ROCKY
We had not thought about keeping bunnies as pets, as our dogs and birds were excellent company. However, Pearly, the lady who used to come round and clip our dogs, told us that her bunny had had babies and that she was looking for homes for the little guys. She brought them round for us to have a look at and before we knew it we had fallen for Rocky and he had come to live with us. Rocky was short for Rockbun, my feeble attempt at humor. He was a beautiful white bunny with black ears and a black stripe down his spine. He was engagingly cute and willing to make contact with us humans. We bought a wood and wire netting cage for him and a friend created a stand with wheels for it, so that it could be moved around in the enclosed backyard. A ramp led up to it and the end of the cage was enclosed in wood to create sleeping quarters for him. (We had to segregate Rocky and his later partners from our dogs as Thyla wasn’t keen to make friends and viewed him as prey, not welcome in her territory.)
During the day, Sonja would open his cage and set up the ramp and out Rocky would come. His litter tray was installed in a cardboard box outside the cage and he spent hours in there. In common with all rabbits, he really loved chewing things and he was forever chewing “windows” into the back of his toilet box. He kept enlarging the windows until the box was no longer tenable and Sonja would have to find him another box on which to work.
He loved his fruit and vegetables and I used to watch him eating through the window of my study, which looked out on his domain. One day I decided to dangle a piece of broccoli out of the window on a length of string to see if he would react and to my delight, he loved the idea. Long after fresh broccoli was no longer available, he would hasten to the window if he caught sight of me. Unfortunately he took to climbing onto the windowsill and chewing the wooden window frame too so we had to ban him from getting up there by covering the area with a piece of fibreboard.
While bunnies love carrots, we discovered that they love carrot tops even more. I lost count of the carrot top expeditions all over town we had to make in order to keep him satisfied. Most shops no longer sold carrots with the tops still on so poor Rocky often had to do without his favourite treat. Something we did not realize prior to getting Rocky, was how important hay and straw are in bunny diets. One would think hay would be easy to find but not all pet shops stock much for rabbits. (Today we buy expensive, tightly baled hay from Britain). Something else Rocky loved was a slice of apple which he shared with Sonja, early every afternoon. She would sit out in the yard and he would hang out with her, waiting for his slice, which he crunched with considerable delight.
When winter arrived, we started keeping his cage in the garage. We also got to thinking about a little friend for him and decided on a baby female but before we went hunting for a girlfriend, we had him neutered. We reasoned it would be cheaper and more practical to neuter him rather than have a female spayed.
A crisis arose in our home when Sonja had to go into hospital for surgery. I could not look after the rabbits so they were “boarded” with a lady who undertook the care of pets when their owners were away. Rocky and his ladyfriend, Chelsea went off to “boarding school” quite happily and the lady even sent us pictures of the pair calmly sitting on a sofa, watching TV. Rocky was always a charmer who wormed his way into everyone‘s heart. He liked the ladies and the ladies liked him.
After Chelsea died, It became obvious that the garage was not the place in which to keep rabbits, so Sonja blocked off a section of the kitchen which Rocky occupied at night. During the day, Sonja would leave the outer kitchen door open so he could come and go through the security bars. He seemed delighted with the idea of freedom and would often pop in during the day while Sonja was cooking
He outlived his original female partner and eventually died from a respiratory disease. He was much missed.
CHELSEA
After Rocky was fully grown, we decided that he needed a little friend. As already mentioned, we didn’t plan on breeding bunnies so we had him neutered before we started looking for a female. We drove out to a bunny farm near Port Elizabeth, found a little female for him and called her Chelsea (As in Chelsea bun of course). She was a pretty little bun, light grey with black ears and a black face. They settled down together quite contentedly although Rocky’s lack of interest in starting a family, must have puzzled her! Nevertheless, she adored him even though he revealed no bedroom prowess. She hung around him all day and would often groom and fuss over him.
She happily shared the cage with him and they must have been warm and snug in the garage when the cold weather set in. We had an old travel cot in which they slept but that was a mistake as the cot soon developed gaping holes as the two of them gnawed their nights away.
