Let me tell you a story about our destructive bunny.
About 4 years ago we unwilingly inherited a very large rabbit. When my neighbors moved away and left it in their backyard, it burrowed under the fence and, voila! New pet for us. We named it Flopsie, but it’s pretty much without ‘flop’ of any kind.
Awww… Cute, huh? Let me tell you, the cuteness wore off pretty fast.
At first it lived in my living room. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea. Guess what bunnies do? They chew on EVERTHING!! It ate a huge chunk out of the carpet in one corner.
Flopsie ate the carpet near the kitchen. We have to cover it with a rug so the metal doesn’t cut our feet. And apparently the chair legs are a great place to chew.
Then Flopsie was banished to out little yard. Don’t worry, Flopsie is safe from large predators because there’s a fance, and Flopsie is too fat to be picked up by birds or cats.
As the fall turned to winter, we realized we had a new problem. What to do with the animal during the cold nights or rain. It’s very fortunate for us (and Flopsie) that he (she? More on this later) appears to be potty trained. We leave a litter box in a corner of the dining room, set up a baby gate in the doorway, and Flopsie is out of the rain and frost, warm in the kitchen/dining area. But remember how bunnies chew on everything? Flopsie’s favorite chew ‘toys’ are the legs of my Ikea chairs. Darn bunny. Oh, and electrical cords. This rabbit has eaten through one computer mouse cord and gnawed almost through my laptop’s power cord and the vacuum power cord. It’s a miracle this animal hasn’t been electricuted! On the bright side, Flopsie is a really eco-friendly pet. I feed Flopsie buny food, plus any scraps of fruits and vegetables we may have. Apple cores, canteloupe centers, and parsley leftovers are his (her) favorite. He’s like our little composter. Except you don’t get any potting soil out of her.
It really is a sweet rabbit. It doesn’t bite or claw at you. It doesn’t need to be petted, but it loves its head to be scratched between its ears. Notice all the ‘it’s? We’ve always referred to Flopsie as a ‘she’. One day I was picking Flopsie up and noticed that, based on the stuff he has, she may actually be a he. But since Flopsie is such a royal pain in terms of munching on stuff, we still call him a ‘she’. It’s my little way at getting back at her (him?) for eating everything.
And, in the end, I really do like this big bunny. He (she?) is a pretty good pet after all.