CHAPTER 65 – A BUN DATE
Abigail and Bentley continued to meet “for coffee” by the fence. Not much changed. Bentley continued to lunge at Abigail through the fence. “You’re such a boy!” thought Abigail. One day, Dad asked, “Abigail, how about we try a date with Bentley?” Abigail wasn’t so sure about this, but she was willing to give it the “old college try”, as humans say.
One morning, he packed up Bentley and Abigail in their separate carriers, and drove them meet Ray from the Rabbit Haven. Ray was an experienced rabbit bonder and Dad had asked him to see if he could introduce Abigail to Bentley.
Ray sat inside a large ex-pen and let Abigail and Bentley meet. Immediately, Bentley began lunging and trying to pull out Abigail’s fur. Ray would intervene. But whenever Bentley got close to Abigail, he would try to rip out her fur. After giving them some time to get used to each other, Ray placed them side by side in his lap in a pet bed, and petted them both. Eventually, the two tolerated each other, but neither seemed too happy about the situation. Ray explained, “Only about 3% of rabbits bond right off the bat. Sometimes, it takes a long time, or sometimes, they just never bond. They’re like people. They just may not like each other.” After about an hour, it seemed this was the best they would achieve--mutual tolerance.
Dad took Abigail and Bentley home. After a week, he tried introducing them at home in a neutral room, but the same thing happened. Bentley would just chase after Abigail, nipping at her. Eventually, Abigail whimpered, “Dad. I’ve had enough! I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Although some people suggested he should let them just “fight it out”, Dad didn’t want to traumatize Abigail. He decided it was best to just let them coexist in separate parts of the house.
Some things are just not meant to be...
