Hello. It’s Belinda.
This blog is about rabbit “antics.”
Which might not seem like part of my job but I hope you’ll keep reading. It will make sense in a minute.
I planned to show you some of my ads this week. Meaning for the timothy-alfalfa combo box I invented. But they are being reviewed by the team right now.
Sore subject if you want to know the truth. This is my fourth set of revisions. Writing ads is supposed to be fun but “that bus has left the barn.”
In the meantime, if you are looking for hay, you know what I recommend. Rhymes with “lombo lox.”
Anyway. Back to the antics situation.
I don’t like to give advice about personal matters. For one thing, I don’t have any training.
But sometimes my friends send emails to me or write comments on Facebook. Asking about rabbits with “confusing behaviors.” Usually involves roommates who are fussy about the house.
They tell me the rabbits flip the food bowls or chew the chairs. Use their bed as a loo. That sort of thing.
“Why are they wrecking the place, Belinda? How can I get them to stop?”
I have a story that might help. It involves my boyfriend’s companion, also known as “Little Fang.”
It all started a few days ago, after breakfast.
My roommate called me up to the kitchen. I thought she might have a “second salad” ready for me. But it was a trap.
Because while I was standing at the refrigerator door, she slipped behind me and started down the steps. But first she pulled the fence across the open doorway. So I couldn’t follow her to the bottom level.
Next thing you know, I hear the clang of Little Fang’s pen as my roommate opens one of the panels.
“There you go. Stretch your legs for a few hours.
Belinda’s working upstairs today, so you don’t have to worry about her chasing you.”
First of all, I can’t help it if I chase her.
Secondly, I can’t write hay ads in the kitchen. Too many distractions.
So after my roommate returned upstairs and settled at the dining room table, I walked to the fence. "On my tiptoes."
I planned to tell Little Fang to exercise quickly so I could get back to my “office” under the utility sink.
I thought I would hear her chatting to herself. But instead I heard something odd.
It was a swishing sound.
“Shhwsh shhwsh.”
Then quiet.
Then again.
“Shhwsh shhwsh.”
I don’t know how long I stood at the fence listening. But my ear started to cramp.
Just as I was getting ready to ask Little Fang about the odd noise, I had a terrible thought.
My stash!
The sound was bags.
She was messing with my stash!
You may already know this. But about a year ago, I lost all of my spare hay, treats, cubes and herbs during a storm.
The rain was so heavy that water leaked under the wall on the bottom level. A stream ran across the floor and ruined my stash.
I spent the last 12 months “squirreling things away” to rebuild my emergency supply. Since my roommate remodeled my office into a closet, I have to keep my stash by my sleeping rug.
“Shhwsh shhwsh.”
I couldn't believe she would do this.
I thumped.
I thumped again.
“Belinda! Stop that!”
I didn’t even care. Another thump.
“Belinda!”
My roommate appeared in the kitchen. She opened her mouth but, before she had a chance to accuse me of something I did not do, she heard it.
"Shhwsh."
I moved away from the fence so she could pull it open, walk through, then close it behind her.
Right now you are probably wondering what my roommate saw when she walked down the steps.
You will never guess in a million years. And that is the whole point of this blog.
Rabbits will get into mischief you never saw coming.
And when you discover the mess, you might think they were just "being naughty." Or "starting a new hobby."
That's what my roommate thought when she saw what Little Fang did.
What I found out later that afternoon is that Little Fang dragged seven pee pads out of her pen and across the floor. Making a "shhwsh" noise. One at a time.
She pushed them all into a heap against the wall.
I asked her why she would make such a big mess. Especially during her free-roam time out of her pen.
"Were you trying to make our roommate mad? Or are you mad at her for something?"
Little Fang stared at me from inside her pen. Which was tidy again, the floor covered with fresh pee pads.
She looked at me as if I had asked this question every day for a month.
"It's flood season. I put the pee pads where the wall leaked last year. When it ruined your stash."
So now you know something about me. I am not an expert in rabbit behavior.
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Keep the questions coming. I like to guess, even if I'm wrong.
But from now on, when I can't figure out why a rabbit does something, I am going to assume the best.*
Sincerely,
Belinda
Spokesrabbit, Small Pet Select
* unless we are talking about the English
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