Unfortunately her life was cut short quite early when she developed a tumour and died.
HONEYBUN
We hated the idea of Rocky being on his own again so no sooner had Chelsea passed on when we went out and found all-white female at a Walmer pet shop. She seemed docile enough but when we let her loose in the backyard with Rocky, she proved to be wild as the wind. She would dart around the yard like a white flash, whenever we tried to catch her and put her in her cage. We old fogies were strained to our limits when catching her. She had no trouble settling down with Rocky.
She came down to Cape Town with us where smart new cage awaited her. She became tamer as time passed and was eventually quite happy to be petted and scratched. We lost her a few months after arriving here but are mystified as to what finally ended her life
THUMPER
Thumper came to us in Cape Town after Honeybun died. He had belonged to people who worked daily and who didn’t feel it was fair to leave the long-eared fellow alone and locked up all day so they sent out a call for someone who could give him a better life and a new home. Debbie spotted the ad calling for his adoption and decided we would be ideal “parents” for him. We were charmed from the word go by this large, brawny bunny who was completely at ease with strange humans. He had had the run of the house where he had come from, once the family were at home and was even used to sharing space with dogs. Debbie liked the name Thumper so that’s who he became
He occupied the cage which we had for Honeybun but during the day, he had the run of the garden, which we were confident was bunnyproof. Our faith in the security of the area was severely shaken when the naughty bun very nearly managed to dig his way out under the fence, at the gate. Security measures had to be upgraded considerably by Leonard, Debbie’s husband, because Thumper was determined to find a way out into the big wide world, he saw beyond that gate. My study looks out on the patch of garden that he occupied and often I would see him flash by as he practiced his bunny sprints and athletic leaps. He would sometimes jump up onto the windowsill of my study and peer in at me, trying to find a way in. We would have loved having him roaming free in the house but we doubted whether Thyla would allow it, so he had the garden to himself. Well, almost to himself because a large ginger tomcat belonging to a neighbor also saw the area as part of his territory but luckily we did not see any interaction between them.
He loved it when Sonja sat outside with him and share an apple, the way she had done with Rocky. He would play around her legs and do anything he could think of, to get her to play with him. He really was the most sociable bunny.
He showed no signs of illness at any time when we had him but Sonja found him dead in his cage one morning. We were shocked and mystified and have no idea what it was that ended his life.
THOMI
Sonja has a soft spot for bunnies and she really perceived a big gap in her life when Thumper suddenly died. She started to cast about for a bunny breeder in Welgemoed, where we stay as she had heard from our dog groomer that there was one. It didn’t take long before were heading up into the hills to where as luck would have it, a breeder had a new batch of baby buns waiting for new homes. Sonja chose the tiniest dark, dark brown chappie and we brought him home amid much excitement.
In line with the naming standards which we have adopted for all our pets, he was named Thomi which is pronounced Tommy. He was a timid little boy but soon settled into his new life in his cage in the kitchen. While he spends a good deal of time there, he has the run of the kitchen, which can be isolated, at night. Sonja also allows him to run around freely for an hour or two on most days in our so-called “braai room”. (We still don’t trust old Thyla around him, although Thina might well get on with and play with him, given a chance) We have noticed that he seems to have a crush on Thyla because whenever she walks by his cage, he reacts to her and eagerly tries to get her to notice him. Sadly, she seldom even seems to look at him but she is pretty old, so I guess it is understandable.
Thomi adores Sonja and runs out from behind the blanket which covers his cage at night, to greet her in the morning when she arrives n the kitchen. He’ll dart around her, begging for a scratch on his head between his ears. When I was still able to bend over, I would reach into his cage to scratch him and he would sniff my hand and if clear of chemical and soap smells, would lick my fingers. Once he’d had his bit of “saltiness” he would hunker down for a proper scratch. He’s a tiny fellow, obviously a dwarf species as he has hardly grown much at all since we got him.
Watch this space as Thomi is still very much with us and I shall spontaneously add to his history if anything noteworthy occurs.
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