Saturday, May 19, 2012

Hurricane Irene Delivered a House- Rabbit- to- Be

Last night, my husband and I drove to another part of our small state to attend a rock and roll fundraiser to help feed homeless Vietnam Vets. It was a fundraiser run by a couple who are very good friends of ours.  My friend Sandy, the better half of that couple, asked me to bring some jewelry to sell there to help raise more money for their cause, when I offered to provide a couple of items for door prizes. She said bring some to sell and make a little sign explaining the jewelry and why it was there.

This is Grumbellina, but not the photo used on the sign.
Well, my sign had a picture of my black and white lop named Grumbellina, the words "Bunny Burrow Boutique" and an explanation of how a percentage of the sales were going to the fundraiser.

Grumbellina's picture attracted the attention of one lady who came over and looked at the jewelry. This lady eventually started telling me very enthusiastically about her house rabbit.  This is where Hurricane Irene (2011) comes in.

Hurricane Irene did lots of damage along the east coast of the United States in 2011. It was compared to potentially having the devastation of the Hurricane of '38 (this is before they started naming hurricanes).  Well, this lady and her husband, that I met last night, were "battoning down the hatches" in preparation for the hurricane.  They prepared a spot in their barn as a safe place to stay to ride out the hurricane because they were afraid that a very huge old tree with very huge and heavy branches was hanging over their house. They figured they would feel safer and more secure in their barn.

While early in the storm, the lady ran into the house to check something, deciding it would be better to be sure if something was in place before the storm began to approach at it's fullest strength.  The lady heard a little scratching at her back door and thought that perhaps something had already hit the house, and figured she move it. When she opened the door and looked down, she saw a soaked weary looking fawn colored lop ear rabbit.  She immediately opened the outer door and picked him up and wrapped him in a towel. She knew a little about rabbits because she had one as a girl.

The lady grabbed some more towels and decided to run back to the barn before the storm started to get worse as she heard the wind and rain getting louder against her house. When safely back in the barn she sat near a little heater with the rabbit and tried to dry off the limp little guy.  She actually had a cage, bowl and water bottle in the barn she used to nurse a baby squirrel many years before. She cleaned the cage the best she could under the circumstances and put the little boy bunny in it. They gave the bunny some hay they had and some water. Although not enthusiastically, he nibbled and drank a little water. The lady and her husband didn't quite know what to do with the bunny.

After the storm passed, their house had no major damage. They went in but left the bunny in the cage in the barn. They put signs up in front of their house and in the community hoping to find his owners.  After research on rabbit care and taking care of him for a few weeks, the couple became very fond of him and decided to keep him. He stayed in the barn a little longer while the weather become colder.

They brought him in the house, did more research, rabbit-proofed the house, put out litter boxes, "fenced off" areas that were his to play in and built him a NIC bunny condo. The husband named him Rabbit (affectionately called "Rabbi T".). He started eating well and became very active.

The bunny loves to play with toys-tubes filled with hay  are his favorite.  Rabbit loves to do "nose bonks", do Bunny 500s, binkies and sometimes challenges the wife (the more dominant of the human couple to Rabbit). He gets 5 hours of play and runaround time and sounds like one very happy rabbit.

The glow of enthusiasm the husband (who eventually joined us in conversation) and wife had while talking just warmed my heart, thoughts and dreams that night and today.  I exchanged e-mail addresses so we can talk bunnies and share photos of our fur kids.

The lady feels that Bunny was probably dumped right before the hurricane, which disgusted us both. But the joy the couple emanated showed that they were very glad that Hurricane Irene blew the little bunny their way. I hope that I get to meet Rabbit some time.  If that bunny didn't make it to that back porch and the lady go to her house and open the back door, then he most likely wouldn't have survived the storm. That bunny had bunny angels watching out for him and that couple!




Please check out the Bunny Burrow Boutique. There are many pieces of jewelry there, some of which are rabbit themed. Each purchase made at the Bunny Burrow Boutique donates $1.00 to a rabbit rescue or rabbit welfare organization.  For the month of May 2012, donations go to the Gainesville Rabbit Rescue in Florida.



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Check out the new Etsy shop "Bunny Burrow Boutique" with handmade rabbit-themed and other jewelry, art and the occasional vintage item! Here's the link: Bunny Burrow Boutique  Please also "like" the Bunny Burrow Boutique Facebook page too! Some of the money also goes to rabbit rescues and non-profit organizations! Thanks for checking us out. Also, just for reading Rabbit Slippers Blog,  you can use the coupon code: "RABBITSLIPPERS1" at checkout to get a 20% discount off your purchase  until the end of day May 31st, 2012.                                                        


Please visit the Rabbit Hop Shop at the following link (Rabbit Hop Shoppe link) for rabbit themed items and gifts!  Please also "like" the Rabbit Hop Shoppe Facebook page. Thanks!

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful story! Talk about your "cloud with a silver lining". :)

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    1. Hi Jade, I've been seeing stories lately on FB of how many people's bunnies actually found them! Then last night at this fundraiser the little bunny sign I had not only attracted a kindred spirit bunny slave, but this wonderful heartwarming true story. Most happy bunny stories I read about on the internet, but this one I got to see the people's enthusiasm, how they lit up talking about their little guy and imitating him. Often I am the one telling others of bunnies because many people don't have them or still haven't heard of house rabbits, but it was such a wonderful experience to listen to someone else's story!
      You are absolutely right, this story is definitely a cloud with a silver lining.
      Hope you are doing well also! : )
      Mary Ellen

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