CHAPTER 94—Abigail’s World—Part 1
“Abigail, could you come here for minute?” asked Dad. Abigail hopped over to investigate. Dad had brought a new human into the room. “Abigail, I want you to meet Melissa. She’s thinking of adopting a rabbit and wanted to see how a free roam house rabbit lives. Could you give her a little tour of your world?”
Abigail was happy to oblige. She was very proud of her territory. After three years, she had everything just the way she liked it. Aside from a weekly cleaning, Dad pretty much let her have her way. Melissa knelt down to give Abigail a pet. She swooned, “Awww, she’s so cute! And you just let her roam around the house all the time?”
Dad replied, “Oh yes! She doesn’t have a cage. She can go wherever she wants, whenever she wants. She’s a good girl and isn’t very destructive. I’ve covered or moved all the wires that she might chew.”
Abigail’s main space was the living room. It was fully carpeted, which she preferred over hardwood, because it wasn’t slippery. She started her tour by hopping over to her home base by some floor-to-ceiling windows. “Here’s where I like to spend most of my time,” she explained, “I can keep an eye on most of my territory from here, and it’s far enough from the doorways that if something suspicious comes, I can run for cover. Plus, it has a nice view out the window! This ring of poop pellets isn’t bad bathroom habits. It is my sign that tells any other rabbits that this is my spot!”
Dad laughed, “I tried to give her a bed to sleep in, but she wasn’t interested. She just dragged it away.”
Next, Abigail hopped a few feet away to her dining area. Dad had placed a fleece blanket on the floor to protect the carpet from getting stained in case Abigail moved her food off of her orange tray. “Here’s where I eat!” she said. Dad explained, “She gets four kinds of fresh greens and a little piece of apple and banana twice a day. There’s always a bowl of clean water and pellets, too.”
Abigail hopped over to her hay tunnel, just a couple of feet away. Dad had placed a fleece blanket under the tunnel to make it easier to pick up the hay spilling out of the tunnel. The tunnel was a three-legged cat tunnel. Each leg contained a different kind of hay. “I like to go foraging in the hay tunnel,” explained Abigail. “Sometimes, I like oat hay. Sometimes, I’m in the mood for Timothy hay, and sometimes, I like alfalfa, or ‘Balfalfa’ as we call it here, because it is Belinda’s alfalfa,” she giggled.
Beside the hay tunnel was a large bookcase. “This is my bolt-to spot,” she explained. “Every rabbit likes to have a place they can bolt-to in case there’s danger. This one’s good because the opening is so small that only I can fit back there, and there are two entrances, so I’m not trapped.” Abigail took a lap around the room and then disappeared behind the bookcase. “Wow, she’s fast! I didn’t think she could fit through that crack!” exclaimed Melissa. Dad said, “Oh yes. She likes to run. But she needs space to be able to get up to speed.”
Abigail popped her head out the other side of the bookcase. “This is my diggy spot,” she said. “Rabbits like to dig. Every morning, I do my daily workout and dig here. I’ve been working on this for three years!” Dad laughed, “Well, she has dug through the carpet in that spot, but it’s OK. No one can see it there, so I don’t mind.”
Melissa was finding Abigail’s tour fascinating and wanted to see more.
Abigail proudly gives a tour of her world.
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