Mi castle es su castle

Welcome!
Would you like to play pirates?
Or be Medieval knights?

Isn't my castle nifty!?!
Sometimes, I find cardboard tubes
and treats up here!

Got mine from the GHRS Hop Shop. They're made by The Blissful Bunny.

Commercial interruption: In addition to all the great bunny supplies and toys, purchasing your rabbit supplies from the Hop Shop helps support their rescue efforts! All profits from the Hop Shop go towards the upkeep of the shelter and care of the rescued bunnies.

P.S. Check out the Rabbit Ramblings Facebook page for extra posts, memes, current happenings and more. (You do not have to be a member to check out the page.)

Bunny Monday Meme*day (Password?)

Uhhhhhh, Bunya sent me? Banana? Pineapple? Carrot? Treat?

Bunny pen cleaning day antics by Ethel

Cleaning day ... the bunnies' toys are taken off the floor so their pen can be cleaned and the floor vacuumed.

Ethel was not ready to put away her toys, even if it was only for an hour. So she hopped up on the coffee table to continue to play.

Ethel: Hey, this is our stuff!

Ethel: You better not mix it up with the dirty litter.
We'll take care of recycling this.
Put it back!

Bunny treat thieves

Sitting in my recliner, I heard a clacking noise.
Finally looked down by the side and found ...

Ethel had knocked over the jar of Exact

and was trying to open it.

Ethel called in reinforcements.
Someone had to hold the jar while she tried to unscrew the top.

Read about a successful treat thieves caper at Bunny CSI.

PSA on Animal Testing (Ricky Gervais)

Sounds reasonable ...

(Please note: This is NOT a graphic video ... Mr. Gervais just talks about the topic).

In a parallel universe ...

9gag

Cute bunnies increase your brain power!!!

If you Google this: Looking At Cute Animal Pictures At Work Can Make You More Productive, you will find lots of articles about a recent study [as one example, from Huffington Post: Results show that participants performed tasks requiring focused attention more carefully after viewing cute images. This is interpreted as the result of a narrowed attentional focus induced by the cuteness-triggered positive emotion that is associated with approach motivation and the tendency toward systematic processing.] Yeah, okay, whatev.

Well, today, Rabbit Ramblings is going to make you so smart and focused, you will amaze your co-workers, astonish your supervisors and get on track for the corner office ...
Bunny Brain Powers - Activate!

(Bonus: Added 04-26-2013)

Our own Miss Ethel, giving new definition to the term "arm rest".

Now - Go get 'em, Tiger!

Bunny care: The bunny home health exam

No #2 pencils required for this exam.

Just your bunny and your hands and eyes.

A recent Rabbit Ramblings Facebook post led to questions about the bunnies' weekly (we hope) home exams. It seemed worthy of its own post.

Ethel demonstrates:

Love those blue eyes!

Here's a Bunny Home Health Exam:

Put your hands on both sides of your bunny - start at the head and move down the body … head, neck, ears, body and extremities. Look for lumps and bumps, anything uneven when comparing one side to the other; take your time, especially when checking around the jaw area. At the stomach, lightly press in just a little – it should be soft and easy to compress; the bunny should not flinch or act like it hurts (the reaction to this may vary with your bunny’s personality). Look for missing fur, sores or other skin irritations.

Are the eyes and nose clear? Any discharge or weeping?
Check in the ears - any crust or liquid stuff that doesn't belong?

Turn your bunny over to continue the visual exam: Look at the abdomen and area under the tail for any problems, irritations or mess (like poopy butt or urine stains).

Check the paws, too, including the nails to see if it’s time for a mani-pedi.

This is also a good time to gently groom your bunny with a very soft bristle brush or, if they are shedding, maybe a furminator, too (again, gently - bunny skin is very sensitive). If you have certain types of bunnies, like a lionhead or Angora, more frequent grooming will be required.

If you spot problems, call your rabbit-savvy vet and/or local HRS chapter for assistance.

Of course, things can happen between exams or may not manifest in such a way that your exam finds them, so it's important to monitor your bunny's mood and be alert to changes in personality/behavior, too. A good example of this is when they decline a favorite treat.

(P.S. Your bunny may not stand up like Ethel does in this picture; she usually doesn't but got a little ticklish here. We just thought she was cute and you could see those blue eyes.)

Vinnie the balancing bunny

This cute, adorable, talented little bunny will stay still enough to allow things to be balanced on his head.

You can check him out at http://stuffonmyrabbit.tumblr.com/

Bunny Monday Meme*day (Secret)

Seems legit ...

Snuggle bunnies

A recent comment on the RR Facebook page was: I didn't know Bunnies like to cuddle
Which got me thinking ... I guess that's were "snuggle bunnies" came from - because they really do like to snuggle/cuddle. Here are a couple of examples ...

Ethel is an equal opportunity snuggler.

First spotted this cute couple in their favorite Cheerios box.

Later, Ethel was still there, but Bunya ... replaced 

Lucy: You talkin' to me? *

(* Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Yes, Lucy has that edge.)

Bunny Miscellanea

Whether you believe in evolution, if you have bunnies, you believe in devolution.

Like of paper towel tubes ...

Realized, they chew them in a similar pattern, every time they get a new one.

Other things to watch out for (when you have bunnies) are the devolution of wires and baseboards...

Before we learned better ...

Took our eyes off for 1 minute ...

Some old business and some new business

Facebook page: Be sure to check out the Facebook page - it has extra posts, pictures, links, memes, current events and such. You do not have to be a FB member to view it.

