On the Bravery and Stubborness of Bunnies

[Quantum]

Bunnies are full of surprises.  Ask the average, non-bunny owned person on the street to describe a rabbit and I can guarantee you one of the first words out of his/her mouth will be, “shy” or “timid” or “skittish” or “frightened”.   This morning my “shy” and “timid” rabbit stomped over to the couch, bumped (read: rammed) his head into my hand and did the Drama Queen Flop.  It wasn’t so much, “You may pet me now” as it was, “You WILL pet me!  NOW!”  After having had a sufficiency of pets, he proceeded to jump up on the couch.  Due to a misplaced afghan, he started sliding as he made the jump to the couch back.  Frantically four-wheeling even as he was sliding off, I got my hands underneath him and he used them as a launchpad to jump back to the couch seat.  He then made three “speed bunny” circuits of the living room whereupon the “frightened” creature jumped back onto the couch and then up on the couch back (where the afghan had been properly replaced).  How many people have the guts to try something again that frightened them that badly, that could have injured them,  so soon after the first go ’round?

He’ll sit across the living room from me and defiantly attempt to pull out bits of carpet.  He tries to shove me out of the way when I try to keep him out of the rest of the house.  My refusal to submit to the Great Bunny’s Plan that all rabbits have access everywhere all the time infuriates the little guy.  My first bun, a mini Lop would snort and charge at anyone who dared laugh at him.  Now imagine you’re living in a house with a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  It laughs at you or asks you to stop what you’re doing or keeps you from going somewhere.  How many people would charge at it?  How many would refuse to do its bidding?  How many would walk up to it and give it a good shove in the leg, telling it to move?

Bunnies are curious, demanding, stubborn and brave.  They can ignore you better than a cat, they can be even more endearing than a dog and they also come equipped with the most laser-beam-like stink eye on the planet.   I’m fully convinced that those who are not bunny-owned (including the authors of children’s books) know nothing at all of bunnies.

[Elrohwen]

Haha, great post! So few people realize how complex bunnies really are. Or how demanding!

[Monkeybun]

They also don’t see the “timid and frightened” creatures going after raisins…. Monkey, with her total of 1.5 lbs, launches into my face on the couch when I have raisins lol. No timid there!

[kralspace]

I love this post! The first post I ever read on Binky Bunny was a discussion and someone said they needed a t-shirt that said “Bunnies – Timid, shy woodland creatures my a$$!

There are few things that scare me as bad as sitting on the couch after doing nails and brushing on my mini-rex Lola and watching her come roaring back at me from across the room, launch herself on my chest and savage my protective towel like a pitbull gone mad!

[RabbitPam]

Quantum – bravo. Well said!

[MooBunnay]

So true!

[MimzMum]

Oh this is classic! I love your description, I don’t even need pictures to make it work.
However, I DO wish there were video of that. It would teach people some serious facts about how ‘diminutive’ a rabbit can be…lol.
Wasn’t it a famous Eastern philosopher who said, “What is the sound of one bun disapproving?” ^_^

[Battie]

Great post!

Before I had bunnies I admit I disliked them because I’d only known them to be shy and scared. I’m so lucky that when I was at the shelter looking for a friend they showed me how wonderful and spirited they really are!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Hahahahah SO TRUE!!

[sammyp]

I’ve got to admit, even after doing research and learning about rabbits for a good long while before ever getting Moogle, I was still surprised by him in big ways. I suppose I was kind of expecting a sweet, maybe shy,maybe required lots of patience on my part to bond with sort of creature – instead, the only thing I need patience for is his outright naughtiness! He loves “investigating” whatever I’m doing, and if I sit studying near him, he has to come sample my textbooks and notes! I think overall, I’ve just been surprised by the sheer wilfulness of bunnies!

[Beka27]

We were having this same conversation yesterday.

Every morning I get up and feed the buns and straighten their pen.

