Cathy’s phone started buzzing like crazy some time in February of 2018, only 7 months after Lou-Lou joined the family. “Oh shit!” coming out of her mouth piqued my interest. They were picture messages from Mary (Cathy’s mom), who lives about 15 minutes from us. Can you for one minute possibly guess what the images were of? A bunny you say? Well how in the world did you ever guess?!
The pictures revealed a brown and white bunny sitting next to sawhorses, right in front of Mary’s house. Mary was getting her kitchen remodeled there were lots of workers. They were making all kinds of noise just outside of her garage; using saws and nail guns, etc. In some of the pictures the bunny was even inside of her garage. Apparently he had been hanging out all morning and did not appear scared of any humans; nor the equipment they were using.
NO!
Cathy and I agreed that we did not need yet another animal to take care of; so we decided to tell her mom to give it a day or so and see what happens. As much as we wanted to help we didn’t want to take on more responsibility; who knows, this bunny may be gone the next day, back home where it belongs. But of course that wouldn’t be the case.
Fine!
By the next afternoon we had received several more picture messages; asking us to “come get this bunny, before something bigger gets it”. Mary was quite concerned since it was obvious it was docile and had no business being out on it’s own. Fine! Apparently she had to kick him out of her garage the night before, but he just came right back the next day.
Buuunnnyyyy!
We arrived around dusk and Mary took us around the side of the house, looking for him; according to her there was a particular bush in which he would hide if not in her garage.
Not to be found right outside of her garage she proceeded to call for the bunny. “Buuunnyyy! Where are you bunny? Come here buuunnyyyy! Where did you go bunnnyyy! ” I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!!! All of a sudden this brown and white bunny was headed straight towards us, crossing a field and neighbor’s backyard. “Say what? Is this really happening right now?” He hopped right past us and straight into the garage; plopping himself down and letting us pick him up without putting up a fight; it’s as if he wanted to be taken care of.
Bringing bunny home
Not long after arriving home we checked him over and we were heartbroken to realize how severly neglected he had been. All of his paws were nappy, brown – some sort of sticky muck, all the way up to his belly. Meanwhile his teeth were so long he couldn’t close his mouth completely nor eat properly. Just like any other new animal to join our household, he was given a full bath; to check for fleas, ticks or anything else he may have.
Since our last adventure with identifying the gender of a bunny we felt adequately schooled on the subject; and took it upon ourselves to check things out below. Wow, I know what the vet meant the last time! She said we would most definitely be able to identify a male bunny, there would be no question to the gender. Yup, it was definitely a male. After a short, warm bath and blow dry, he got the all clear – no bugs!
I can honestly say that Tigger seemed quite annoyed that yet another wildlife creature found its way into our home. He would smell the bunny and get this sneering look on his face with his lip curled up; it was quite hilarious actually.
Busy, busy
While making a vet appointment the very next day I shared my concern about his elongated teeth; being reassured not to worry since they would be able to file them down if needed. With the appointment several days away, we did what we could by supplying him with lots of chew sticks and blocks. This boy chewed and cleaned, cleaned and chewed; and within just a couple of days he had managed to file his own teeth down. The mess on his paws and belly was another story; no matter what we tried, nothing helped; the muck was stuck!
After some consideration we decided to name him “Buddy”; it was the closest to “bunny”, to which he seemed to respond to. Usually we call him by his first and last name since for some reason it seems to better get his attention. So, Buddy Gauntt it is!
The vet
The visit went well and he received a clean bill of health. His teeth were at an appropriate length by this point according to the doctor. The dirt on his paws and belly – well there was nothing we could do to help.
We tried so many different things but we did not want to over-do it; so he would get partial baths, only his feet, because bunny skin is very sensitive. In the veterinarian’s opinion, it was most likely due to a continuously dirty pen, and it would just take some time. Oh, and yes – it was definitely a boy, so no need to rename him!
Buddy and Mary
Prior to Mary’s passing we made several visits to her home with Buddy in tow. He was always drawn to her voice and the moment she spoke he would bobble his head up and down looking for her. If he was hopping about he would always find his way to her, nudging her leg for attention. At times he would just jump right on to the couch on which she was sitting, squat his booty right next to her and sink right in. I mean this is the same woman that would come by our house unannounced just to “check in” Buddy, all of us.
How is Buddy now?
It did take several months for him to finally clean off all the brown gunk, but he was finally clean. He is still pretty anal about that and he grooms himself more than any other animal (including Lou-Lou) I have ever seen. This one loves to chew on furniture! Lizzy Lou prefers cables and cords (her favorite ones are the plugged in ones), while Buddy goes to town on the cording of the couch! The ottomans are not safe either, but he is wonderful about using the litter box, so there’s that! Getting on the floor and playing with him is the best way to keep him distracted from that wonderful, yummy material.
Night night time
Buddy’s favorite activity is to just hang out wherever his family is, just lying there where he can see us. If we are lucky enough we can catch him running in circles and doing flips and flops like happy bunnies do! This dude needs constant brushing and after a couple of grooming sessions I could build us another bunny; he sheds worse than a St. Bernard! I guess it’s a good thing he likes to be pampered.
When we tell him it is time for night-night, he usually just sits and stares at us. He generally looks down the hallway and back at his pen several times before taking a few hops towards the hallway. “Ehhh, get in your pen it is night-night time!” Reluctantly he heads towards his house and sometimes he even graces us with a thump or two in disagreement.
Give me routine!
This baby loves his routine and will get cranky if it’s too off kilter, although he does adapt very well. The only thing he really asks for are plenty of things to chew on (the sweet treat sticks being his favorite) and some petting on a regular basis; give him his greens and carrots and he is good to go. Oh yeah, and there better be something for him to chew on besides his house; he will definitely let us know when he is bored. There are two “blankets” that he requires in certain situations. His red, fleece one needs to be on the upstairs level of his house; and the moon and star pillowcase is his “base” when he is out and about in the living room.
Buddy is the only bunny that Tigger is ok playing with; for some reason he doesn’t care for the girls too much. And speaking of “girls”, next we will meet Bit Bit!
Did you miss meeting Lizzy Lou and Tigger? No worries, here you go!
Lizzy Lou – https://gaunttfarmantics.com/roger-a-k-a-lizzy-lou/
Tigger – https://gaunttfarmantics.com/tigger/
Toodles!
Sabrina
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