Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Walking on Sunshine

I love statutory holidays at the shelter, because there are no visitors to distract you from the animals. It's always a nice opportunity to spend quality time with the latest inmates, getting to know them and letting them have extra attention or exercise. I spent Canada Day there, and since it was such a lovely day outside, I took the rabbits out on to the grass.
Usually when I take the rabbits out, the reactions are 90% fear and maybe 10% enjoyment. I still think it's worth while for them to be distracted from just sitting in the shelter all day, even if they're just distracted because they think they're going to be eaten (I'm not terrible though, the scared ones don't stay out long). This time, however, everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.
 Maxine is not an energetic girl in the slightest, but she seemed to like the sun. She immediately sprawled out in the grass and spent the entire time relaxed and comfy. She's a sweet girl, I think she'll be really good for a family that wants a less active rabbit. 
Beatrix, on the other hand, decided to take full advantage of her time outside. She is such a quirky rabbit. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with her, she's very in-your-face. She explored, she dug in the dirt, she pulled up grass and chomped down on dandelions. I lay down on the grass beside her and she bumped against me, hoping for attention.
My mum came along with me, which allowed us to take the rabbits out in pairs and get more done. This is the mystery pair from the last rabbit post. It's Circe and Zeus, my old fosters. They've been returned, although from the sounds of the adopter, that's not a bad thing. Their own post is in the works, but in the meantime, I've been trying to spend extra time with them. Circe remembers me and it can't hurt to see a friendly face. 
I took the two of them out on to the grass and while they were a little nervous, they seemed to have a good time. I also ended up getting the most hilarious photo of Zeus:
 Talk about a grumpy face, sheesh.
Of course, Circe is capable of making her own hilarious faces:
Circe and Zeus are our only bonded pair at the moment (thank goodness). We took the others out in twos, but we tried to keep them away from each other in order to avoid any unnecessary conflict. We took out Honey, the giant girl, at the same time as Mocha, the adorable Lionhead, and they seemed determined to meet each other. We tried to stop them, but it's hard to say no to this face:
They managed to get to each other, and much to my utter astonishment, they loved each other. It was an instant bond, and they were immediately grooming each other and nuzzling. I couldn't believe it. Talk about the cutest, most odd couple ever:


They were so thrilled to be with each other, I felt bad separating them when we went back inside. But bonded pairs are hard enough to adopt out, we don't need to create any more. There's no chance of them getting adopted together but it was the sweetest thing. Rabbits can surprise you!

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