Through Abigail’s Eyes: Carpet Decoy (203)

​CHAPTER 203 – Carpet Decoy

“Vrrrp, vrrrp, vrrrp.” Bentley sat in his “burrow/penthouse apartment” under Dad’s bed, tugging at the carpet strands. “Got one!” he thought, as he pulled it out and spit it out. He didn’t eat it. Like many rabbits, he just liked pulling on it. Sometimes, he chewed on it like humans would chew on a piece of gum. But just like with gum, eventually, he’d spit it out.

Dad sat in bed above him. He could hear the familiar ripping sound. He leaned over the side of the bed and peered underneath it. “Bentley!” he said, “What are you doing? Are you ripping up the carpet?” Bentley, sitting next to a pile of gray carpet threads, looked over at Dad’s upside down head and thought innocently, “Yes! Problem?”

Abigail had taught Dad long ago that it was far more effective to offer an alternative to a bunny than to try and stop them from doing something they really wanted to do. Bentley wasn’t destroying the carpet to be malicious. He just liked pulling on things with his teeth. The carpet was a convenient source of entertainment.

Dad was not about to replace all the carpet with hardwood floors. Besides, most of the bunnies disliked the slippery hardwood surface. He went out to the garage and found the carpet remnants from when he had the bedroom re-carpeted. He cut off a section about the width of the bed and slid the “decoy carpet” under the bed on top of the existing carpet. He wedged it between the wall and the bed legs to keep it in place.

Being a curious rabbit, Bentley came running over to see what Dad was doing to “his penthouse.” “There you go, Bentley,” said Dad, “You can rip at this carpet to your heart’s content and I won’t care!” Bentley checked it out. “Yup, just as soft to lie on as the other carpet,” he thought. He gave it a tug. “Yup, just as good to pull on,” he concluded, “OK, that works for me!”

Dad chuckled, “Good! Works for me, too, little guy!”