Adopt a Rabbit Month

February is adopt a rabbit month! And as a mom to 3 rabbits of my own and having been a foster mom for bunnies for 4 years, this month always reminds me of how little people know about rabbits. I blogged last year all about how I fell in love with rabbits but this year, I wanted to talk a bit about how they are involved in my life.

I wake up each morning to snoring. Very very loud snoring. This is not from Natalie- nope. It’s my 5 pound, mini rex rabbit sitting at the foot of our bed under the covers. Abraham lives in our bedroom and his favorite activity is to snuggle with me in the bed and give me kisses. And snore. I get up a bit before Natalie and just snuggle with him, pet him and give him kisses for 15 minutes first thing in the AM. It’s a really wonderful way to start my day. He then proceeds to watch us get ready and tries to attack the cats as they sneak into the bedroom. Abraham was found on the streets of DC and was in really bad shape. He has been extremely aggressive his whole life, with one exception- he loves me. I fostered him for 2 years and he was adopted and returned twice. I would go over to the adopters house twice a week, showing them how to care and calm Abraham down. Each time they said ‘You don’t understand! He’s completely different when you walk in the room!”. So eventually the rescue asked me to take Abraham as he would be impossible to adopt out (he literally destroyed the other people’s houses). He’s too aggressive to have a bunny friend, so he stays in our bedroom away from the other two rabbits. He hates strangers. He hates change. He’s kinda of a bunny douchebag. But he loves to shower me in kisses.

When it’s time to work, I have two official co-workers in my office. Toby and Fern. They have a cage that’s their ‘home base’ but have free range of the room. Most people don’t realize rabbits can be litterbox trained, so my office stays clean except for the tumble weeds of fur when it’s molting season. Toby lost his mate, Guinevere, back in August and literally fell apart. When bunny’s actually bond, they are very very tightly bonded and will actually give up and die of a broken heart if they loose their mate. So we found Fern, our newest addition. I open the door to the office and they immediately run towards me, looking for a few treats or some love. They mostly supervise my office by napping together in the sun, running in their tunnel, and being excellent paper shredders. I take a break from the screen for a few minutes every hour to get down on the floor, pet them, and watch them run around. Their presence in my office reminds me that while running a business can be really stressful, there are two furry things watching what I’m up to and always ready and excited to see me.

So if you are thinking of adopting a rabbit, check out this poster on rabbit facts. With Easter approaching, my heart always grows heavy. Many many people buy cute baby bunnies for their children for Easter, only to give them up several weeks later as they grower bigger and their kids move on to other things. I can’t tell you how many rabbits are put down in the months following Easter because of this trend. Or how many people let their rabbits ‘go in the wild’ thinking they will be ok- only domestic rabbits have none of the skills of their wild cousins and quickly die horrible deaths from exposure, predators, cars, and rest. I have been a mom to 2 rabbits who were released into the forest and saved by amazing people who realized that they bunny running in the woods was not a wild bunny, but a terrified bunny in need of saving.

So this Easter, don’t buy a baby bunny, buy a chocolate bunny. Post a flyer about rabbits being living creatures, not toys, at your local pet store or coffee shop. Or, if you know of a park or forest nearby where you suspect people may dump their unwanted bunnies, post a flyer about not being free but making your rabbit food.