The Life and Times of Bunnies

I think dad and mum finally got fed up with Betsy ripping up little bits of the carpet. (Oh all right, I suppose I joined in too, from time to time.)

Last night we came out to the living room to find that our corner space had been fenced-in. Then dad chased us around the house and picked us up and put us in there for the night - to “keep us out of trouble” he said.

He let us out again in the morning, but still… I haven’t been confined to a “cage” at night since I was very little. And Betsy, who lived much of her early life in an outdoor hutch/cage, really didn’t like it.

So Betsy and I talked a bit last night (not having much else to do)… and here’s what we’ll do. We’ll turn on the “cute” factor… we’ll turn it WAY up. I’m sure mom and dad will soon break down and let us roam free again. How could they possibly resist us?

-Gus

I think dad’s gone completely bonkers. Today he came over and gave Betsy and I a treat (a single dried cranberry each) for making a huge mess!

We were chewing up this paper that mom had left in our corner of the house, and dad came over, gave us the cranberry, and told us we were being very good. Didn’t he see how we’d shredded the paper and spread it all over the place?

I think he’s lost his mind… but as long as he keeps giving me treats, I guess I don’t mind (although it does take some of the fun out of things).

-Gus

Dad thinks this sort of thing is funny.

Dad, you take us to work every day. We invade your office on a regular basis.

Geez.

-Gus

Well, not a real bunny hero. But this is what dad plays sometimes:

What did he call it… oh yeah, “Guitar Hero II.”

I do like the name, though.

-Gus

It’s been a scary few days.

The first night after we (allegedly) peed on the couch, some new stuff showed up on the couch. When Betsy and I went to hop up there, it stuck to our feet! Oh it was terrible, it just wouldn’t come off, even if you licked it! And what’s worse is that it made a loud rustling noise as you moved (because it was stuck to your foot). It must’ve been loud, because it woke mom and dad up, and they came out and grabbed us and took it off our feet - which hurt a little, because it pulled on our fur.

I tell you what, I don’t want a repeat of that, so I think I’m going to steer clear of the couch for a while.

The next day, this big scary man came with these big scary smelly tubes and it sounded sort of like the vacuum, but it wasn’t. And he was doing something to the couch, and it smelled different - I just stayed hidden in my corner. Eventually the scary stuff went away, though.

Then, that night, everything went dark all of a sudden, but mom and dad were still home - and it was too early for them to go to sleep like they usually do (we hadn’t even had dinner yet!). Dad said something about the “power” being out because of the wind. Betsy and I didn’t like it, though, so we huddled together (of course I was just doing it to keep Betsy company) in dad’s office. At first, the lights kept flashing on and off and there was this loud beep every time (dad apologized and said it was the “smoke alarm” or something). But eventually the lights just went out for good and it was very dark, except for these light sticks mom and dad kept carrying around and shining everywhere. Eventually, though, dad and mom stopped moving around with their light sticks and settled down, and then it wasn’t so bad. We even had a nice dinner (mmm… fresh lettuce). Then, later on, the lights came back on all of a sudden - and stayed on! So everything was back to normal.

On a good note, Betsy and I did manage to sneak into the bedroom this morning! But the closet was closed, so we couldn’t go play in mom’s shoe forest… but it was still nice, until mom chased us out!

I don’t know if all this scary stuff happened just because of what we (allegedly) did on the couch, but I’m not keen to repeat the experience, so I think Betsy and I will be staying on the floor from now on, thank you very much!

-Gus

Dad told me this morning that he found out that there is a game now where you take care of a rabbit - and that is the game! He said it’s called “Petz Bunnyz,” for something he called “Nintendo DS.” Oh, I see, it’s sort of a game thing that you can hold in your hands (boy, must be nice to have opposable thumbs…)

I’m not sure how I feel about this. At first, I thought it was good - people can play with bunnies in a game instead of buying them from pet stores and leaving them alone all day to be sad. But, then I thought about it some more, and what if playing this game, they want to get a real rabbit? It might encourage more people to get rabbits who maybe shouldn’t.

