KimberlyMichelle » bunny

the story of a house rabbit (aka. an ode to Basse)

Kim — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:07:29 +0000

As some of you may know, we lost a family member yesterday morning: Basseterre the bunny. I can tell you that he was loved and hugged and nuzzled up until the second he went to sleep, but I can’t tell you why other than that our beloved pets have to hop off heaven every now and then.

I’d had pet rabbits growing up. They lived in hutches outside, played in the backyard, and I’d feed them carrots and pet them. Basse was not like any bunny I’d ever known. Maybe it was because he thrived as a house rabbit or just because of his personality, but everyone would remark that they’d never seen a rabbit like him before.

Mr. M had taken me to pet store on my birthday to pick out a rabbit. I refused, and asked instead to visit the SPCA. The next day, we met this little guy. They had named him Michelangelo, and he had been found abandoned in a track housing area on someone’s lawn. We took him out to play, he let me pick him up, and had a generally good nature. I couldn’t make my decision that quickly, so I put a hold on him, and waited until the next day. When I woke up… I knew I just had to go get him.

We built him a nice 3 story bunny condo from office cubes, and originally had an old dog fence around his enclosure to give him a little bit of extra room. That worked out just fine, until his rabbit teeth allowed him to mold the fence to where he could climb out of it. In fact, the first escape moment happened at 1am in the morning with my pal Michelle and I downstairs. She suddenly stopped mid-conversation and just said, “Um. Rabbit!” He’d escape a few more times, until we just gave up on the fence and gave him free upstairs roaming control.

Basse was a lounger. He loved to stretch himself out as much as he could to relax. We figured he tripled in length every time he did it.

He’d lounge and cuddle to watch the games with us (as long as we didn’t scream and shout).

And he spent most of every night in “his” leather chair. No seriously. He took it over. If you were sitting in it, he’d hop up in it anyway. It was his chair. It was a place to lay down and flop, to watch TV, and a perfect viewpoint for treats that might be coming up the stairs. He’d hop from the arm of the chair to the stairway when you came up just to say, “Hi! You got something for me?”

And then there was his unlikely buddy… Memphis.

Everyone figured that they’d be amicable at best. At worst, the Bunny would win the fight. But instead, they were pals. Basse would actually come up to where Memphis would be sleeping, and just stretch out next to her.

Even on car trips… Basse preferred to snuggle the cage near Memph.

But if there’s one thing we’ll miss more than the soft petting sessions, the little “nudge-nudges” that he’d give as was passing under your feet, or the nose-to-nose nuzzling… it’s this.

“The flop”

There’s nothing cuter and sweeter in the animal world than this little move. (Oh wait, there is that whole cleaning the ears move that’s insanely adorable as well) It’s a bunny sign of utter happiness. And considering he’d flop many times a night, we were pretty certain that he was a happy bunny while he was with us.

I’ll be honest and say that I was holding the tears in until now and smiling through this post as I wrote it. But now that it’s done, it’s just another little sign that he’s ripping an IKEA magazine to shreds somewhere else right now, and I’m sobbing like a baby.

We loved you Mr. Basseterre. And we’ll always remember how much joy your stay with us brought into our lives. We hope it was just as much fun for you as it was for us!

update on the bunny household

Kim — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:00:00 +0000

We’ve officially been a “house rabbit” family for five months now, and I’m pretty certain our little Basse has become an extremely well adjusted bunny. When he’s not chilling on the third floor of his bunny condo, he’s out romping around upstairs or squishing himself into the cool black leather chair in the loft (as seen above). He really wants to be around people at all times, so if we disappear into the office, he’ll hop down the hall and nudge at the door to try and get in to see us. He has gotten in a few times… but his sharp little teeth ate through a couple of wires, so his office privileges have been revoked.

Yes… this little bunny, while cute, can be quite the adventurous soul. He naps behind the couches, seeks out cookies at dessert time (trust me, we haven’t given him any, but I swear the smell of chocolate drives him wild!), and flops on his side out of sheer happiness each and every night. But there is one thing that makes him quite destructive.

