Bunny Humour

Maurice, an animal loving Frenchman was disheartened to find that Paris didn't have a rabbit rescue. He decided it was long overdue and he would organize one. While he could find plenty of rabbits to rescue, he was having trouble finding housing for them. He went to businesses, chatted up his friends, talked to charities and no one had room. Finally the Archbishop contacted him and said he could keep them out back of the cathedral if he promised to keep them quiet and clean. Extatic, Maurice phoned his wife, "Daria, good news! I've got a hutch back of Notre Dame!"

*adjusts halo*

It must be Easter..

I sent this around to my Facebook friends, but I thought I'd repost here for others to pass on if they'd like.

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If you've heard my Bunnies are the third most common pet in N. America and the most misunderstood speech before, skip to the end. :)

Animals lovers, I contact you today in hopes of spreading a little education and gaining your help in stopping some ignorance. Whether you have cats, dogs, turtles, birds, a pig in the barn.. I think all of you know that uncontrolled breeding is a *BAD THING!* A female rabbit can put out a litter of 6 - 8 kits every thirty two days. ("Can't add or subtract, but boy, can they multiply!")

Bunnies need room for exercise and play, just like cats and dogs. They're active around dawn and dusk, or if their human is one of those day slaves, typically as you're trying to get ready for work ("Pet me!") and then ignore you for a couple hours when you come home from work. ("Do you have dandelions? Meh. I'll continue my nap.") Rabbits are litterbox trainable. They're very curious and hyperactive little demons.. er, I mean darlings. They like to chew, dig, play, dance, and some have a vocabulary for communicating with their pet humans.

Commonly rabbits get advertised by breeders and pet stores as "starter pets" or "quiet, low maintenance animals, like hamsters." Unfortunately, it's not true. They may seem boring in the classroom, but imagine a cat stuck in that cage all day, with kids poking and yelling.. and worse yet, imagine if that cat was a prey animal! Far from their ideal home! They're also expensive to take care of when they get sick. They have delicate bones and digestive systems and they can't have penicillan. (Amongst other little quirks.)

It's Easter time once more. The tragedy of Easter is that so many people buy a rabbit on a whim and then as soon as said rabbit hits puberty - instead of getting it in to be fixed (and solving a lot of those, ah, overly social, activities) they just dump them out in the wild. The only thing bunnies can do in the wild is be eaten. The average life span of a bunny out in the wild is about a week, the poor things have *zero* survival instincts! The "nicer" dump the bunny off at the already overfull shelters and rescues, where if the bunny is lucky, it isn't euthanised within a couple weeks.

What this lecture is leading up to (are you at the top back with me now?) .. There's a mall in Edmonton, AB that is hosting a rabbit show for Easter. They will be handing out information from breeders on where you can buy your very own cute little pet bunny. And let's face it, breeders, for the most part, need to make money. Yes, there's responsible breeders like my friend Lena (*waves*) but unfortunately, their furchildren get outnumbered very quickly by the puppy mills, the bunny mills, the kitty cat mills all too quickly.

So please, if you have time, write a letter of protest to the Bonnie Doone Shopping Centre at : emills@morguard.com .. Anything from a nice long lecture (You know I typed up one of those!) to a "Please research rabbit care at http://www.rabbit.org before you encourage their sale to the general public."

For more information on the joys of bunnies and easters, feel free to visit http://www.makeminechocolate.org/

Thank you.

What a long strange trip it's been!

While that picture is actually of my brother's couch - I am indeed moved into my new apartment/flat/condo.

The feeling of freedom is incredible. Having my own space that is mine, with no responsibilities (per say) outside of the walls, is amazing. I don't have a lawn to mow. I don't have plants that I should water (but never remembered to - good thing I had awesome neighbours.)

The last six months has been a long, strange, trip. The fire was November 13th, I recieved my settlement in late January, I took possession of the apartment March 11th, my Mum immediately took over and bought me new carpet and painted the walls. Heck, my realtor (Bonnie Radke, for any needing a realtor in Chilliwack, BC. She's AWESOME.) even painted my kitchen.

My couch arrived from The Brick on the Tuesday, so that was my first day living here. (I had still been camping on my brother's couch.) Then on Saturday I got my washer & dryer, and bed. The bed is an adventure unto itself - it's hard as a rock and I need plush. The model in the store had been VERY soft, so I'd thought what a deal at $379! It was PERFECT. Nope, not so perfect. Sears won't take it back - they'll do an *exchange* but the next cheapest model is $400 more.. And I have to say, I'm not being real impressed with their customer service over this. (The washer and dryer, however, work awesome once my Dad hooked them up.) I have said I'll take a store credit (Lord knows I buy enough of my clothes through Sears!) that's been debated amongst their customer service upper echelons for the past four days. So currently, I'm sleeping on an air mattress on the floor. Good thing its a comfy air mattress.. even if it needs re-inflating every couple of days.

