Bob and I are SO proud of Sweet Pea (known as Sugar Bunn at the shelter). She was aloof, skittish, and somewhat pudgy when she first arrived at our house--uninterested in people, and urinating everywhere. My hopes for her were not high, and, to be frank, I was glad that she came with a partner, "Miko" ("mee-co", aka "Mycroft", aka "Macruft", originally "Bandero" at the shelter), who was brimming with affection, personality, looks, intelligence, manners, and energy, and who made up for her reticence. Now, however, after almost three years with us (!) Sweet Pea is fit, runs around (doing *wicked* whiplash-style head-binkies at fresh greens hour), and "presents" for head rubs. She has come farther than we thought possible.

Since Sweet Pea's adoption, I noticed that the shelter had taken in another bunny who had suffered (I think) facial nerve damage from having been mishandled by her previous "owners". As you recall, Sweet Pea's face is asymmetrical. Sweet Pea was more nervous about head-and-ear-petting than body-petting, and Bob thinks her previous people may have pulled her ears. We wonder if they damaged the nerves in her face.

It has taken a while, but she now accepts and seems to enjoy "mauling" =D We can rub her body, head, and cheeks vigorously, although she prefers a lighter touch and a softer voice than Miko. She no longer runs away when I do my (you might not like this) "raptor imitation". I stand above them and flap my arms, faking a vulture call, then "swoop down" and pet the bunnies vigorously, while they look bored. All the bunnies we've ever had have reacted with fierce ennui upon hearing the "vulture" call. Now, even shy, sensitive Sweet Pea no longer flinches.

In Sweet Pea's short life, she has clearly been accustomed to repeated disappointment, endured alone. Interestingly, whenever Miko is disappointed (i.e. thinks he's getting yet another treat and discovers I'm only passing through), he RUSHES over to Sweet Pea, flattens himself out, and *thrusts* his head under her chest fur, heartbroken and *desperate* for comforting. She ***NEVER*** needs to do this. Sweet Pea is strong--an old Dutch who's seen tough times. We're hoping to make it up to her.

It's sad that she's clearly much older, after all, than Miko. As you recall, when we adopted them, she and Miko were each described as 7 years old. However, having observed them closely for some time, we think Sweet Pea was closer to 9 at adoption, and Miko closer to 3. That would make her about 12 now, and Miko 6. She dozes frequently, and has to stretch before running across the room. Yet, we hope she has more time, since she's only just getting started!

Bob understood her WAY before I did. Having grown up on a farm, with a *wonderful* family, he has a ***REMARKABLE*** way with non-English-speaking species (dogs, bunnies, pot-bellied pigs, horses, foxes, cats,...). He listens well, and continues to teach me.

-->Bob may be the first person outside the shelter who ever really listened to AND "HEARD" Sweet Pea.<--

Thanks to him, she has blossomed. Miko arrived already a fabulous orchid. Sweet Pea is just a tiny flower, easy to overlook, but all the more precious because we never expected her to open up. Thanks to Colorado House Rabbit Society, she got that chance.

Carol Kaito

Dear Aunt Nancy,

Thank you for helping me when I needed it the most. You took me out of that bad place and gave me a good foster home. Now I’m in love with Arti and my new Mommy takes such good care of me. She gives me lots of pellets and hay and she scratches my ears! It makes me put my head down on the floor it feels so good! She kisses my head a lot too.

Today I looked out the window and saw the outside of my new house for the first time. I seem to scare my Mommy when I telescope up there though….something about me looking over the side of the safety cage makes her say “Dooley no”. I don’t know what that means but I know I want to get back down when she says it.

Did I ever run before? I did it today! Mommy let me explore her bedroom and I can run from room to room! So much space and I’m being a really good bunny. Mommy taught me that leaving my poops around isn’t good so I’ve been keeping them in my caca box. She said I didn’t leave one single pellet in her bedroom and I was in and out of there a lot today!

Mommy’s going to make me Angle Mush tomorrow. What’s Angle Mush Aunt Nancy? I’ll probably like it; I seem to like eating everything except peppers. Arti didn’t like them either. I’ve started eating the paypaya tablets that Mommy gives us and it’s a good thing…I’m still blowing my coat. Mommy calls me a fuzzball but I won’t let her brush me yet.

