Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Rabbits

We have a lot of rabbits! We have one that live indoors with us. He uses a modified cat litter box for his potty and he's very, very tidy about using it. He has the run of the first floor of the house, but he's afraid of the stairs going to the basement so he just stays upstairs. He's a grey and white spotted lop that was rescued from a cat's mouth at just a few weeks old. We've made a *lot* of modifications in the house because of the rabbit's need to chew and our American desire for electricty that runs through cords that rabbits like to chew. For more info about indoor rabbits as pets, please visit www.rabbit.org

There is a lot to learn before jumping into having a bunny as a pet.

We also have many rabbits living on our undeveloped property about 7 miles outside the downtown Seward, Alaska area. They have burrowed a huge nest under a firewood storage shed and they have the run of the property (2 acres that we own and they invade the neighbors' property too). We feed them, but because they run free they are at the mercy of predators like dogs, wolves, bears and eagles. And yes, we've seen them hunted and killed by the neighborhood dogs and by the eagles. Bears will sometimes get into the rabbit food but although there are wolves around, we've never seen them - just the tracks. So this is one of the hard parts of life. We love the rabbits but we lose a lot of them and when we get attached to each of them it's hard when they don't show up to be fed anymore. Basically, we're idiots.

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