Of Parrots and Rabbits

So, finally we have success! While our friend was over this weekend, we decided to try Deuce in the Rabbit Room again.

Last time she flew around in there, it was disaster. The rabbits flipped out, the parrot flipped out. They both shot away in different directions, everyone was breathing heavy and in general looking traumatized.

We've spent the last few weeks letting the parrots fly around in other rooms so that the rabbits got used to hearing the sound and occasionally bringing a parrot over to the doorway so that everyone got used to seeing everyone else. Of course, Elton makes regular raids in the grey room so they're used to seeing him hopping around here and there. The greys are a little bemused but otherwise undisturbed. The cockatoos still make a huge racket and even Elton has decided there are other, more interesting, less noisy rooms to check out.

Since the rabbits were intrigued with their new "best bud", the treat dispensing guest we thought that maybe (just maybe) they wouldn't focus on the sound of wings since they were too busy investigating. It worked!

Deuce perched and watched and then eventually decided she needed to fly to our guest and find out what exactly was so interesting about him! After all, the rabbits were fascinated, there must be something to all of this.

Deuce flew across the room, directly over the rabbits and they didn't even flinch. Deuce didn't notice the rabbits because she was too busy looking for treats that might be hiding. The rabbits didn't notice Deuce because they were too busy looking for treats that might be hiding. And our poor friend was suddenly surrounded.

He took it all in good humor once he got over the weirdness of a bird flying over to sit on him. It's always funny to see people fumble to figure out how to provide a landing pad. Eventually we got everyone straightened out and they had a nice visit. Deuce still hasn't quite decided what a rabbit really is... she calls them cats, or toys, or food. It's funny seeing her try to fit them into what she knows of the world.

For their part, the rabbits could not have cared less about the parrot. And that's just the way it should be. As far as the rabbits are concerned, parrots are furniture... flying furniture.

Happy Bunny Incarnate

This weekend I finally got proof that Ellie is the root of all evil! No, I didn't get it on film. She's far too smart for that. In fact, she's really quite smart in that evil, blame your brother for something you did sort of way.

But let me back up. There's vital information missing.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Elton always gets a bad rap. He's sort of spastic, he's pushy and he's incredibly nosy. (To the point that he's earned the nickname "Mr. Nose") He's always into everything. In short, he's the sort of rabbit you expect to wreak havoc upon things. Ellie, in contrast is quiet and unassuming. Whenever you look in she's doing something cute in the "I'm painfully shy" genre. It doesn't hurt that she looks like a plush rabbit come to life.

So, when someone decided that the contents of the litter box belonged on the floor instead of in the box, you can guess who got blamed. Then I caught Miss Ellie Mae (who I am going to start calling "Happy Bunny") red footed, scooping the large corner litter box contents onto the floor.

Did Danny believe me? Noooooooo... then again, who can blame him. She's so cute and quiet and cuddly wuddly. He didn't see it and insisted that I was framing her. This weekend I finally got the break that I deserved.

We had a friend over and introduced him to the bunnies. Of course I was cleaning up the hay and poo that had been scooped out of the litter box and he sat on the chair and petted/watched the bunnies doing cute rabbit stuff. Danny was also in the room giving him relevant rabbit info. Of course, the buns were miffed at me for cleaning up and rearranging all their stuff, but it didn't bother me. I changed out a few liter boxes and then refilled all the hay containers. I left the ceramic pellet bowls on the top of their play structure until I was done sweeping so they could go back onto a clean floor.

Danny left the room... and EVIL Ellie came out to play. As soon as he was out of sight, she raced to the top of the bunplex, grabbed the *full* container of hay, emptied the contents onto the floor and then threw the container as hard as she could. But that was not enough to demonstrate her wrath... oh no... Ellie did NOT appreciate me messing with her stuff and she was about to show me exactly how much she didn't like it. She hopped over to the two ceramic bowls.

She glared at me, she glared at the bowls and promptly lifted and heaved them over the side onto the floor. Once the destruction was complete she sat there with her little beady eyes scorching holes through my head. I died laughing. I managed to gasp out how Danny was convinced that all the destruction was due to Elton and that he didn't believe that Ellie would do anything like that. Then our friend died laughing.

