After 10+ years of living with rabbits, I'm always amazed when
I run into people who still think all rabbits do is sit
quietly in cages and munch carrots all day.
The modern house rabbit has a full schedule of investigating
everything within hopping range, lying about in criminally
cute poses, thinking up new bits of mischief to get into,
streaking around the room like a mad March hare, and then,
when her work is done for the moment, munching on a carrot or
two if no tasty furniture or electrical cords are handy.
Esther, my first bunny, lost no time in informing me that a
cage with a closed door was not her idea of appropriate rabbit
accommodations. That might be fine for her layabout guinea pig
companion, Buffy, but the young rabbit on the go, she'd have
me know, needed full run of the house. Those powerful hind
legs were itching to be on the move, and those tasty furniture
legs certainly weren't going to come to her to be gnawed!
Esther was a rabbit who believed in plenty of daily exercise.
Life was too short to sit quietly on someone's lap. She loved
to be petted and groomed but insisted I had to get down on the
floor to do any cuddling. In that respect she was like my
current companions, Eve and Lilith. But in other ways the
three couldn't be more different.
Esther followed me around like a little puppy. Endearing as
this was, it sometimes resulted in some near-accidents on the
stairs for me and a few unscheduled flights across the floor
for her when I changed course and sent her sailing.
Fortunately, neither of us suffered any serious damage.
Lilith and Eve are friendly but reserved. They keep each other
company most of the day - grooming and snuggling together one
minute and chasing each other like lunatics the next. Though
they feign independence, they always save their wackiest
behavior for times when I'm around to watch. And nothing
annoys Eve (the dominant bunny) more than seeing me give
Lilith a petting before she's had HER greet and groom session!
Everybunny needs a little love and attention, no matter how
independent.
Esther firmly believed that everything has its place and it
should stay there. In her daily rounds of inspection, she'd
freeze in her tracks if a favorite play carton had been
carelessly knocked out of place as little as an inch, and an
unexpected new piece of office equipment or furniture was
enough to send her into a state of panic for most of the
morning.
Lilith and Eve love change. A favorite perching object moved
into a new spot presents a whole new perspective on things and
good reason to spend several minutes jumping up and down,
taking in the new view, and comparing notes on the
improvement. When I recently got tired of my drab home office
and decided to renovate, I was concerned all the noise and
confusion would upset them. But instead, they became so
excited they were making several trips a day to the third
floor office just to see what was new. Each time, they'd rush
up, cautiously move around sniffing and pawing at everything,
jump up on whatever was accessible, carefully investigate
every new nook and cranny, then begin racing around and around
like lunatics until they finally collapsed for a well-deserved
rest. Every day they had an entirely new environment to
explore, and they were eager to discover what new objects
might appear on the next visit. (On one visit they took the
opportunity to sever my phone connection when the cord was
left dangling until the paint dried enough to tape it back to
the wall!).
The girls were exhilarated with their constantly changing
world. Esther would have been appalled at all the noise,
plaster dust, and confusion.
Everybunny has his or her own interests and personality - his
own philosophy of life, I suppose. But so far I've never met
one who enjoys just sitting around a cage all day and munching
carrots.
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