And Then He Was Gone.

Our sweet Johnny Cash the bunny is gone.
I wish I could tell you we released him, healthy and strong back into the wild.  Instead we found him cold and still in his cage this morning.  He had been super cuddly yesterday, and The Mister said this morning he seemed a little lethargic to him.  He ate like a pro yesterday - but it was also the day we attempted to introduce solids (clover).  I don't know if it was too soon, or too much - I'm just sick with worry that something that we did caused him to suffer.  He was such a sweet little guy.  We have to break it to Mooch when she gets home from school today.

Rest in peace, Johnny Cash the bunny.  Our family loved you and I hope you're passing wasn't too painful.  I hope you know that we will never forget you, and that you've inspired me to never shoo another rabbit out of our garden.  I will miss your wiggly nose kisses, the feeling of you cuddling up to me to be fed, and even you jumping all the way up to my shoulder to be Pirate Parrot Bunny.  I hope that we gave you some comfort.

 

We Have A New Addition!

Yup!
Our little family is now with a new member.  Who is bottle feeding and peeing and pooping regularly ... if only it wasn't all over my damn floor.

 As we all know, Hurricane Irene ripped up the East Coast.  Or, as my favorite quote from my AGB on FB put it : "Irene's such a whore - she blew the whole East Coast".  
So after a night of prepping, nesting, crouching in the basement and waiting for tornado warnings to pass - the whole time alone with two munchkins, Mister got forced to work a 16 hour shift - the skies finally cleared. The munchkins did fantastic through the whole thing - they were even somewhat calm during our time in the basement, but they were going stir crazy by the time Sunday came.  It was still a little windy but the sun was shining, so I told them we could take Zac out for a walk.  As we came back to the house, Mooch yelled, "Mommy - look!"  All huddled up on our lawn was this teeny, tiny baby bunny.  It ran into my front garden bed when we got near, and Mooch looked in and said, "There's TWO!"

 We sat and watched them for awhile, and I looked all around our yard - no sign of mama bunny.  Mooch yelled, "Mom, there's a snake chasing the bunnies!"  The bunnies were hopping around like crazy and there was a huge black snake in our garden hunting them.  Mooch usually adores snakes, but she grabbed a stick and started chasing it and yelling.  One bunny took off around the side of our house, and has not yet been found.  The other curled up under a bush and looked terrified.  At this point it was 5:30, and I was debating on leaving it outside or bringing it in.  A neighbor kid had come by to look and she put her hand down to the bunny, and it just hopped right in.  We found an empty diaper box, put a towel inside, and put the bunny in, then I made a mad dash to the computer to look up what the heck I was supposed to do.  

*Disclaimer - yes, I know it is not encouraged to pick up/try to care for a wild bunny.  However, I'm not like most people with animals.  We have had this bunny for 3 days and I've been reading non-stop on care for wild bunnies.  I mean, I crocheted the thing a substitute burrow.  I'm an insane person, and it is a lot of work, so if you find some call your local wildlife rehabber unless you're up to the challenge*


Everything I read said to not stress the rabbit, to keep it warm and after while to feed it 5 cc's of kitten milk replacer formula.  So we ran out to the store, only to find every pet shop still closed due to Irene.  We made do with sensitive soy formula for that night and a heating pad covered with a towel in the bottom of the box.  Also, almost every site said raising baby bunnies is VERY tricky and they die very easily, so I warned the girls that bun-bun might not be with us too long.  We had been calling bunny Irene, until I checked "her" for dehydration (you do this by stroking the - ahem, "genitals region") and saw a lil' tiny bunny wang.  And so, Johnny Cash the Bunny was (re)born.


Though we are all crazy in love with JC, I have yet to find any successful happy-ending stories of wild bunnies becoming pets permanently.  There is a transitional hurdle switching them from formula to solid food (you actually have to feed them the night-time poo of an adult bunny to give them the right enzymes to digest solids) and a lot of bunnies don't do well with that.  Shortly after switching to solids they "wild up" and don't like to be held or handled any more (bunny ball-dropping time!), this is when most people release them.  So we will enjoy what time we have with JC, and let him go when it's time.

I was telling the girls I work with about JC, and awhile later one of them came running upstairs.  "There's a baby squirrel outside and you know about baby animals!!"  Crap.  Mama Squirrel fell out of a very tall tree and was dead on the sidewalk, and little baby squirrel was running around her and making this pitiful little cry.  We got the thing into a box, and looked up a wildlife rehabilitator in our area, and I drove him over.  
She said that around 70 baby squirrels had been brought to her in the last day, and over 300 baby bunnies.

Charlie the Squirrel
In her words they were "completely overrun" with orphaned animals.  She put Charlie in a box with other orphaned squirrels, and they all sniffed each other and then huddled down under a towel.

The girls I work with are calling me Snow White.


And one more thing - guess who's down one baby tooth AND is starting kindergarten tomorrow?  Waaaaaahhhhhh!!!!