New blog page: Bunny Advocacy Memes - trying to collect and share them as found.

Have you checked out the Bunny Things page? If it's been a while, there are new additions.

Buncam: This was giving us some fits for a while but hopefully, it has been resolved with an upgraded PC and accessories so it can be on the air more reliably. More fully described on the buncam page, here are a few viewing highlights:
Usually on about 9 AM - 11 PM, east coast time
(but for Sunday mornings - pen cleaning day).
You can see the door to their pen and if it's open, they may be wandering around.
If it's closed and you don't see them, they may be hiding in a box.
All bets are off if electricity goes off or UStream is doing maintenance.

Thanks for being a regular Rabbit Ramblings reader!

Bunya's sunbeam

Bunya does love his sunbeams. Catching some Vitamin D.

And warmth, on a chilly winter morning.

Their crumbles (Oxbow Bunny Basics/T) has vitamin D, a good thing for a house bunny.
You might want to check to make sure your bunnies' food does, too.

Update on Ginger - Part Deux!

Ginger's story was told in Does this adorable little bunny belong to you??? and first updated here.

Ginger - looking like a rock star!

There must be some team that readies these bunnies for their pictures. Groomed to perfection - did they use some bunny hair product to get her little lionhead Mohawk to stand up? Kudos go to the photographer (and "team", if there really is one).

After the Brew for Bunnies event, we stopped by the shelter to visit Ginger and see how she's doing. And the answer is "Great!", as you can see from the picture. The dog gunk is gone from her fur. She's eating and pooping (bunny people understand those are two very important health indicators). We pet her and she is soooo soft! Bunya is our softest bun; since he was at home, we could not do a side-by-side comparison, but it would be close (and Ginger could be the winner - but we won't tell Bunya).

Now all Ginger needs is to bond with her Gilligan or Mary Ann and find a forever home.

You can see Ginger and other new GHRS adoptables here.

Bunny Monday Meme*day

Wow, with his smarts, he should be on The Big Bang Theory.

In exchange for the appropriate treat, of course.
Physicist bunnies don't work for free, you know.

Is this bunny REAL or NOT REAL???

The answer is real. The fence probably gave it away.

Effie the Angora, now a gorgeous bunny, was found in a small cage under a porch, neglected and filthy, with matted fur.

She is now in the care of a GHRS volunteer foster-er (who was also our adoption counselor when we adopted Lucy & Ethel). Effie is friendly, curious and very soft. When she's completely healthy and spayed, she will be available for adoption.

Potential adopters must know she will require extra care (read: grooming and brushing) because she is, after all, a drop-dead gorgeous Angora bunny!

This link will take you to the new adoptables page of GHRS.
The Adoption Procedures page is here. The adoption fee is incredibly minimal since you will be getting a healthy, "fixed" bunny - and the fee is way less than what you would pay to get a bunny fixed - there's just no way you'd get the same "volume discount".
> ; )

Report on Brews for Bunnies

Wish you all could have joined us at this wonderful fundraiser for the bunnies!

The "Brews for Bunnies" was held here - where else?

The Red Hare himself, over the entrance to the brewery.

Even the weather cooperated: 75 degrees, light breeze and blue skies

Spectacularly well-attended. This is only the crowd outside,
playing games & listening to live music.
More patrons were inside sampling several different ales, a lager
and an incredibly delicious root beer.
Oh, and touring the brewery.

The Red Hare

A can of Red Hare Lager,
in case you had a Long Day.
Or want one.

And some bunny art

Kudos to the GHRS volunteers
who put this great event together!

Snuggle bunnies, in turns

Bunya was out of the pen to get a better view of the TV.
Miss Ethel thought it was a good snuggle opportunity
and so plopped down next to Bunya.

Lucy decided to linger nearby,
awaiting her turn.

And a little later, sweet Ethel obliged.
Lucy practically lifted Ethel off her feet trying to snuggle under.
Look - Lucy's head has practically disappeared!

Bunny Love is a Many Splendored Thing.

Unless you are trying to bond bunnies.

Then, sometimes, Love is a Battlefield*.
(* Apologies to Pat Benatar)

To the bun-cave!

The bunnies love the holiday gift they got from a friend.

View of Lucy's shaggy shedding butt
as she checks for chewables

Bunya hunkered down
like a snail in his shell.

Amazingly, he did not just snap the string
but played tether ball, more or less.

Lucy: Okay, Bunya, you've been in there long enough.
It's my turn again.

So Bunya goes to graze on hay cubes with Ethel
so Lucy can have another turn.

Pictures and video of Ethel in the bun-cave, playing tether ball, were posted here.

The bunnies explore the Maze Haven

As previously noted in Pop goes the bunny! (a very funny video, if you haven't seen it yet), the bunnies got a Maze Haven from the Binky Bunny (which goes to show, we need to lock up the credit cards and password protect the basement computer). It has been assembled (the day received) and put into play ...

Bunya peeking out
of the second story
(the configuration chosen;
you can build others
from the same materials)

Getting a better look.

Tank commander Ethel telling Lucy where to aim (the treat jar).
Or maybe Ethel is the periscope and Lucy's peeking out of a porthole.

Verdict? Pretty nifty!

To keep the bunnies entertained, the maze was
set into their pen as a change of pace, rearranging the furniture,
to try to stave off boredom with the same old thing.
The favorite Cherrios box remains.

Of course, as always, the bunnies will move the various things in the pen where they want them. As it should be.