2.25.2009

Pet Project, Part 3

One might think eight chicks and six triops are more than enough pets for one family. Add the backyard bunny to the headcount, and we are a family of 19. Why not round up and make it 20?

harriet

Meet Harriet. I received an email from my sister-in-law's sister-in-law earlier this month announcing their first batch of baby bunnies, which were quickly followed by another batch of baby bunnies. Turns out the two "girl" bunnies they brought home from their church's petting zoo were not actually two girls. We had entertained the idea of a companion rabbit for Honey Bunny, so the email seemed serendipitous.

harriet

Unfortunately, Honey Bunny does not seem to be interested in a companion. A target, perhaps, but not a burrow mate. Poor Harriet. My kids are a little miffed with Honey Bunny and think we should get rid of her and keep Harriet, so our decision to find Harriet a new home will be a lesson in loyalty. Honey Bunny might not be so sweet, but she is ours and we are hers.

Finding Harriet a new home has proved challenging. I put the word out to our Freecycle group, and received several emails warning me to carefully screen interested parties. Apparently rabbits as snake food isn't the only thing I should be worried about. Our local bunny rescue is full, so no luck there. Next up is a call to our local 4-H groups.

harriet

I feel bad that we aren't able to provide a home for Harriet, but it turns out that 19 pet projects are indeed enough for one family. Harriet is young and lovable and will make a good pet project for another family. Maybe even your family. Let me know if you're interested. I'm only kind of kidding.

15 comments:

  1. um, holy freaking crap (sorry for the sort of swearing). Is that the cutest creature to ever walk the face of the earth? I THINK SO.

    She fawns for the camera, and that fluffy puff of mane omgah I've been rendered wide eyed and apoplectic.

    Well, just wide eyed. And a little swooney.

    I want her. But I'm guessing shipping the cutest bunny evar across the country to me isn't reallythe most pragmatic situation. boo.

    really, how can you possibly give her up?

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  2. Molly, I wish I could take Harriett. She just looks so sweet. Unfortunately I like being married too much, but wow she is cute. I hope she finds a great place to live.

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  3. I have never seen a bunny like that! She is just absolutely the cutest thing ever!!! I love her.
    We have 9 pets here...including the 4 fish in the pond, which is kind of cheating, but only a little bit, right?
    I'll trade you two hamsters for the bunny!! ♥♥♥

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  4. Adventures in learning compelled me to home school. I wanted our three to learn, to have fun, to be close friends and to hang out at home while learning. I began teaching our kids at home for better and worse...some days even worst.

    I love the philosophy of learning (see earlier post) and helped my kids embark on a bread making business. Every Friday we'd set school aside and bake. They bought the materials, baked the bread, advertised, delivered bread via backpack on their bicycles and used a little bit of quicken to check their sales. It was cute, ambitious and messy. Fridays quickly became their favorite day of the week.

    About 2/3rds of the way through the year I became enamored with the feed store. The kids and I would drop in just to see what they had. I couldn't believe I lived near to the city and still within easy driving distance to a feed store! Such luck! Feed stores are a bit like pet stores--just smellier, but I was not compelled to buy a horse, just to look a the bunnies.

    We bought one bunny for a school experiment (we were supposed to use a rat, but ugh!). Thatcher (who became Elise's pet), the bunny, was lonely. Some well-meaning friends rescued a large white bunny (Lucky) and decided we should care for it. The same friends then 'lent' us a male that they had tried unsuccessfully to breed with Lucky. Thatcher had 7 babies, all of whom died and it was very sad. Two weeks later Lucky, the infertile, had 7 babies. All of whom lived! It was really cute, but we could only keep two : Rose for Hannah and Brownie for Drew. Our total backyard population was then whittled down to five rodents. Mike made things more fun by totally fencing our backyard with chicken wire--enabling the rabbits to romp freely. Looking out the dining room window was a bit like watching popcorn pop. I enjoyed it so much that I added my own bunny, Pinky Gladys Gutsman--an escape artist extraordinaire--soon she belonged to someone else.

    My trips to the feed store continued; I had to buy Timothy grass for the bunnies. I also had to see the chicks. We came home one Spring day with two beautiful multi-colored Araucanas and a sturdy looking plain white one. The feed store promised a 90% chance that they would be female. We raised these first in the garage and then later in the backyard under the kids' fort. Each of the kids named their chicken--Hannah had Jesseca, Elise had Fluffy and Drew's was Stripey.

    Don't trust your feed store too much. Jesseca began riding the backs of the bunnies and pecking their ears. This aggression towards our free ranging rabbits (and soon even our children) led us to 'gift' the chickens to friends living in the country. Jesseca was renamed Jesse when 'she' began crowing. Jesse was then dubbed Gregory Peck. Shortly thereafter GP became 'Stew.' They were beautiful chicks, awkward adolescents and mean mama/daddies.

    Commenting on my educational adventures and fondness for the feed store, my kind husband said that he would never want us to live on or own any property larger than a standard size lot--he'd learned what my love of learning could produce!

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  5. Oh goodness! She's so so cute. My neighbors are building a bunny home right now and they're getting bunnies. I wish there were some way for us to get Harriet here, because we'd love to help give her a home.

    Good luck!

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  6. What a gorgeous bunny! I wish you the best of luck in finding her a good home. My heart always sinks a little when a pet needs a home and I can't help out. We have two cats already and a small yard and we've already come across someone who needed a home for a dog and we couldn't help out. Just a thought though...our two cats didn't get along at first either, but now even though they still have their "spats," they at least tolerate each other. Could your two bunnies in time learn to get along? I know that's hard to predict! :)

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  7. Oh she is so cute but no. No. We don't need a bunny! Great photos!

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  8. Oh what a ball of fluff!! SO cute!

    ~Tara

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  9. bunny my honey ~ I'm sorry I can't help you out. Shipping to Seattle would be costly. And, well - do rabbits like rain?

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  10. we ran into the same problem when we got our bunnies...our old one did not like the new one...so they lived with a divider...and two separate cages...one fancy and one home made with some chicken wire and old pellets...it works for us :o)

    ~simply~

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  11. Oh MAN!! I want that bunny. But no. It can not be. One day, when the time is right and the yard and home is right we will have our own little bunny. Yours is SO sweet though.

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  12. WOW that is the most adorable bunny I have ever seen!! Where are you??? anywhere near ohio? hehe
    I would defy my hubby's no rabbit rule.. which stinks because I used to keep them.. and come and scoop that little one up!
    Sigh..

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  13. She is gorgeous! I hope you find her a suitable home.

    My mom has a white bunny in her backyard that we found and rescued off of a busy street. He drives her nuts, but she can't bear to part with him.

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  14. molly!! can i have her? i've never seen a bunny like that! the boys will hit the roof! we'll come get her next week when we come to see your chickens & fancy sea monkey newts. how's thursday? xoxo

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  15. Aw! If only we lived close...we had a rabbit before, he passed away about three years ago. He was a rescued pet. Hope you find a good home for Harriet.

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