Say hi to Clifford and the other bunnies for me.

Love Dooley

Our special buns, Mahpiya (Lakota for Cloud), moved to Denver with us from Rochester NY last February. He settled right into our new apartment, his transition being smoothed by the one constant—pets and kisses from his well-trained owners. He was quite content being a single rabbit, as we were always able to lavish lots of attention on him. Then our lives got more complicated—a graduate internship and a hospital residency both began in August, and we feared that our commitments would eat into precious bunny time. Knowing Cloud would get lonely, we agreed to find him a friend at the Colorado House Bunny Society. (Marc had already connected with them as a local resource for our bunny-care needs, and they had been a ready support.)

We picked our favorites to attempt a pairing; they all happened to be boy bunnies. When asked, “Are there any girls you’d be interested in?” we mentioned a pointy-up swivel-eared bunny named Lucinda….and before we knew it she was in the pen with Cloud, licking him from head to toe! She had been a very shy rabbit, always retreating to the back of her cage when approached, but the transformation in her while in our Cloud’s company was undeniable and we couldn’t bring ourselves to separate them. We renamed her Shota (Lakota for Smoke) and, though Cloud took a while to warm up to her, they’re all cuddles now. He’s shown her all his favorite lounging spots in the apartment (though he’s kept under the bird cage where he forages for nesting hay a secret).

With our introductory vet check-up, we discovered that the old girl (older than anyone thought) has arthritis in her hind haunches and we have to give her two anti-inflammatory “pills” a day, but a slice of banana makes the medicine go down. There was also a recent cornea injury that required eye drops for a while…we’re so grateful to CHBS for all their help and support in making our new friend happy and healthy.

Mistakenly, we began Smoke’s acclamation to the apartment by giving her a wider range than we should, and she made the place her own by marking the whole hallway by their cage with droppings and “wet” spots. We got rid of the cage, made the space under the built-in hallway desk into a bunny enclosure, and confined them to their new hutch at night and when we were away at work. She’s learning to modify her behavior, but she still likes to be in control—she’s taken to eating around the pill in her banana treat, and if the bedroom door is open, she makes a bee-line for the forbidden zone! Brazen bunnies—ya gotta love ‘em.

Around Easter, my mom told me about a special on the news based on House Rabbits and I was intrigued since at the time my husband and I had our very own bunny living with us in Parker. I hadn’t known until then that rabbits long to have their own bunny companion, but the idea was understandable since Juno had insisted on always cuddling with my parent’s Bearded Collie, Clancy. So after having Juno spayed, we looked on the CO-HRS website and found a bunny we thought could be a good match. We went through the procedure of adoption and spent hours in the Bunny Barn checking out all the magnificent bunnies. I was content on the idea of taking them all home!

However it was Barry that we had found on the website and we were still drawn to him after meeting all the bunnies we'd met there. Barry bit me the first time I tried to pet him; I was shocked and my feelings were a little hurt. However we decided to take a chance. Barry had obviously liked Juno, even though she seemed a bit surprised at the entire arrangement. We left it in the hands of Nancy who patiently received my many phone calls full of questions. Eventually Nancy said they were ready to end their bunny honeymoon and come home. We were so excited!

It was obvious that there would be some changes when they arrived, because when Clancy the collie came over to meet the new bunny, Juno leapt out of their cage and attacked him! We were quite surprised but believed she must have felt the need to protect Barry. We'd built them a new cage and we were adamant about getting to know the new bunn and still have interaction with Juno. Unfortunately whenever I tried to lie on the ground and let Barry get to know me, he’d charge, growl and bite me. I cried and cried, not because it hurt that much but because my feelings were hurt that he didn’t like me!

I talked with Rachel at CO-HRS and she told me his actions were from fear and that I would have to give him time. So we did just that; we were still persistent with interacting with Barry: we gave him treats, loving petting and constantly picked him up to cuddle with him. Eventually he turned around. There were a few random attacks from him months later, but we could tell after each time, he was just as surprised about his behavior just as we were. And he immediately apologized by nudging us and then flattening his head on the ground for us to pet.

