Harebrained Adventures

          

Harebrained Adventures

by Jeremy Yarbrough    

       Yesterday I came home as usual to discover something had gone awry.  Over the summer I met a friend who is a rabbit breeder.  I was able to obtain four bunnies from her of which I gave two to my neighbor and I kept the other two.  Having pet rabbits has been a new learning experience for me.  I named one Petey because he looks like Peter Rabbit from the children's story and the other Floppsie because he has an ear that flops.

       As anyone with a history pet ownership knows, pets require food, shelter, medical care and an abundance of attention.  Rabbits have special dietary needs which include hay, leafy lettuces, fresh vegetables, pellets and water.  Occasionally, it is great to offer them fruits such as bananas, melons and grapes.  At night the bunnies stay in a hutch that is about four feet off of the ground located behind my storage shed.  They have a box they can sleep in or on top of depending on the weather.  During the day I place them in their special day kennel in my backyard so that they have room to jump, run, play and get plenty of exercise.  

       I was in shock when I walked into the backyard and discovered the ripped open wire in the back of the kennel.  There was a black and white dog lying the the rabbit's box located in their kennel.  Petey was standing next to the door looking alarmed while the dog sat there looking at me, wagging his tail.  Meanwhile, I picked up Petey and frightened the dog off by shouting at it telling it to go home.  This caused the dog to run out of the kennel and into the woods.  Immediately, I took Petey back to his night hutch and rushed back to look for Floppsie.  I dreaded what I thought I would find.  

       Once I entered the kennel I saw Floppsie crouched in the corner of his box, frozen in fright.  I quickly picked him up and he was a limp as could be and was covered in dog slobber.  His breathing was shallow and I could tell he was in shock.  After holding him for a little while I put him into his night hutch with Petey.  There it took him about six hours to recover from his frightful event.  By nightfall he was eating and interacting with his brother.  Thankfully, my rabbit's first encounter with a dog was with one who was friendly and just wanted to give them wet dog licks.  All is well!