Danny came back into the room to find out exactly WHAT was so funny. I was rolling around on the floor giggling hysterically and our friend was slumped over helpless from his mirth in the chair. We were surrounded by utter and complete destruction.

I glanced over and there was Elton sitting in the middle of the mess looking guilty as sin. Finally I had back up as I explained exactly who framed Elton Rabbit...

It was Happy Bunny in the Bunnodome with a Ceramic Crock. Game over.

Ellie and Scary Danny

Something really strange happened the other day. After a little bit of bun petting Ellie suddenly decided that Danny was scary. Even when he was holding her favorite veggies, she would hop up, sniff his hand and then run and hide.

Now, we knew Danny hadn't done anything to Ellie. Since it seemed to be scent related, he washed his hands, no dice. He was still terrifying. So, we spent a few days with me doing all the stuff that the rabbits don't like and Danny doing all the stuff that they do. That seemed to work and Ellie was back to her normal self in short order.

Double Trouble

And, since I didn't update all weekend, I thought I'd give a real update.

The E's are both doing very well. As you can see, they're all over the bunplex. Ellie is too, I can just never snap a picture before she shoots me the look and runs off. But I did get a couple of cute ones of her on the box.

Elton, always... uh... interested. (That sounds much nicer than nosy, doesn't it?)

Here's his Dapper Bunny ™ posture. Notice the feet.

Ellie finally holds still for the camera!!!

I can't help it. Every time I look at Ellie I just think of a teddy bear. Something about the dark eyes and plush fur I guess. I'm pretty sure if she knew I was thinking that she'd carry through on all those threats of bodily harm.

Ellie is also a lot more comfortable with pettings. She'll even let us pick her up and set her on a lap and hang out for about 3 minutes before she hops off. She doesn't thump or give us foot flicks afterwards so I'm assuming that's doing pretty good. Here's a shot of her accepting pets. Of course, "someone" couldn't stand that the camera wasn't on him!

And finally here's one of Elton saying "but you NEVER take pictures of ME!!!"

Yes, he's standing on his hind legs... and I looked down through the camera because he was actually pulling on my pants leg... as soon as the camera pointed down, he let go of my jeans and started mugging.

Evil Bunnies Caught on Tape!!!!!!

I was going through our photos of the buns and have discovered that behind their sweet facades they are evil creatures. Now, I've noticed that Ellie always looks like she's about to go for blood, but Elton? I never suspected a thing until I saw this picture. The film doesn't lie...

We are displeased. #2... eat their souls.

I've also felt a strange itching sensation between my shoulder blades especially when I'm doing something the bunnies don't particularly like. Cleaning out the litter boxes, rabbit proofing the chair... that sort of thing. Well, the two pictures below reveal the reason.

Laser Vision Bunnies!!!!!

Bunny Math

We've heard of Fuzzy Math, but were a little unprepared for bunny math.

REAL Fuzzy Math is a way to interpret uncertain data, especially when multiple catagories overlap and the result is situational... think a ven diagram on steroids with acrobatics inserted. A fuzzy equation goes something like this:

Let A and B be two fuzzy subsets of X.

Intersection A ∩ B and union A ∪ B are defined as follows:
(A ∩ B)(x) = min(A(x),B(x)), (A ∪ B)(x) = max(A(x),B(x)) for all x ∈ X.
Instead of min and max, one can use t-norm and t-conorm, respectively, for example, min(a,b) can be replaced by multiplication ab.

(if that makes your head hurt, you can thank wikipedia and people who have a thing for statistics.)

It's also a nickname for a method of teaching where you bombard kids with alternative ways of doing things until something clicks. Thankfully I was never subjected to that because it would have totally confused me.

Bunny Math is more straightforward, but I'm still mystified. I'll give you the example that has me stumped... all of the variables (excluding the interval which is an approximation of time) are measured by their units of volume, so remember your physics people.

T + 2H + 2B (0D,5D) = lim

...................................... n--->0

where T= 9#Timothy Hay; H= 3# bags of assorted other Hays; B= aproximately 4lb Bunnies and D=Duration measured in days
(Before any math nerds attack, yes I know the math doesn't make sense, it's not supposed to and I couldn't get my stuff under the limits to post correctly in the blog, the periods are just physical space holders, not some new and exciting notation.)

