from down the hall.

"You know the problem, so get me a bigger box. I need to look out of the window to see if any of the neighbours are buying better carrots."

Forbidden

The every(single)day story of Tate living in my house:

BHV: Tate, you can go anywhere in the garden, just stay off the pile of loose wood, it's not safe for bunnies!

"What, this pile?

Advance Party

The snow's gone, the temperature is up, all we need now is clearer skies...

"Are your ears getting wet or is it good for me to come out too?"

The Red Blanket

"I don't care how comfy you say it is, I ain't sittin' on it. Besides, somebun has weed and pooed on it."

Oh dearest Tate, I put the blanket in your favourite spot, just for you so you'd be snuggly and warm for your afternoon nap! Besides, Tate, that somebun was you.

Brothers That Graze Together...

Sharp as a Nut

Sometimes I worry about Lyle...

"Nope, he's not up here either! Wow, Tate is brilliant at Hide and Seek!"

It's A Trap!

"...then I tie this to this and...done. This'll teach him a lesson, ration MY treats will you?! Hah! All I need now is the bait...how do I get Netflix and a crisp sandwich into this loop at the bottom?"

Storytime

"We're sitting comfortably, now get with the stories. Do we have any books about bunnies getting waited on by dumb humans? We'll start with one of those..."

Basil Faulty

"Hmm... I'm sure I can trim a few pieces of leafy goodness off this plant without anyone noticing."

"Uh-oh!"

"Well that didn't go to plan."

"Oh, you're here...erm...OMB, did you see that...cat...that like totally just ran through here knocking things over?! And you'd totally believe he ate some of these herbs on the way past too, right?"

Dandelion Hunter

Tate has discovered dandelions. His garden excursions now involve a lot of digging and rummaging about in the straggly winter grass looking for any tasty leafy goodness underneath.

"Mrph?"

Snuggle Crash

In Strange Places

I am still getting used to Tate roaming the house at will, even though it is only for periods where I have purposely let them out for exercise. I am back to always checking what might be under my feet before I move them.

"You very nearly trod on my foot that time. There's a 'treat toll' owed for that."

Garden Tate

Well, we survived Xmas with no injuries or excitement. This, despite Tate mastering the stairs and now being a whole-house adventurer, especially when I don't want him to and just take my eye off him for a second.

Cold and snow have hit our region, so this means no more outdoor jaunts for the fosters for a while (I offered, Tate said 'No thanks!') and I haven't had time to sit down and work out what setting, fault or dead battery is causing my flash to not fire so no new photos. But here's one from the warmth of Saturday of an outdoor-adventure-loving Tate discovering that outdoor-adventuring comes at a cost:- mucky feets.

"Ergh! These feets do NOT taste of delicious grass as I'd hoped!"

One Rejected

Now that Tate is starting to calm down, we are having more opportunities to spend quality time hanging out. He likes to explore, especially when he finds me near a point of interest and can use me as a climbing frame. There have been many adorable moments having him clambering over me, I really need to try harder to get a photo of it, but I haven't been successful so far.

While you wait for me to sort that out, here is a another failure from the weekend - I wanted either a 'group photo', or a clean shot of each of them, Lyle decided to mess things up by refusing to stand on his spot, then sticking his head in frame and distract Tate at the last second.

Bunnies, eh?

Not Very Flashy

I had this idea for a Xmasy-looking photoshoot thingy but it didn't work out. Having spent 20 minutes assembling all the components, my flash wouldn't fire consistently, which made it quite difficult for me to figure out how to fix the setup. This component also made it a bit tricky...

"Do you understand the word 'exponential'? Cos you might need to understand it to figure out my snack fee for every extra few seconds you expect me to sit here like this."

He's Got The Energy

I was hoping I might be getting more photos for this blog from my new house guests, but it's a bit tricky - Tate especially rarely stops moving if the human treat dispenser (me) is in the room.

"Camera, eh? Well I've not heard of one of those snacks, but I'm willing to give it a quick taste test! Here I come...

House Guests

Having essentially decided I'm not going to adopt any more bunnies of my own, and Anouksa in the past expressing her opinion clearly about other bunnies in the house, I figured that was that. But I am weak and when I heard that brothers Tate and Lyle needed a warm house for the winter due to Tate's medical issues I couldn't not foster them.

Still, I wonder how Crazy Bunny Lady guessed, after I'd resisted for so long, that I wouldn't say no to this particular pair?

"Call me paranoid, but why do so many of the pictures on your walls already look like me?"

Oh Lyle, are you sitting comfortably? I have so many tales to tell you...