Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Fifteenth Day of Christmas (and the Rabbit Post)


OK, so it's not a wreath, but it's round with a hole in the middle.  Say hi to
the Spitzer Helix Nebula.  Beautiful, eh?

More give-Away today, this time to the House Rabbit Network, the people in MA who rescue and foster  abandoned and abused rabbits.  Prior to Molly, the best pet ever was Br'er, a rabbit TY and I picked up one day for $3.  I had to borrow money from him to pay for him, but he turned out to be a companion, a confidant, a comedian during my studio apartment days.  He didn't have a cage, but was fastidious with his litter box and had full run of the apartment following me around wherever I went.  (I also had a deep shag '70s carpet so who knows what was really going on!)  But Br'er traveled with me in a wicker basket on the plane when I left town.  He spent a week in a motel in P'town confined to the bathroom because they didn't allow pets and we felt so bad locking him up like that.  Br'er wasn't without mischief-  he rounded the corners on all my furniture and rendered electric appliances useless.  For some reason he could chew through the cords and not get shocked, saving that part for me when I discovered the severed ends.  On one of our trips back to Buffalo, he got behind the fancy new couch and ate the skirt off which my mom (thankfully) didn't discover until after we left.  My mother had no use for any animals in the house, a true farm girl.

Br'er, a Reasonable Facimile

Imagine trying to find rabbit food in downtown Boston-  I had to take the T making three connections, to get to a store that stocked the only brand of food he would eat, and carrying a 25# bag back was tough, especially after we had a baby, but he had particular tastes I had to cater to.  He would lurk under the bed and come charging out and nip TY as he tied his shoes.  His favorite place to sleep was fully stretched out on the glass coffee table where it was cool and he could see approaching enemies.  He got locked in the closet one day when we left for work, and when we got home he had eaten a 3' hole out of the front of my wedding dress (saving me the price of preserving and cleaning it!).  He would walk on his hind legs across the room for a chocolate chip, and later on when we had a baby, he would do a rear attack and steal her bottle of apple juice.  All of the baby's rubber nipples would squirt every which way thanks to him biting through them.  I found her offering him the bottle a few times before I called a halt.  We had him almost eight years before he developed a staph infection in his cheeks and we had to have him put down, what a sad day.

I think I need another rabbit or two.

2 comments :

Deborah C. Stearns said...

What a sweet story! I have a penchant for rabbits, but as I am allergic, we just appreciate the wild ones in our yard (free range pets). But your tales of Br'er are very touching and make me wish I could have a pet like him.

Terry Grant said...

Such a sweet rabbit story. I am rather terrified of rabbits having had the living crap kicked out of me by the rabbit that we had in my kindergarten class. He escaped his cage and I caught him. Once he started flailing I was afraid to let go of him until the teacher rescued me. Assaulted by a rabbit.