The title may seem like a recipe. It is not. Unless, you could call it a recipe in the most general and casual way, like, recipe for disaster. Just to throw that thought out there.
I write this on August 4th. Exactly two months after we rescued Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett Bunny from the wild and dangerous life they'd found themselves thrust into.
They are doing well, nary a care in the world.
When we discovered Mr. Darcy was indeed a Mr....though not a gentleman, and Lizzie was indeed a female, we separated them.
Clearly, they had been actively bonding in the wild because two weeks later she produced three small sweet potato-like babies. (You can see the whole saga under Bunnies Little Fuzzballs Take Over Our World. ) These darling babies have grown, have found numerous folks who want to adopt them, and are fully weaned and acting completely like adult bunnies. Two will be leaving tomorrow for their new home. Emma, holds a soft spot in &'s heart and will be co-owned by her and a little two-year-old friend who is not quite ready for full bunny ownership.
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| Lizzie stands guard over new bun-bun |
Then we found a sweet cage on Craig's List, which came with a bunny. The cage was promised elsewhere, but, alas, the bunny was homeless. Enter Charlotte, and then there were six. Two custom built cages later, pounds of seconds of farm Kale, timothy hay and bunny food later, our bunny farm had hit a comfortable rhythm. & has been learning all sorts of fascinating bunny facts, and has developed some sweet bunny handling skills. Once again, I just benefit from the fun part of bunny ownership.
Then, last Monday, I went outside to check on the bunnies when I got home from work, not unusual behavior, I might add. It's beastly hot out. Over 100 most days, with little breeze and weeks since we've had a reprieve or rain. & bought a fan that circulates and blows on the cages and we put frozen ice bottles in the cages during the hottest part of the day. Rob happened to have been home that day. He came out and asked a weird question. "Are they okay?" Clearly, he could see they were. They were all visible, hopping around, eating, drinking or chilling. I answered as much. "Even this one?" He said and moved a food bowl to the side.
Behind it was a newborn bunny. One. Just curled up, pink and clean and sound asleep.
I said, "What the heck? Where did you find that?"
"In the cage."
"No way! Did someone do a bunny drop off while we were gone? Did someone find a nest and no mama so they dropped it off?"
"No one did anything, someone HAD something."
"WHAT?"
"Look at it's markings. It's a perfect repeat of the three big babies. The question is how did Mr. Darcy get to Lizzie and make that?" Then there were seven.
So confused. & may have been more shocked yet.
So we scratched our heads, was it Charlotte's, and she came to us pregnant, had a baby and it fell from above into the lower cage? While we moved accommodations so mama and baby could be alone together, we had to rule that out. Lizzie was clearly the mama.
To Be Continued.