Yesterday, I start straightening and I move their maze into the corner of the pen (where it goes.) Max RUNS over and shoves it back into the middle of the pen. I push it into the corner. He shoves it into the middle.

We go back and forth a few times before I FINALLY GIVE UP and let him have it HIS WAY!

And then… later on yesterday, a classmate came over so we could work on a group project. The computer is in the bunny room, so we’re sitting in there (for about 8 hours… stupid project!) and she was just amazed by how active the buns were. She actually made a comment at one point saying that she always thought rabbits were boring b/c they just sit in a cage in a pet store. I had to give (the polite version of) my speech about how rabbits need interaction and mental stimulation and s…p…a…c…e… to play! It went well, she even fed them a barley biscuit!

[wendyzski]

Posted By kralspace on 11/21/2009 01:12 PM
I love this post! The first post I ever read on Binky Bunny was a discussion and someone said they needed a t-shirt that said “Bunnies – Timid, shy woodland creatures my a$$!

 

That was probably me.

The first weekend I had Pepper she climbed up a ladder *?* to get to a loaf of tasty tea-bread on the table.  She decided she was going to be free-range at 2 weeks when she leaped over the table I had blocking the door.  She hopped up on a bookshelf and then kicked everything off it so that she could enjoy a lounge space.  She almost drowned when she decided to hop into a FULL bathtub once while I was alseep on the couch.  She unplugged and moved a floor lamp and a wastebasket – apparently the Bun Shui was not right.  The first time I had friends over after getting her she YOINKED a bowl of snack mix out of someone’s hand and made off with a pretzel in the confusion, then had to be forcibly retreived from someone’s purse. She can go over a 3ft X-pen to get at nibbles (or go after another bunny) and has gone camping with me.

“Timid little woodland creature my a$$….”

[MimzMum]

  She almost drowned when she decided to hop into a FULL bathtub once while I was alseep on the couch. 

Good grief that had to be terrifying! 0_o

She unplugged and moved a floor lamp and a wastebasket – apparently the Bun Shui was not right. 

lol…Bun Shui…love it! ^_^

then had to be forcibly retreived from someone’s purse.

rofl…I am getting such a cute mental picture here!

and has gone camping with me. 

Did she thump any other woodland creatures while she was out with you? ^_^ That sounds fabulous, I wish I could just feel good about putting my bunnies in the car to go to the vet!

 

[bunnytowne]

Love this post and I will be looking for said appropriate Tshirt 

BB can you make some up and sell them?  OH I saw the new stuff for people in the store too neat.

[MarkBun]

My favorite moment was during a bonding session with Maryann. She proceeded to hop away from the rabbit and towards the door out of the room. A rescue volunteer put a broom she was holding in her path. Maryann stopped, looked up at the volunteer and then THUMPED her demand that it be moved.

[wendyzski]

The bathtub incident certainly took a couple of years off MY life!  I was asleep on the couch but had filled the bathtub for extra humidity (I had bronchitis).  I have no idea how long she was in there  – could have been as long as half an hour.  Her back feet just barely touched bottom and she had to keep paddling to keep her head above water.  Got her dry and warm and she was fine – I was a wreck!

She didnt’ thump at any other critters although one of the rabbits fussed at her through the bars and she went up and over them.  She didn’t start things but she was going to finish them!  She had a night-cage in my tent right next to my head so I could talk to her if she got scared.  She was a real trouper.  I’ve taken her to a convention, to visit friends in OH and just a few weeks ago via train and a friend’s car to Indiana for the weekend.  She loves hotels because everything smells new and there are new things to jump on.

But the perfect example of Pepper’s personality was ‘The Lemon Incident”.  She apparently yoinked a lemon out of the bag as I was unloading my groceries.  All of a sudden I hear a flurry of THUMPs from down the hall.  Peering around the corner I see a lemon with a big bite out of one side, and a few feet away Pepper glaring at it an THUMPing.  How DARE is be sour and not yummy like it smelled?!?!?

She’s certainly a character…

[Crayon]

haha. The lemon thing is hilarious!

