My mom and I are known as the bunny ladies. We never had an interest in rabbits until two or so years ago, when we started noticing rabbits on our street. (we live in a very small town, up in NA.) There was a very pretty dark brown buck, with one white paw and an agouti doe. Of course, they had who knows how many litters, and soon someone else thought it would be fantastic to free their buns. So thanks to those who freed their bunnies, we’ve encountered many idjits chasing them, hurting them, killing them, trespassing, letting their dogs AND children free in other people’s yards, telling and teaching them its ok to hurt or scare these defenseless creatures.
Decemeber 2015 was when we were finally able to catch a doe. My mother and I had built strong bonds between an otter buck(the alpha on the street), a black doe, and a very young agouti doe. We caught the black doe, thanks to our friend to provided the trap. (somewhat usless, she just walked right in to it!) A few days later, she gave birth. Beforehand, we couldn’t properly sex her (otherwise she would have been inside) so we put the hutch outside. Unfortunately, two kits died. She gave birth on the mesh(We no longer use this hutch and don’t have any mesh flooring in our two other hutches!) instead of the nesting box so they froze. We brought her inside as soon as possible, and put her in a near by box. She was very calm and tolerable with us, despite having to keep a baby from being born. We knew it wasn’t best to take her out of the hutch, but the nesting box was very small and it was way too cold for babies. So another died, which i do think is from us having to move her and get a birthing box area ready. The four kits afterwards were perfectly healthy and still are. She and the other two kits are now with our friend, while the other two kits (now 7 month old bucks) reside in our two story hutch outside. Chunky(he was super chunky as a kit!) and Hershey Girl. (Hershey is not a doe, “Girl” is there because that was our cat’s name, Hershey Girl and my mom wanted to keep the name. So they are both bucks) So it was this doe that got us into the bunny business!
Not too long ago, our neighbors found a large agouti doe sleeping in their ice cooler. (no ice in it.) She wouldn’t budge and they thought something was wrong with her. They gave her to us, and she was actually perfectly healthy. She wasn’t in labor until a few weeks later. A nice litter of 11, but two died. One of them not that long ago actually, only three weeks old. She is now with her other 9 kits, also with our friend.
Remember that agouti doe from the second paragraph? Her name is Grizzly. She was still around the otter buck, and they were very trusting of us. One morning, she was bothering our bucks out back, so i grabbed my rat’s old cage and put it near the hutch with some tasty treats in it. She didn’t follow suite. I do regret it, but when she decided to lay down and relax near me, i carefuly got closer to her, and just sat right next to her. Didn’t scare her or anything. Her legs were still stretched out, ears partially down. So I grabbed her and quickly put her in the cage. Of course, she resisted and gave me some nasty scratches. But surprisingly, it didn’t break our bond(after she settled down in her cage for a few days) Now, the cage is a typical starter home for rats and guinea pigs(the ones with thick white bars, and a long deep pan) but it was way to small for a full grown rabbit. But our two hutches were full, and the only other cage i had was even smaller. But we did put it in the kitchen, barricaded the doorway to the dining room, and leave the door open for HOURS. Anywhere from 3 to even 10+ hours. She was a very good bunny, very, very tame despite being born wild/stray. (wild rabbits are not native here. Only hares, but they live much farther away) She had her litter of 10 last week, two died on the same day. But the other 8 are fine and well. All otters except for three agoutis. One otter has a white dot on his head, and one agouti has a really, REALLY pretty dark tone to him.
Last but not least, we have an orphaned stray who my mom just calls Broken. (hes a broken up black) About 1-2 months old, our neighbors just kind of plucked him off the street. I don’t agree with it 100%, but at the same time it’s much better than him having to be chased, hurt, poisoned, hunted, or even killed. Especially if we can help it. Despite being stray born, he is super tame and cuddly. Takes KRM very nicely, eats solids great, and is even litter trained without any effort on our part. Well, kind of. He only uses his cage for the bathroom, he tried his best to not go on me or my blankets. Grizzly is now in our second hutch, and he is in her old cage. (he will be moved out once Grizzly’s litter is weaned and her hutch is moved outside) He will either have his own hutch or a corner of my room will be blocked off with a C&C cage.
Anyways, thats my bunny story. I also own and breed gerbils, own two rats, and two cats.
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