Now Balooga Barry Smith, who we call Baloo for short, is by far the sweetest, most loving bunny! He’s even nicer than Juno most of the time. He has even learned tricks on command. We haven’t had any attacks for more than nine months; Baloo’s now just a big bundle of love and a load of binkies! He does have some weird quirks such as hopping into cupboards, so he's keeping it an adventure! And we’re dealing with Juno’s attacks on Clancy still, even though Baloo seems very content with his presence. We laugh when volunteers at the shelter tell us that Baloo was referred to as the "Jekyll and Hyde bunny" and that some of were glad to see him go for reasons other than him finding a good home. But we couldn’t be happier with our choice! Baloo is now happily a part of our family, who we love more than words can describe...Thank You CO-HRS!

My husband and I have enjoyed our first set of rabbits, (Bear, a Dwarf Hotot male, and Muffin a Jersey Woolly female) for about two years. Eventually though, we began to realize the little guys were becoming increasingly bored, despite the fact that they were also becoming increasingly spoiled. We felt it was time to give another pair of bunnies a forever home, we felt it would be a win-win situation - two more rabbits get their fair share of toys and condo while two spoiled rabbits get some fresh new faces to groom. It wasn't quite as easy as it seemed it would be.

I looked at the COHRS adoption pages and saw two lovely bunnies I knew I "needed" to have. I bothered poor Nancy for a few months with question after question and we couldn't be more grateful for her help. We selected Petunia, a beautiful Dwarf English Spot, and the diminuative Jersey Wooley, Malone - who had become an affectionate little pair. Petunia has the need to nurture little Malone, who is then her personal protector.

Then came the difficult task of making a foursome. We knew our Bear and Muffin had big personalities - Bear is a little perfectionist and Muffin truly believes she owns everything in the world. We just hoped they would accept sweet Petunia and anxious Malone. At the HRS, the four seemed to be getting along beautifully, but after a few hours of being in their new home, the two pairs quickly divided and claimed certain floors of their shared three story condo. Little scuffles ensued even after we brought the four back to the HRS for Nancy to try calming them down; we took her advice and kept the pairs separate when we got home.

We let the two couples forget each other for two entire months before reintroducing them, and at last they were bonded successfully. First one month passed without the slightest bit of animosity. Now Malone and Petunia look as though they finally feel at home - clamoring for bunny cookies, snuggling and grooming in their cardboard castle. I can promise Petunia she will never be abandoned or uncared for again, as she was in the past when her owners left her at a shelter with a urinary tract infection. Malone knows he will always have as much as he wants, unlike the time when his previous owner abandoned him in an apartment for days and the little guy had to resort to eating his own towel. We're proud to give them each a forever home.

Tonight was going to be another blind date arranged by Nancy. Nancy was kind of a second mother to Dora and looked out for her. Nancy had lots of experience at match-making; she had done it many, many times. Dora was confident that, just like the professional match-makers in Dora's Dutch homeland, Nancy knew just what Dora was looking for and, hopefully, Nancy had just the right boy in mind. Dora was counting on her to get it right this time. And as a matter of fact, Dora was really, really, looking good! Her white tipped nails were perfect. She had spent hours making sure each and every hair was in place. She knew she had all the “right curves” in all the “right places”. Some unsuspecting young boy was going to get lucky tonight. This was a girl on a mission. She knew what she wanted and she was going to find it, no holds barred. She just hadn't met the right boy yet!

Rudy looked very formal in all black with his white bow tie and white gloves. Quite dashing he thought. He was, of course, older than most of the girls to which Nancy, the Match-Maker, had introduced him previously. And he was no push-over for the girls, either. He was, and intended to stay, “Mr. Independent”. Playing hard to get was going to be his approach. It would take more than just a passing peck on the cheek to capture him. “I am Mr. Wonderful”, he thought to himself, "I'm just going to enjoy myself and play the field."

That was the beginning of it all. As you have probably guessed, Dora and Rudy fell in love at first sight. It really hadn't taken more than a simple peck on the cheek for that pretty girl in the white sweater to capture all of Rudy's affection. Rudy and Dora have, as of today, spent more than half their lives together. It was like they were destined for each other. They liked the same foods. They were both of Dutch descent, and nearly the same age. They were perfect for each other. Nancy was certainly right with her choice of Rudy for Dora.

