Honking?

[maherwoman]

Hey guys...I'm slowly discovering that Flower is quite vocal...so I have a couple of questions for you guys...

So, a minute ago, I noticed that there was a small pile of hay on thefloor of Flower's cage (next to her litterbox), so I picked it up andput it back in the litterbox. Right when I was finishing,Flower made a little honkish sort of noise (remind me of a goose honk)and came close to my hand (like a very small lunge). I gotthe impression she was not happy with my moving her little pile ofhay. Does this sound accurate?

Also, sometimes when I pet her, she grinds her teeth, almost like a catpurr. I can't so much hear it as feel it while I'm pettingher head. Is this a sign of a Happy Bunny?

I will read some of the Bunny Language threads in the Rabbit 101section as well, but was wondering if you guys could tell me yourexperiences with such noises, in case I cannot find a descriptioncomprable.

There have been other small noises that she's made, but I cannotremember the exact situation, and they've been a short enough noise,that I wasn't sure I'd heard right. Hehe. She justseems to be very vocal compared to Maisie, and gettingmoreso. It's kinda cute, actually!

 

[aurora369]

The honk (or grunt) is a sign of "hey, don't dothat" or "I'm really not impressed". Wildfire does then gruntand lunge when ever I try to move stuff around in her cage.

The tooth pur is a sign of extreme happyness. Wildfireaccompanies those with her own creation of sqeaks and honks (closer toa goose sound rather than a grunt).

This is a really good website: http://www.paperglyphs.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html

--Dawn

 

[maherwoman]

Okay...thank you so much! It's funnyto hear such noises coming from my now-about-8lb Flower (can youbelieve how much she's grown?!). It's really unexpectedbecause I'm used to Maisie not saying a WORD. Hehe...justlends to their being such opposites even more. What cuties!

Thanks for the site, I'll check it out!

I figured the tooth-purring had to be something akin tohappiness. She does it everytime I pet her head for more thena few seconds. It's really adorable.

Also, her body language pretty much informed me that she didn't likethat I'd moved her hay pile...it was just such a surprise tohear! Lol...didn't expect to hear a little goose noise comeout of my bunny rabbit! Lol...guess this marks the beginningof teenagehood for her, huh? She's just over five months old,so she's certainly the right age.

Maisie started acting VERY hormonal at four months. This isthe only thing I've really encountered with Flower as far as hormonalactions...she's so much more laid-back and has the typical rescuedanimal personality...grateful for even the smallest things.

I love my babes...they're so fun!

 

[ec]

Some bunnies are very vocal, even after they'respayed/neutered. I've been reading about this on another site and amamazed at the number of sounds (and apparent meanings) that people havenoticed in their own buns.

Nibbles grunt-honks ("gronks," maybe?) a *lot*, but it's not becauseshe's angry. Normally it means that she's very happy to see me andwants to engage in some aggressive play (me holding a towel for her todig, burrow in and bunch while we do some extremely gentle play"fighting," for example). She'll also gronk sometimes when she'shappily playing on her own. And I've noticed lately that she makes asmall whimpery sound if she's annoyed with me (or scared because I hadto pick her up) - this sounds much like a puppy's whimper, but a lotquieter.

the director of the rabbit rescue where I got her used to have a spayedfemale that hummed - they thought for some time that there wassomething wrong with the wiring in their house, then figured out wherethe sound was acutally coming from. (I know that many intact rabbitshum, and was surprised to learn that a spayed girl did it... but younever know.) She said it sounded exactly like an electrical hum, butmuch louder than usual.

One of my favorite bunny sounds is on this page:http://members.aol.com/bunster2/carla.htm- "Simon's happy noise." I've played this for Nibbles and her ears perkright up!

 

[manda]

hmmm Ryo honks at metoo, but itsbecause she is happy. when i bring her pellets she will hop around myfeet and honk at me. then dig in her pellets or salad. she also does itwhen i wake up through the night to check on her. she is happy to seeme.

Grunts would be a bad thing.

 

[ec]

Nibbles did grunt-honk at me a few times (rightafter she came here) that were, i think, angry/"leave me alone" sounds.To my ears, the sounds came across exactly the same as her happygrunt-honks. Someone suggested that a rabbit would probably have beenable to tell the difference between the two, and I think they're rightabout that.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Hi Rosie,

Do you have any updated photos of your babies? I'm looking forward to seeing how they have grown and become CUTER.

Soooska
:apollo:

 

[aurora369]

EC: Oh my goodness! That Simon sounds just like Wildfire when she's really happy.

--Dawn

 

[bitsygiggles]

My spyro never makes those noises?! He does thelittle clicking purr when he's cuddling. Occassionally squeeks when heknows I'm coming to get him to stop biting on my door frame.

but otherwise he's just physically vocal like his bossy foot stomping,with the occassional upright tall stand between stomping to be sure Iam paying attention.

oh well I think if I heard that geese sound in my kitchen I would be very confused anyways lol

 

[maherwoman]

Lol...that sound made my buns rather alert,almost frightened. We had to calm them down a bitafterward. :shock:

Hmm...now I wonder if she was happy or upset. Her bodylanguage somehow suggested upsetedness...though I don't claim to be anysort of expert on bunny body language. Hehe.

I guess eventually I'll figure this stuff out.

P.S. No recent pictures at the moment, though we're planning on doing so soon, I promise!