Saturday, September 02, 2006

BUNNY LOVE: TALES FROM ENIGMA ANIMAL HOSPITAL

Larry and Rita Argue Over Celery (Starring Larry and Rita)


This is a new Series off YouTube, and I am in love with these two, and even better their Home Movies have wonderful piano accompaniment. Enjoy.

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I have a thing about Rabbits...true Bunny Love.
My first rabbit I brought home when my son was just a baby. I actually went to the Pet Shop to get a Budgie, but ended up with 2 Budgies, that could not be seperated. And then in the cage beneath them was this lonely depressed long hair lop bunny. Maybe it was the big glossy brown eyes or the long low hanging ears, but he looked so sad. It was funny, I brought home the budgies, and then I went back to get more Birdy supplies a few days later, and the Bunny was clearly looking sad. The Sales girl joked that maybe he missed the Birds that had been his upstairs neighbors. I decided if he missed his neighbors that much- they needed to be together. So I brought home George.

Now George was no ordinary bunny, he had quite a history by the time he reached us. He was a Pedigree Show Bunny, and also had been a Magician Bunny- when he was younger. But his career took a signifigant turn when it turned out that rooms of Excitable Children at Birthday parties led to a Little Excitable Bunny- who had an Incontinence Problem. The he became a Show Bunny, getting Ribbons and also granted some Exciting Stud Duties. By the time I brought him home he was 4 and quite a character.

He loved chasing us around the House especially if we were wearing Fluffy Slippers. Unfortunately this led to him falling in Love with my son's stuffed animals. But what happened to Barney was unspeakable. Now truth be told when my son was 2 and half we begrudgingly led him watch Barney- and sad to say for all of one month- he loved Barney. And then the phase was over. And the Stuffed Barney was left alone on the Bottem shelf. Well, George made sure that Barney was never alone again. And in some respects George was more fulfilled and never again were slippers or leg humped.

George lived to the ripe old age of 11. Along the way we acquired Thumper and Benny. Benny was a 20 pound New Zealand Rabbit that was found in a Ravine and was brought to us Christmas eve wrapped in a Blanket. A Desperate Neighbor said they did not know what to do with this bunny, but that if she kept him her Boxers would dine on the poor thing.Over the years many animals arrived this way, for some reason many neighbors assumed because we were medical- nurses that we would have Vet skills. The list was amazing, mice, hamsters, a hedgehog, a chicken with a head wound, and even a three legged Painted Turtle, a Pregnant Skink, and a Walking Stick. ( that is just naming a few). And so the Enigma Animal Hospital was run by son and myself.And my poor Ex had to put up with all sorts of creatures and helped feed and construct many interesting habitats. And for many years my son wanted to be a Vet....He loved them all and tended them all. The First patient had been a Guinea Pig named Gimpy with a broken leg. And yeah, it is amazing what Landlords don't know about.

Benny was 20 pounds of docile love and so mellow. The first few days we had him he litterally lived in my son's room, lounging with the stuffed animals, a giant white Easter Bunny. ( And yeah I have to be honest my son was already having Santa doubts at 4 and a half- and having this magical Huge Bunny arrive was very reaffirming, "Gee, Maybe Santa knew he should come live with us." My son said this and I agreed readlily. ) Benny lived in my son' s room until he was 12 and a half, and my son read him books every night for many years. I would walk by his room and hear Benny nibbling on his bedtime snack, and Rob reading. I still have some of the Books that Benny chewed on as well ( I guess he thought that they were part of the Snack ). He had two Roomies through the years, both guinea pigs, Albert and Emily.But first and foremost he was my son's roomate, and for many years my son always had a huge cage built by my ex just for Benny, at the end of his bed.

Then last but not least there was Thumper, he just passed away the Summer of 2005. He was 15 when he died. He was much like the bunnies in the video, he would play chase. He also played frisbee, we used to give him Container lids and he would throw them around and then chase them and run away with them. For years our cat Xena slept on Thumpers cage. He liked watching golf and soccer, Jeproardy and talk shows. He had been a Lab Bunny in his youth before he wandered our way. We figured this out when we found a Tattoo Number in his year. His cage had to face the TV, and so he could eat and watch. If it didn't he wouldn't eat, period. We kind of guessed that his lab cage had definently been near a TV.

All of our bunnies used a peepan to take care of business, once they were trained , I could leave a pan out or leave the cage door open and they would do their business. This meant that for many years we gave our Rabbits Hop Time. You do have to remember that they ove to chew, so you do have to make sure you make certain that ALL electrical and phone wires are not within reach. All of our bunnies liked snacks, cinnamon toast, cheerios and apples. And yeah, when we lived in houses where we had a garden, I did indeed let them dine in the Garden. Also if rabbits are fixed, especially the boys they aren't as aggessive and the humping can be greatly curbed, it would have been nice to figure this when we had George.They were some of the best Roomies we have had, they were Family.

9 comments:

Peacechick Mary said...

Loved the bunny stories. It made me remember all the fun and love we have had with pets over the years, the parties, the play and sadly the really serious funerals. Thanks for sharing

enigma4ever said...

PEACECHICK: yup..we have had quite a few funerals too....

Anonymous said...

great story about rabbits and other beloved pets in the Enigma Animal Hospital...run by soft-hearted, caring humans...reminds me that my very favorite childhood story is The Velveteen Rabbit...

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing the animals in your life. they enrich our lives tremendously & provide such unconditional love. also many chuckles along the way. i'm convinced they do indeed have senses of humor. it's always so sad to find families that do not have any pets. they seem to lack something emotionally. and yes, i believe animals can choose their owners. i know all my pets have found me first, even when i wasn't looking. D.K.

azgoddess said...

love your bunnies...i had them growing up and got a few for my kids when they were little...

sumo said...

I love stuff like this...I really loved all the stories you had to tell. You did a wonderful thing for your son...I'm sure he is a berrer person for his experiences.

meldonna said...

Bunny stories! I love it. Was just talking to my friend over dinner tonight; he's got to get his bunny in to see a vet. Don't know if it's alergies or what, but he's been sneezing a lot and acting like he's got a cold. He's only six; I sure hope it's nothing serious. BooBoo is my godson.

One of my favorite BooBoo stories? Before we moved to Puget Sound, my friend gave his couch away to a friend in Austin, and the rabbit was furious. He loved to perch on the back of the couch. I had to explain to G that he had taken the Mountain away from Mohammed.

Rabbits are indeed interesting people to know!

Anonymous said...

I just watched this video again. Doesn't it seem like Rita has pretty much won the celery argument? Or is that Larry? I like the way the other stays right in there & doesn't just give up. Good political metaphor, Enigma! And you just snuck it by with cute bunnies. D.K.

enigma4ever said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and I am glad that you all appreciate my little bunny stories and pet tales...( thanks to our herd we have many stories- and it is nice to share them). And you know DK I love that you drew political parallels- you are right on....