I am also still doing battle with Alliance One / RBC Visa. I had gotten an offer of "buy out the debt" from RBC via Alliance One (a Canadian Credit Agency). So, when I got my insurance settlement, I paid it out. Alliance One said they'd send me paperwork. Long story short, I still haven't recieved any paperwork and RBC Visa says I still owe them another almost six thousand dollars. I am NOT a happy camper. Just sent off a couple of registered letters. They have a week from reciept to reply or I'm going to the BBB and the media. Enough is enough. I think I've been remarkably patient with Alliance One, having accepted four claims they've either mailed or are mailing the paperwork, one claim of email, two claims of faxes.

On the bunny front - its almost time for the UVic rescued bunnies to move down to their sanctuary in WA State. We're having a garage sale, and I have to confess I'm donating a bunch of my stuff from my shed instead of having to sell via Craigslist or pay for storage. (Er, I mean, its a sacrifice for the bunnies! .. *Cough*)

The first strata meeting is mid-April. So I get to investigate the pet situation then. :) Chance's future Momma and Poppa are back in their real home, so she will (probably) be going across to them soon. I wish I could claim her.. but.. alas, I think her medical bills are beyond my means. She's a very special bunny, but special bunnies have special needs. And I am the first to admit the disabled are expensive! (MY family would agree!!)

But with the living situation settled, I'm once more getting back into video taping friend's bands. Very excited for some upcoming shows.. Tho I'm not quite sure if I'm up to the 2.5 hour drive to Kamloops! :D

Also - Pacific Northwest Rabbit people! There seems to be a whole shlock of us, why don't we have a potluck picnic or something in the Seattle area this summer? (June maybe?) I'm a bit limited on what I can bring across the border, but I can certainly do beverages. (Propane stove + 10 types of tea = Lorna's idea of travel.)

Hoppy Birthday 'Shell!

Hoppy Birthday Shell!

Hope your days are full of love, laugher, binkies, hugs, kisses and nifty STUFF. :)

Bunnies and Tim Hortons.

Nirvana requires two simple things.. Friends and .. oh, wait.. three things.. ;)

I am bunny sitting for the lovely Lynn and the Daring Darin. (I'd say Darling, but that's not terribly masculine)

This means I get to spoil Miffy, Vinnie and Jackson rotten. Miffy is the only creature on the planet to still be demanding pets after I've gotten tired of petting. Normally its the animal saying "okay, enough now!" Even the declared pet sluts. I'm pretty sure you could set off a bomb beside Vinnie and he'd just half lift a loppy ear, peer around, see that everything he cares about is still standing (Miffy, his food dish and his water bowl) and he'd go back to sleep. Jackson is a tad perterbed that his kit (Caitlynn) is not around, he's stuck in a condo, AND I don't know how to do his salad Just Right.. but he's putting up with me, being the stoic bun he is. He's almost as handsome as Sheeba is purdy, being a black lop.

Oh.. and they left me Tim Hortons blueberry muffins and a Tim Card. (Gift Card) .. Mmmm.. Heaven.

Good friends, bunny wabbits AND Timmys. Heaven! ;)

UVic Bunnies.

Happy Year of the Bunny! I'm being a bit slack and just posting a link to a video.. the little cutie pie at the start is Chance Bunny.



Oh.. and settlement finally came in so I start house hunting soon! (Which means, bunny hunting shortly there after, right? In the bunny slave sense..)

Take a Chance on me..!

That's Chance. She's one of the many Flemish bunnies that Sas rescued. She's a midget Flemish who was failing to flourish in with her family. I hand fed her the couple times I was over there. She's just entirely too polite for her own good. If a bunny snatches food out of her mouth, she'll let them. She'll share what she has, even if it means she gets none. When in a family of ten.. that doesn't work so well.

So, she had very brittle fur and ears, she hadn't outgrown her baby white spot on her forehead, she could barely hop. Sas is the bunny whisperer. She doesn't like separating buns from their families because they keep improving their immune systems the longer they're around their siblings and/or parent. So Chance and two of her splay legged siblings (Who I've been calling 'Snowy' and 'Whitey') and gave her extra TLC. What you see now is a very health looking Flemish Midget. (She's still very small for a Flemmy.)

I plan on kidnapping her as soon as I have my own place. Sas warned she's a walking vet bill.. but so was Scout and she was my little heart bunny. Apparently, I'm just a sucker for the waifs and wobbles of the bunny world.  Now.. if I can get through the adoption process. (I don't think Sas approves of my "Wait till she's looking the other way and snag the bunny!" idea.. ;)