Time has passed since that first meeting Nancy had arranged for both of them. Rudy has lost a step or two in his ability to get around the house. He hates the taste of his arthritis medicine and just refuses to take it. Dora has put on a few pounds since her youth, but she was always a big girl. “Dutch girls are just that way!”, she always says. “Helps keep Rudy warm at night!” She still takes great care in making sure her hair looks good. She still has the same “lucky” sweater she was wearing the night she met Rudy. They both enjoy long naps each afternoon and are up late because that is their nature. Dora doesn't cook. They have their meals delivered! Neither of them drive and they have to rely on others for that task. They rarely ever leave the house. Usually it's just to go see their doctor or have Dora's nails done. They are quite content with their life as it is.

You see, Rudy and Dora are “house rabbits”. Yes, rabbits, who were adopted from the Colorado House Rabbit Society, Nancy LaRoche, Co-Chapter Manager. These two wonderful bunns live with my wife and I at our home. They are loving, devoted, best friends to each other, as well as to my wife and I. They have no cage. They have full run of the house. They never venture outside. In fact my wife and I often tell them they are just “lucky bunnies” with whom we are privileged to share our home. Since rabbits have virtually no vocalizations, they communicate between themselves with a wink, or a twitch, or a bob of the head. Dora grooms Rudy. Rudy grooms Dora. They are very much in LOVE. Rudy is going on eight, and Dora is seven. That makes them Senior Citizens in rabbit years. They are certainly entitled to be lazy and enjoy long naps. We, as humans, would perhaps do well to learn from these two. It might make things a little easier in life!

In August of 2008, my family lost their dear little bun Snippet. They'd gotten Snippet when she was a little baby and still felt like very young bunny parents. Dnippet got a blockage of fur and despite emergency visits to the vet, Snippet passed over to Rainbow Bridge. The family was distraught. They found the House Rabbit Society website and learned a lot on how to treat and prevent stasis, how to better provide for their remaining bunny Jazzman and the pairing service that the Colorado House Rabbit Society offers. In spite of living in South Dakota, they made the commitment to drive with Jazz to Colorado and then return a week later to pick up him and his new bride.

They were amazed when they walked in and saw all the many rabbits - different sizes, colors and temperaments. They picked Simcha for Jazzman but couldn't resist my little scared trembling face. Turns out I look a lot like Snippet except for the fact that my left ear is partially gone and I have this weird flower cataract in my eyes. I'm not blind all the way but I'm still a special needs bunny. They asked Nancy if they could adopt me too and Nancy said she would try. After a week's honeymoon in Colorado, Jazz, Simcha and I moved to our forever home in South Dakota. It was a long drive but we arrived no worse for wear except Simcha started getting on my nerves. As time went on, I decided I didn't like her very much and our parents had to split us up and switch Jazz back and forth between his two ladies.

I'm NOT a Utah bunny. This arrangement was not working for me. I decided that Simcha can just have that big grey ball of fur. I'm perfectly content on my own. I don't have to worry about him eating all my food and lounging all over me. It suits me to a tee. I've learned to trust my new mom and fall asleep in her arms with a contented sigh. I still see Jazz and Simcha every day since their house is right above mine and we chat all the time. They are always mooning over each other, licking and kissing and snuggling. Ick! I'm happy here with my people. Now, if I can only get that Beagle to do my bidding, life would be great.

Dear CO-HRS Volunteers and Friends,

We decided to write you and say, “Hello!” from Centennial, Colorado. At the CO-HRS we were known as Carol and Virgil, but now in our forever home, we go by Satin and Slate, respectively. Life is good here down south; we’ve got pellets, veggies, fresh water, papaya, treats, toys, extra space, and hay galore! Satin chews up as many branches as she can get her teeth on every day, and Slate spends plenty of time flopped out on the carpet.

We bunns had our reservations about the strange new humans at first, but now we’re very cozy with our mom and dad, and they love us a lot!! Sometimes they call Slate “Old Man” because he is the oldest (and the wisest!), even though he’s only 5 years old. Sometimes he has a grumpy look on his face, but Mom and Dad know it’s only his look which says, “I am king; now serve me a treat!”

Satin goes by “Silver Bullet” sometimes because she’s faster than fast. Satin can run at crazy lightning speed around the living room, through the tube, under the stool, and around Mom and Dad’s feet. She’s like a blur of fur shooting around the room. When she’s tired from all that running and jumping and dancing, Satin likes to huddle up and let Mom pet her head for a very long time. She grinds her teeth happily while she gets the love she deserves.