Back when I first got my bunny, my sister was sitting on the couch started eating a granola bar.
That was a MUST have moment for bunny as soon as he smelled it. He jumped up on her and furiously went after it.
In her panic she held the granola above her head and Bunny preceded to try to climb her face/head/shoulders.
I could not stop laughing, I was trying to tell her not to hold it over her head but she was too busy screaming and trying to shake Bunny off her head!
I had to go over and rescue her from him. Their relationship has been strained ever since.
And that’s the day we all realized how incredibley obsessed my bunny was for treats

Also I want to add, yesterday Bunny ran up to me, rammed my ankle and flopped over dramatically. I was so thrilled that he
felt so happy that he wanted to make sure I saw him flop! He never did that before! <3

[angelicvampyre]

Well my shy little bugz got really annoyed with me today, he is going through his molt and it a walking ball of fluff, so i got him and tried to groom him, well that was sooooo not going to happen, after 5 mins, one stressed out bunny and me looking like I was covered in fur myself i give him a trest let him go and get changed. i came back into the room and he thumped at me twice, i ignored him and then he bit my TOE! he ran right up and bit it and then looked at me as if to say “See how do you like it?”

[Barbie]

Hahaha I love this thread! I’m sitting here in the library at school (I’m SUPPOSED to be studying… shhh. ) and trying to keep from laughing out loud lest all the people around me think I’m crazy =P

Leroy is so demanding. When dinner is late, he’ll bother me by jumping up on the couch, stealing my phone, the remote, my pens and pencils, and my notes, until I get up and feed him. Leroy has a favorite spot underneath my desk – where I put my feet when I’m working there – so usually when I’m sitting at my desk, Leroy will come up to me and nip at my feet and thump until I move them so he can lay down =P Also, I’ve taken to shutting the bedroom door when Leroy is out becasue he loves jumping up on my bed. This arrangement apparently doesn’t please him becasue he’ll go and sit outside the door, occasionally thumping, and frequently scratching/clawing madly at the door to voice his displeasure. A couple times, the door wasn’t actually latched (old apartment – things aren’t quite level anymore) and he managed to push the door open… yeah. He was thrilled, but I was defintely not, lol. That just means that now he’s going to be even WORSE about trying to get into my room since he was able to open the door once on his own!

[Quantum]

Thanks, all! And thanks for the other stories–Bean is looking highly disapproving at my giggling and snorting. This morning my feet happened to be occupying his favorite pet zone (about a square foot next to the couch where I pet him if I’m working on the laptop). My “shy, “timid” rabbit looked up at me. “Good morning!” I said. Not the right response. He shoved his head between my ankles, grabbed a mouthful of blue jeans and proceeded to **YANK** on it, trying to get the feet out of HIS spot! After I moved my feet, I got serious stink-eye and a small thump, then he turned around and flopped, looking up expecting pets. Who was I to refuse such a gently-made request?

For all those celebrating Thanksgiving, let’s all be grateful, happy or thankful (depending on your persuasion) for the buns in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving and/or Mabon, everybody and bunny! And here’s hoping for a “Timid, shy woodland creature my a**!” shirt for everyone.

[ElleBunnyLove]

My bunny isn’t quite as demanding, I’ve only had her for six months so we are still bonding, but she knows her momma and knows when its time to wake up, at about 8 in the morning she will do the bunny 500 hundred, and part of the track is over the pillow on my bed, even if my head is there, I have woken up to a very scratched face on more then one occasion. And if that doesn’t get me out of bed, she will dig at my head. I have chased her around the house because she has stolen my homework or grabbed something she isn’t supposed to have. The only time I have ever seen her really aggressive is when I have champagne grapes, she goes crazy! I love champagne grapes, so I eat them a lot as a bedtime snack and half of them somehow end up with my Poppy, without me giving them to her, she even went so far as to try to get one out of my mouth, it was a fun experience. I love this little fluffy butt

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