BouncingBunnyBrunswick
Member
I guess this story is kind of long...
So one day, I was sitting inside and suddenly heard this horrible screaming. This noise freaked out the dog I was babysitting so severely that he started screaming himself. So I go outside to see where the shrieks were coming from. Turns out the local killer cat had found a baby bunny. It was trying to limp away from the cat, mouth agape, and was just screaming, screaming, and screaming. I could see that it was probably mortally wounded and the cat was just toying with it. So I take a step towards the grim spectral, knowing that once I did the cat would greedily chop down on his kill and be done with it. It worked, the cat cracked the poor thing's skull with the dog was just spinning and whining all the while.
I go back inside to comfort the traumatized pooch and play on the internet. A few hours later, the dog started screaming and spinning again. I didn't hear anything, but I could guess as to the cause. I go outside and see that the cat has discovered another baby bunny. This one was hunkered down in the grass and every time the cat prodded it with his paw, she would let out a plaintive shriek. Mainly out of concern for the high-strung pooch, I go and scoop up the poor animal.
That was on June 1st. I guessed that the wee little one was around 3 weeks old since she took to solid food right away. She seemed fine after her encounter with the cat, I guess he was still full from having just eaten her sibling. I couldn't find the nest (not that I would really want her to be outside just to be eaten by the cat later) and the neighbors destroyed a large portion of the underbrush erecting a fence. So now, over a month later, I have a wild house rabbit dubbed Brunswick living in my apartment. She's fully litterbox trained and doesn't have a cage per say... she just lives in my bathroom when I'm not around, but has full run of my apartment otherwise. She spends her days snoozing all stretched out under a pile of Kozo sticks I have in the corner. She gets all excited when I get my bath in the evening, and spends the rest of the night binking on my pile of dirty clothes, finding boxes to explore, zooming around the apartment, and crawling over my legs. She's really alert and curious and seems to be pleased with her situtation. My question is: is this at all a good thing? Will she survive in the wild when she reaches adulthood? Have I altered her behavior too much or will instinct kick in?
On a side note: my friend that owns the pooch already has an older male cottontail from a previous cat encounter (which is why they didn't want a female). This guy was chewed on a bit and had vet attention. He's fine now, and it seems like there is little concern about keeping these guys... guess it's because the area is a bunny mecca....
:bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance: <~ (rabbits doing the bunny mecca dance)
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch!
ACK! Brunswick is spyin' on me from BEHIND THE LAPTOP!!!! (she knows I'm talking about her)
So one day, I was sitting inside and suddenly heard this horrible screaming. This noise freaked out the dog I was babysitting so severely that he started screaming himself. So I go outside to see where the shrieks were coming from. Turns out the local killer cat had found a baby bunny. It was trying to limp away from the cat, mouth agape, and was just screaming, screaming, and screaming. I could see that it was probably mortally wounded and the cat was just toying with it. So I take a step towards the grim spectral, knowing that once I did the cat would greedily chop down on his kill and be done with it. It worked, the cat cracked the poor thing's skull with the dog was just spinning and whining all the while.
I go back inside to comfort the traumatized pooch and play on the internet. A few hours later, the dog started screaming and spinning again. I didn't hear anything, but I could guess as to the cause. I go outside and see that the cat has discovered another baby bunny. This one was hunkered down in the grass and every time the cat prodded it with his paw, she would let out a plaintive shriek. Mainly out of concern for the high-strung pooch, I go and scoop up the poor animal.
That was on June 1st. I guessed that the wee little one was around 3 weeks old since she took to solid food right away. She seemed fine after her encounter with the cat, I guess he was still full from having just eaten her sibling. I couldn't find the nest (not that I would really want her to be outside just to be eaten by the cat later) and the neighbors destroyed a large portion of the underbrush erecting a fence. So now, over a month later, I have a wild house rabbit dubbed Brunswick living in my apartment. She's fully litterbox trained and doesn't have a cage per say... she just lives in my bathroom when I'm not around, but has full run of my apartment otherwise. She spends her days snoozing all stretched out under a pile of Kozo sticks I have in the corner. She gets all excited when I get my bath in the evening, and spends the rest of the night binking on my pile of dirty clothes, finding boxes to explore, zooming around the apartment, and crawling over my legs. She's really alert and curious and seems to be pleased with her situtation. My question is: is this at all a good thing? Will she survive in the wild when she reaches adulthood? Have I altered her behavior too much or will instinct kick in?
On a side note: my friend that owns the pooch already has an older male cottontail from a previous cat encounter (which is why they didn't want a female). This guy was chewed on a bit and had vet attention. He's fine now, and it seems like there is little concern about keeping these guys... guess it's because the area is a bunny mecca....
:bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance: <~ (rabbits doing the bunny mecca dance)
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch!
ACK! Brunswick is spyin' on me from BEHIND THE LAPTOP!!!! (she knows I'm talking about her)
.