Slate finds plenty of time to chin everything in sight – the chair, the poker set, the tube, Dad’s backpack - anything really! We bunns were really excited when Mom and Dad’s friend built us a gigantic, three-story condo. We feel like first-class bunns, because we know we deserve nothing less than the best! We were also very happy when we got our yearly check up with Dr. LaBonde and he said we’re doing great. We are so thankful for our home and for the volunteers and directors at the CO-HRS who took care of us until we found our forever home. We send much love and many binkies your way!
Love,

Satin & Slate Arnold, lovingly cared for by Alycia & James Arnold

I don't know if this account of how Hank came into my care will be of any interest.... I appreciate it's not a story of a rabbit from your rescue finding it's "forever" home, but it is one rabbit’s story of re-homing. I live in the UK and when I found your website I ordered a Marshmallow T-shirt. Pat Gustafson handled my order and was so nice and helpful, we remained in contact. Now I am a paid up member of the CO-HRS!

I live in a village in Suffolk. Walking home one June evening after a residents' meeting, I spotted a small white rabbit. Immediately concerned for it's well being, I tried to get close enough to catch it. It was the typical case of "I'll let you get within two feet, and then I'll hop off". Despite the failing light, I was determined, convinced the poor little chap had escaped from a garden. As more people walked down the lane, the true story of this chap came to light. He was one of two rabbits who had been living rough for several weeks; others had tried to catch them. Then his "owner" came by, "oh he's still alive then", she commented, "I haven't seen his brother for a while, so I guess he's dead." To say I saw red would be an understatement! But I realized saying what I really felt would mean nothing to that type of uncaring person. By now the rabbit had taken off, so I decided to try the next evening.

Armed with a carrot. I walked up to where I saw him before but there was no sign of him. Then returning home, I saw him in the front garden of a nearby house. After gaining permission to attempt to catch him in the garden, I settled down into my "plan". This involved ignoring him, whilst talking - mostly nonsense - and flicking pieces of carrot in his direction. As he gratefully ate them, gradually I got closer to him. After three quarters of an hour I made my move. It might not have been an ideal way to catch a rabbit, but I made a grab and caught him. The only damage to the bun was the loss of some fur... Later speaking with his "owner", I learned she had kept the two unneutered brothers together, but not in a proper hutch. They had not being inoculated - very worrying with the high prevalence of Myxi in the local wild rabbit population. Thankfully, she agreed that I could keep him, telling me his name was Tank.

I already had my own house rabbit - Button, a six year old Thrianta "bachelor", who has free range of the house and secure garden. That meant Hank (as Pat Gustafson had aptly re-named him) had to be kept in the kitchen at first. He soon settled in and made friends with our two dogs. I gave him a couple of weeks to settle, and then booked him in for neutering, and inoculations. Unfortunately he had an undecided testicle which meant major surgery, and I am extremely grateful to our vet (Dr. Duncan Hole) for carrying out the procedure for the cost of a routine castration.

Once his hormones had settled it was time to introduce Hank to Button. I was prepared for Button to be totally hostile to this young addition to the family. I had however under estimated my "boy". The rabbits approached each other, Button put his head down and Hank started to groom him!! They are now devoted to each other. For a rabbit who had lived wild, Hank has proved to be a friendly easy going chap and a TOTAL house rabbit. If you ask him if he would like to go into the garden, he very firmly turns his back and settles down for a nap on the rug.

My name is Taylor. I am supposedly a grand old lady of a bunny, but thank you very much I am NOT old! In fact, I had my person get us a picture of who I think I really am; you can see it on the right here. Once upon a time I had a boyfriend named Gizmo, but he got sick and really, really hurt me. They were able to fix him up and then find him a new family. For a long time, I had to have lots of surgeries and treatments to try and heal the huge hole I had in my back (it's being hidden under the blanket in the photo on the left). But I was lucky and after several months, I was finally ready to go out on my own with a new family.

But guess what I found out? Nobody wants to adopt an “old bunny” and I was already 8 years old! So I sat there at the shelter in my crate thinking I’d just get older and older all alone and nobody would ever want me.