Still confused about what I mean? Let me illustrate.

You take the volume of (1) 9# bag of timothy hay

add in the volume of another (2) 3# bags of assorted other hays

combine with 2 rabbits that weigh approximately 4#

And let rest for a duration of aproximately 5 days. The result is a volume approaching ZERO.

The only conclusion I can reach here is that my rabbits are the terrestrial equivalent of black holes capable of compacting matter to incredible densities. If I ever disappear, someone look in the litter box as the ultra-dense matter may have warped the gravity field in my house and sucked me in!

Addendum

I forgot to mention earlier. Elton had his first adventure outside today. He enjoyed it, but wanted to go back inside after a few minutes. Pretty brave for a prey animal!

No, human THIS way!!!!!!
Elton looking dapper in his harness (please excuse the crap in the background we were repotting plants earlier)

And of course when we got home this evening after a long game of trivia which we didn't win we found the ultimate in cuteness:

Of course miss Ellie was NOT pleased at having her nap disrupted by some crazy lady with a camera. I think if I had held still one second longer she would have gone for my jugular! "Oh, aye! Just a harmless little bunny."

Creative Solutions

So, about that unintentional bathroom that we made. We decided to do a little redecorating and see what happens. Trick #1 is always getting where you want to go - especially when the two buns haven't seen you all day. It's tricky footwork to be sure. But oh so worth it. They were both excited to see us today. Elton took turns sitting in the chair with both of us and Ellie kept nosing for pets.

The adorable face of your doom!

Rabbits have a way of distracting you, but eventually we got down to the real work.... here ladies and gentlemen is the scene of the "crime".
And the irresistible (to rabbits) instigator can be seen here. This basket always starts the day full of hay. It's one of 4 hay receptacles placed around the room and the bunnies find this one particularly wonderful:
So, we moved it from laying on the shelf on top of the cotton rug and hung it on the wall by the litter box

Elton is always the cooperative model...

Ellie was being private as usual... you can just see her getting in the limo... "no pictures please!"

Update (No Pictures)

Time for a bunny update. No pictures, but I'll try for them tonight. Everyone is settling in just fine.

We did have a little discussion about who "owns" the wing back chair that's in their room. Evidently the rabbits think it's theirs and decided to mark it. Danny insists that it's HIS (silly human) and so he used an enzymatic cleaner, wrapped the cushion in plastic and then sprayed the whole thing with perfume. We've read that rabbits don't like that... we'll see! Once our new sofa arrives for the living room, we'll probably just move the chair.

The poop parties are getting a little less. There are still certain areas that they like to leave their droppings in... so we'll do some more rearranging to place things in a way that encourages good litter box habits. We learned a long time ago that when an animal does something you don't like it's YOUR job to find a way to fix it, not the animals!

Ellie is slowly coming out of her shell. At this point, both Danny and I have gotten "simultaneous pettings". That's where Elton and Ellie both burrow in close to you and want to be petted. We're also working on petting Ellie when she seems most agreeable to it. That's generally when there's something really good to eat! We also have now seen her all over the bunny playground (the bunnodome as we call it) she's been on the hammock and the top shelf. So, she's getting more comfortable being out in the open.

Last night she actually binkied under foot as I tried to pick up her room and this morning her and Elton swarmed Danny during our morning routine. Having two bunnies hopping around, nosing you and wanting to be petted is pretty neat even if it's a little disconcerting when you're still groggy.

They are both really into exploring outside their room. Since the other parts of the house aren't fully rabbit proofed, we don't let them do it without supervision. However, when they are allowed out both are fearless... for rabbits that is. Elton is fascinated by our cat Sylvester. Sylvester just wants to lay and nap - and having a curious rabbit nosing you and sniffing you ruins his beauty sleep. So, he normally gets some place high and watches the action while he dozes off. We're calling that a success..