Still, I suppose it depends on how realistic the game is. Dad said it doesn’t look nearly as good as a real rabbit, and after all, rabbits are complex animals, I’m sure no game could ever capture our true “spirit.” So maybe this will convince people not to get rabbits if they are not ready for the commitment. That would be best, I think.

-Gus

Saturday is the day that mom goes shopping for the week, and this Saturday I documented the process that mom and dad go through to prepare our meals for the week.

This is the food that mom brings home from the store (what did she call it… oh yeah, “whole foods”).

Parsley is the first thing that mom and dad take care of, because it’s pretty easy. Mmmm, makes me hungry just looking at it!

Of course, Betsy and I demand that our food is washed - after all, greens can be dirty, and we are clean bunnies. So dad chops up everything (here he’s cutting the kale - our favorite!) and washes it in the sink.

Mom tries to keep things exciting, so they often add other greens besides just lettuce and kale. This week it smells like arugala!

We eat a lot, so the sink really starts to fill up!

Oh man my mouth is watering…

Here dad is adding some romaine lettuce. We don’t like that as much as the kale, but dad gets mad at us if we don’t eat all our vegetables - he says “no treats until you eat all your lettuce!” He can be stubborn at times!

Here dad’s swishing the greens around to wash them.

That’s quite a full sink!

Dad complained that the water was quite cold. Well, duh, dad, it’s winter!

Here dad and mum get all the hardware ready to “process the bunny food,” as they say.

We prefer our greens dry, so dad has to spin them dry with the salad spinner. It makes a lot of noise when he uses it, but I always know that dinner is coming soon when I hear it!

Mom says it’s important to use plenty of paper towels (recycled, no bleach, of course) in the containers so the food stays dry in the fridge. Otherwise, it can get soggy after a few days - and no bunny likes soggy lettuce!

Dad begins draining the greens.

Work faster, dad! I’m hungry!

This is the noisy part.

Make sure they are all drained, dad!

Mom bought these containers because they fit well in the fridge. Also, they have nice lids that can be sealed tight to keep our food fresh all week long.

Dad has to repeat these steps quite a few times for all those greens.

Mmmm… dinner is served! Well, sort of. Dinner (and breakfast) for the week is ready, anyway!

Does this qualify as “bunny pr0n?” I don’t know… but it definitely gets me excited!

This is how it looks from my point of view - just before I eat it! *chomp chomp chomp*

-Gus

Dad’s always trying to take photos of us.

It doesn’t always work.

Especially with Betsy - she’s always lurking in the dark somewhere.

Sometimes he uses it for catching photographic evidence of our rampages. Or, well, Betsy’s rampages, anyway.

As for me - I don’t mind as long as he lets me sleep.

-Gus

Dad told me about this “tagged” thing that Rabbits Guy did to us, he called it a “meme?” I’ll have to get Gus to help me look that word up.

Anyway, dad said we had to list 3 things that we’ve never done before and that we’d like to do if we wouldn’t get in trouble for it. Well, that’s easy!

1. Dig a big hole in the floor… err… ground
2. Make a nest out of pillows
3. Figure out how to open the treats containers

Now dad tells me I need to pick 3 other bunnies to pass this on to. Hmmm, this sounds like a game Gus and I have played together!

I think I would pick Fury & Frost, Albright at the Heartland Bunny Blog (cuz he looks like Gus), and Malou and Talisman at The Bunny Lovers Shop.

Bye now!

-Betsy

Everyone seems to be taking pictures of their fridges lately. Dad thought this would be a fun thing to do, so he took a picture, too.

Honestly, I think it would be better to be IN the fridge, rather than looking at a picture of it. Though looking at this picture, I can tell that mom and dad need to go shopping for us soon!

-Gus