One day, a bad thing happened in a family far away. I didn’t know it, of course, but I’ve heard about it now. A nice little rabbit named Tribble had an accident and couldn’t be saved. That left her best friend, Starbuck alone, too – just like me! He was so lonely he got depressed. He acted okay and tried to be brave, but his family knew that deep down, he wasn’t a very happy boy anymore and he was only seven so he probably had a lot of years to sit all alone with no bunny love. His person is one of the volunteers at the shelter, so she brought Starbuck up to meet me because she knew we’d both be happier if we weren’t alone.

Boy, when he got there to meet me, I was so excited I ran the whole length of two pens, right up to where he was sitting in the litter box feeling scared. I put on the breaks at the very edge of the box, sat up straight, all poised to run again, looked him in the eye and tried to tell him, “HEY, let’s run”!! But as it turns out, he is a "Hide ‘n Seek" kind of boy instead of the "Tag-You're It" kind of bunny I am, so it took us a little while to figure out how we were going to get along.

We even had to have a little marriage counseling a couple of weeks after we went to his house so we could figure out if we really did like each other. We did. As it turns out, he had a great big rabbitat for us to live in, so we decided I get to chase him if I want. And he has lots of little hiding places in our 8'x5' home, so when he’s tired of me, he can just go hide. But what we both like to do best, after eating of course, is to cuddle with each other. This new marriage has really worked out well for us and we am so happy that there really are people who will adopt sleek young racing fillies who are cleverly disguised as old lady bunnies! Starbuck and I will share our last years together with the two people who love and care for us. And we love them, too!

Our bunny Flower doesn't have a terribly dramatic story, but she's such a great bunny we wanted to tell you about her life since we adopted her. It was either in late 2004 or early 2005. Our little Jersey Wooly, Allie, had lost his mate and he was lonely, so we brought him to the Colorado House Rabbit Society to meet girls.

In a short time, he fell for Flower, a small dwarf mix who had been caught running loose and brought to HRS. She had been living at the Broomfield facility for a few years, but for some reason nobody (until Allie) seemed to realize what a beauty she was and what a sweet little rabbit. Allie adored her.

So we brought the two bunnies home and they lived in our dining room together. They were a quiet, affectionate couple who spent most of their time lounging in their cage with the door open. Once in a while we would see Flower looking on admiringly while Allie got into some kind of mischief. Later in 2005, Allie was diagnosed with lymphoma and after about six months of a pretty good life, he died. Since the rabbit vet had said he wouldn’t live very long even with his medicine, we were actually somewhat surprised he lived as long as he did. We have always thought that his devoted little Flower prolonged his life. He certainly seemed happy.

We thought at first Flower would go into a decline after Allie died, and she did grieve, but after a couple of weeks she seemed to be back to her normal cheerful self. We decided not to perpetuate the series of May/December romances which had characterized rabbit life at our house, so we didn’t try to find her a new mate. She's been queen bunny at our house ever since.

What's so special about Flower? She's just a little five-pound rabbit with a shiny black coat sprinkled with a few white hairs. But she really is special. For one thing, she's the only rabbit we've ever had (and we've had five) who didn't tear up the house. Occasionally she nibbles on furniture or books, but not very often and never for long. She never bites, almost never kicks and rarely thumps. Even in middle age, she enjoys dancing in her cage, but only when she doesn't know we're watching (we're very furtive about it).

Flower LOVES a clean cage. When its cage-cleaning day, she's vitally interested in the process and even helps us by playing in the trash bag where the old litter and hay and newspapers go. As soon as the clean fleece is back in the cage, she zips right in and woe to us if her clean litter box isn’t in place right away! We change the combination of toys every week so she gets to play with new noisemaking items.

Sometimes Flower is friendly and comes up to be petted and to have her neck and shoulders rubbed when it's time to feed her papaya tabs and myristol--but sometimes she turns her back in a marked manner and flounces off to the far corner of her cage. We never have figured out why she snubs us on some days and not on other days. She HAS made it clear that we're supposed to give her only Oxbow papaya tablets, NOT American Health papaya tablets. She positively will not eat arugula or peaches, but she loves cherries (pitted, of course), basil, parsley, cilantro and blueberries.

And sometimes, though not often, Flower turns into Adventure Bun and explores the living room or hides in the bookcase. That is the story of Flower.