Enter Exhibit A:

My prized magazine collection… bitten to bunny pieces below the coffee table. It’s almost as if he doesn’t have plenty of food in his cage nor treats to keep him occupied.

Exhibit B: Guilty as charged!

But luckily for his inane cuteness, he’s become a staple in the household. Plus… he’s cuddly and softer than any sort of Gund creature…

while the parents are away…

Kim — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:23:48 +0000

…the animals will be on vacation as well.

The pets are on vacation with Mom & Dad L this week, as they graciously offered to pet-sit in our absence. But all these photos that they are sending doesn’t quite make it look like we’re very missed…

Basse has found his way to the tops of tables…

…and chilling out in the cool garden grass.

Memphis wakes up each morning to bask in the sun…

… and is convincing someone that she needs a good cuddle at night.

Glad to know they’re enjoying “vacation” as much as we are.

tales of the elusive bunny

Kim — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:00:00 +0000

If you’ve seen this bunny…. please call 310-555-1212!

It seems that we have ourselves a very social bunny… or at least one that likes to escape his way to wherever we happen to be…

The first chance at escape happened sometime in the wee hours of Thursday morning, as my pal Michelle and I were up late chatting the night away. As we were downstairs, I suddenly see her hand raise and point to the top of our landing, as the words, “he got out?” came from her lips. Sure enough, it was Basseterre, sitting at the top of the stairs and looking down on us like everything was completely normal. We hopped upstairs to wrangle him back to his cage, and sure enough he went back in with no problem at all. When we tried to find the escape route, there was nothing obviously out of place, so the only logical conclusion was that he climbed & jumped out of his excercise pen somehow… and that the only solution was a taller pen.

Then Thursday rolled around, and once again we were in a room that didn’t contain “the Boss.” As we were both sitting in the office, I suddenly heard a large commotion from the cage area, and left the room to see what had happened. It was only then that I saw Basse hopping his way down the landing and toward the bedroom with Memphis close behind. He went under our bed, right onto Memphis’ pillow, and then hopped back out to the loft. Once again, we were able to corner him back into his cage, but this time we saw the escape path clearly: a bent piece of wire that he had pried open on his pen and the tiny hole that he squeezed through to get out.

Needless to say, Basse has been banned to his bunny condo for the time-being, until we can figure out how to let him play in the x-pen outside or we bunny-proof the upstairs living area. But I must say that life with a crafty bunny is kind of fun, and you can’t really help but giggle at a little hopping bunny freely roaming your house.

basse the bunny

Kim — Sat, 02 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

I think our little bunny has found himself a name…. Basseterre.

Now before you go thinking I’m crazy and have an affinity for strange names, let me explain this one to you. I wanted to stick with our little family theme of city names… but was having trouble of finding something to match up with Memphis (our boston terrier). I didn’t want to pick a city where I’ve never been… and I wanted something with a nickname, since I rarely call anyone, let alone pets, by their full names (just ask my nephew, who mimics my “Memph” calls).

When we were playing around today, I got quite a few little bunny nudges indicating I was impeding the pathway hop-way in his pen, and I remarked aloud, “My aren’t we a bossy little bunny!” And then…. Basse seemed like the perfect little nickname. Basseterre happens to be the capital city of St. Kitts & Nevis, where we honeymooned for 8 lovely days, so it’s not only a city I’ve been but also a city I love.

So there you go… Basse. Eat up all the paper scraps you want and enjoy your new name. Please forgive me if I call you “bunny” or “bun bun” or “silly rabbit” as well… because while you deserve a big fancy name, sometimes I just get lazy.

a new member of the household

Kim — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Forgive my absence today… as I was adding a new member to the “M” family household.

Meet…. oh wait… he doesn’t quite have a new name yet, and he’s still getting very used to his new surroundings, but isn’t he quite the cutie? He’s ridiculously soft as well and a very good cuddler.

The photo above was from him cage at the SPCA, and he’s still a bit spooked out about where in the heck he is, but trust me that you’ll see lots of bunny photos in the coming days.