well… it’s that time of year again…

no… not stockings by the fire, hot cocoa and xmas carol time…

i’m talking about BUNNY-PROOFING!

we took our xmas stuff out this weekend and i spent more time re-proofing the living room than i did actually decorating.  we had to move Meadow to the other side of the living room.  our couches are set up in kind of an L shape with an end table in between them… we had to remove the end table all together and we put Meadow in that spot.  [we joked for a moment about getting a piece of plywood and using the cage as an end table, but then we came to our senses… hot coffee + rickety plywood x bunny / 4 year old boy = certain disaster!!!]

i sent Mike to the Home Depot [a man’s playground of tools, wood and bricks for those not familiar with it] to get some supplies and i spent the afternoon crawling on my hands and knees re-securing cords and corners [plus vacuuming and dusting floorboards].  i ziptied many, many NIC squares [we have reclining couches so we need to make sure there’s no access to them thru the back] and once the tree was up, i built a lovely barricade around it with NIC squares… with the light cord wrapped in foam and shoved thru the corner of the barricade.

she was out very briefly yesterday.  i think she was more mad than anything that she had to be penned up for the majority of the day b/c we were moving things around… plus she went a little bunny nuts that her stuff had been moved around.  [HOW DARE WE!!!] 

naturally, this morning it took her about 10 minutes to breach the security measures… first she managed to shove her fat hiney between the cage and the wall!  once i got her out she ran off to the other side and when i went to check on her, she was just disappearing behind the entertainment center that i THOUGHT had been properly blocked off!  i reached out to grab a foot and she was gone!  right thru my fingers.  i sat on the couch… b/c trying to force her out was not going to work.  i said a quick prayer that the wires and the bunny would survive… after about 30 seconds i think she decided that her butt really was too big to fit comfortably back there and she wriggled her way out.  i promptly scooped her up and put her back in her cage [against her will of course.]  i ran for the zipties and "fixed" the oversight on my part.

the lesson is… do what you will to bunny-proof and they will surprise you.  don’t be afraid to rethink your plan and revisit bunny-proofing over and over and over again…  your bunny certainly will.  once you think things are finally "just exactly perfect"… be prepared… the battle is not won yet!

and whatever you do, don’t forget that zipties and prayer can go a long way!