a precious gift...

This morning hubby went downstairs first this morning and as per our usual routine, let the dogs out back for their morning constitution! Now to truly appreciate this story, you must understand that our sliding glass door opens onto our screened in porch which has a regular size screen door that we keep latched in the winter because its so darn windy, so the dogs go out to the deck and then to the yard via a little doggy door that we put in the lower section on just one panel of the porch. Mind you, our dogs are small - about 10lbs each, so it's not a big door.

We have our theories about who left this precious gift! Back around new year's eve, we were visited by this male tabby we lovingly named Jimmy - since he had no collar on! It was beyond bitter cold outside and very windy and he was at our backdoor for over an our, so we let him in, made sure that he was ok, fed him and gave him some water - he was immediately comfortable and wandered around like he owned the place - so much so that when he started bullying our 3 sweet kitty girls, we decided that Jimmy had to go back out into the cold. He was in good shape, so we know that he had a home to go to! Since that night, Jimmy has come back to visit a couple times, so we know that he knows how to get in and out of the doggy door and we feel certain that he was the bearer of our gift!

So, some of you may already be aware that it is a huge message when an animal shares it's kill with you and Jimmy (or whoever was at our back door during the night) must really like us! We were "thrilled" to discover the back and of a full grown rabbit sitting on the door mat waiting for us! The kill and primary feeding frenzy DID NOT happen on our porch - it was not bloody or mess, just a couple loose fur tufts and the intact hind quarters, tail and a small amount of abdominal skin/fur, but no insides! Gross? Yup, but a generous gift nonetheless! Our dogs are total wimps and have never caught anything other than a tiny newborn baby rabbit and our cats are indoor cats, so it just had to be our old friend Jimmy, don't you think?

another funeral

Ok, so some day we will most certainly laugh about this, but at the moment it is bordering on absurd.  I came home yesterday from my usual meeting and errand schedule and was not greeted by "Theodore/Thumper" in his hutch in the garage like I usually am.  I got out of the car and said his name - that usually gets him hoppin - and nothing, then I noticed that he was laying down in the back corner of the hutch, I reached in and touched him and he started seizing.  Apparently rabbit seizures are no more pleasant than a human seizure.  When it was over, I tried to pick him up and that triggered another seizure - one that apparently he did not survive.  Now as tragic an incident as that is by itself, this is the 4th bunny death that our family has endured in the last six months.  We started out just fine as bunny owners.  About a year and a half ago be got FooFoo, then a year after that we obtained Thumper #1 from a friend who's other rabbit had "run away" and things were fine for about a month, then one day FooFoo was dead - although Thumper #1 was fine.  We waited about a month to make sure that he was indeed fine, then we got another companion for him (they are social animals after all and like company) - Elvis lasted approximately a month with Thumper #1 and he too died.  At this point, we are concerned that we have a serial killer on our hands - especially when we find out that Thumper #1's first room mate (when he still belonged to our friends) did not in fact run away, but was also found dead like FooFoo and Elvis.  We decided that he didn't need a room mate after all, but much to out surprise, a month later, he was dead too.  That was enough for us, we decided to take a break from the bunny business for a while.  The hutch was thoroughly cleaned and left empty for 2 months when a different friend said that they had gotten a second bunny about 3 months ago but that they had irreconcilable differences and needs to find a new home for their Thumper - of course we obliged!  Thumper #2, who I called Theodore came to live with us and all was fine until yesterday - refer back to the beginning if all my rambling has you confused!  Needless to say, I have had it - what sort of bunny killer gas do we have here?  There are happy and healthy seeming one minute and dead as a doornail the next.  We decided to take Theodore/Thumper #2 to the exotic vet in town for a 'necropsy' or bunny autopsy as I prefer to call it - $50 later, we hope to know what is killing all our bunnies and breaking the girls' hearts on a monthly basis.  Please stay tuned.....