Then there's the parrots. The greys are completely non-plussed by seeing a rabbit. They sort of watch them like they do the cat, but no one is upset and no one alarm calls. The rabbits will take a lot of time to get used to flying birds I think. Right now we're working on them being comfortable in their own room while they hear the birds fly in another room. So far, so good. The rabbits no longer dive for cover and generally ignore the flapping. Excellent progress... in the next couple of weeks we'll see if we can't desensitize them to the *visual* effect of a parrot in flight as well.

The cockatoos are a mixed bag. Charlie (who loved our other rabbit George) is *extremely* excited to see another rabbit. So, she screams "HI" at the top of her lungs. Thankfully Elton is incredibly curious even if something spooks him. She'll scream "HI!!!!!!!!!" and he'll scamper out, then he'll stick his head back in their room. He's gotten pretty brave and will go in several feet and look around before leaving now. Our goffin's cockatoo Hoppy is another matter entirely. She goes full fuzzball and attempts to intimidate the rabbits (who promptly ignore her) by doing her evil alarm call. The rabbits are not intimidated. Xylon is too blind to be able to see the rabbits, but he knows his "ladies" are fussing about something so he has to chime in. Let's just say we can always tell when one of the buns decides to poke their head in the cockatoo room. We know our parrots well enough by now to say that they will eventually stop reacting, but it will likely be several week.

The verdict: So far so good. A few things to work out, but they're not difficult to do. All part and parcel of sharing your life with another being.

Home At Last

Well, they're finally here. Everyone is settling in and the buns have been really good. Friday night we did have a poop fest as they marked their territory to let all the other rabbits know that the stuff in that room was THEIRS. We just swept it up and put it in the litter boxes. Last night the poo party was cut in half. In a few days they'll probably settle down to the point where it's non-existent. ("They" are Elton and Ellie Mae - an english spot male and a holland lop female.)

No pictures from day one. We didn't want to stress them. This morning I did break out the camera to get a few shots of them. The only time Ellie will allow me to get a good shot of her is when she's eating... otherwise the camera comes out, the rabbit goes back in the box.

Elton is having a BLAST. He charges the door every time we come in, trying to get into the hallway and check out everything within reach. If he can't get to the hallway he contents himself with hopping circles around our feet. He's been on the bunny playground (top shelf and hammock included) as well as under, over and beside everything in his room. We can't sit on the floor without him climbing on us or laying under our legs or wedging as close as possible.

Oooooo, my ear itches! Ahhhh, that's better!

Hey! Is that a camera???? I'm really good with those and you look like you need some help!

See, you press that button there, oh, I guess not that button... maybe it's the other button. Yeah, there you go! It's the other button!

Ellie is taking her time. She's not so sure about all this change. (She did however binky Friday night when she thought no one was looking, so we're thinking she enjoys it but is too dignified to let on.) She spends most of her time in the cardboard box that was brought over with them. (Many thanks to Ruth for making sure everyone was comfortable and had familiar things during all this turmoil!) She does take time out of her busy day to peek out of the box and give us the evil eye. Sometimes if we seem particularly interesting she'll hop out, reassure herself that we are indeed not doing anything worthy of attention and hop back in her box... or under the chair... or any other vantage point where she can watch with disdain.

What is this? Are you a paparazzi??? How about you just put the camera up now.

Here you go lady! How about a nice picture of my butt as I hop away?

One more picture and you'll feel like you're living out a Monty Python sketch!

Set Up

It's time to prepare for the arrival of the buns. (Yes, that would be BUNDAY! BUNDAY! BUNDAY! At the Bunnodome!)

They come home Friday and we've finally got their room all set up. Since our bunnies are house rabbits, they will live inside instead of in a hutch outside. There are a lot of benefits to this arrangement, but let's let other people who know more than us explain that...

We are adopting a pair of rabbits from our local rescue. Why a pair? Because we work all day and a single rabbit would probably get bored and lonely without company while we're gone.

The digs are all set up.

We made sure they have hiding places, sleeping places, a raised snack bar (it's on an upper shelf to keep it from becoming an all you can eat buffet!), climbing places and hopping room.

We've blocked access to as many power cords as we could and those we couldn't we've enclosed in aquarium tubing, wrapped in electrical tape so it doesn't pop open and then coated with perfume.