Please note:  This story shows the life of a loved and cared for house rabbit, but we at Colorado HRS regret to hear she hasn't had the joy of sharing her life with another rabbit for almost 5 years - half of her life, as it turns out! While we do understand the authors' concern about perpetuating "May/December" romances, we are also aware of many older boy bunnies who have come to our shelter over the years needing homes as badly as Flower did when she came to us. Would she have been a happier rabbit if she had been allowed to share her life with an older gentle-bunn over the last years? Undoubtedly! She would have loved the snuggles and grooming only another rabbit can offer in those long, lonely hours when their humans sleep or are away from home.

We do appreciate the home the Kintz's provide this rabbit. We are also grateful to them for taking the time to share her story with us here. We also feel the need to address this issue on behalf of all single rabbits everywhere:  Please don't make YOUR rabbit live the solitary life for which they are less suited. If you have an older widowed bunny, contact one of our Adoption Counselors. We can keep our eyes out for a rabbit of an appropriate age so their life spans are likely to correlate more closely. Next month we'll share just such a story.

Hi, this is Pete. Just over a year ago, Leona and I found our forever home. We have been enjoying our new home together, and I am still trying to help Leona be more comfortable around people. She must have grown up in such a frightful place, because she used to be so scared of everything. She used to flinch when our human companions would try to pet her, but now she has learned that they will not hurt her. She knows they are here to give her love, play-time, and healthy treats.

Leona and I have been very healthy, except for one time when I started to grow points on my teeth. I didn't feel like eating much and then I couldn't eat at all. I got papaya and pellets that were water logged and mushy. Boy, did they taste good. I ended up taking a long ride to see Dr. LaBonde so he could fix my teeth. Fortunately, Leona came with me to help settle my nerves. I have vowed to eat much more Timothy Hay so that doesn't happen again!

A short time after we were in our forever home, two other bunns arrived: Midnight and Amy. They are very feisty bunnies for being so small. It was hard to share everything, but eventually we all learned to get along together. Sometimes all four of us get to share one big condo when the tunnel between our condos gets opened. That sure is fun. Leona and I always get a visit from Midnight and Amy when the tunnel is open. But when I get tired of them coming over, they have to go back to their condo and the tunnel gets closed.

Now I'd like to share a few photos of Leona and I relaxing in our home. I will have Midnight write soon so he can tell you his side of the story here at our home. Peace!

Willyum and Sparkles live with Mike and Susan House in Loveland. They joined a family of four rabbits: Gordon and Condoleezza (so named because she was found at my sister's condo); Keith and Kevin (rescued from a ditch in Ft. Collins and adopted through Larimer Humane Society); and two dogs who begrudgingly accept that rabbits rule.

If you visited CHRS in the spring of 2007, you'll remember Willyum, the dwarf Hotot confined to the crate ensconced in yellow caution tape and featuring a drawing of something resembling Taz. The sketch and tape did not dissuade my husband Mike from trying to befriend the diminutive (just over 2 pounds) demon.

Willyum allowed Mike to touch him, briefly, before he grunted and attacked. Undeterred, Mike spoke softly to Willyum for several minutes, again gently stroked his head, and was then able to scoop him up. Willyum settled into Mike's arms and actually enjoyed the attention. Over the next several weeks we visited Willyum who had gained the reputation as the bunny who bit everyone.

We were reminded of our Gordon, who 8 years ago came to us as an adorable month-old bunny who proceeded to bite both of us on numerous occasions, spray our ceilings with bunny pee, and intimidate our dogs. With, patience, love and neutering, Gordon has grown into a playful, amazingly intelligent rabbit who kisses upon request. We hoped we could nurture a like transformation in Willyum, so we offered to foster him.

Willyum came home with us; we quickly realized his most pressing need was for play space - hundreds of square feet outfitted with boxes, crates, branches, and tunnels. He blasted from one to the other, crawling under crates, leaping onto trunks, attacking branches, shredding boxes and zipping through tunnels. Willyum was so agile and athletic he seemed to fly. Boundlessly energetic and unceasingly curious, he was one fun bunn! EXCEPT for the biting.

Mike was the caregiver and I was the playmate. Willyum would snuggle on the couch with Mike, then leap at me, biting my ankles. He pursued me across the room, flinging his tiny body, teeth barred, at my knees. I once bent over to pick up a dropped papaya and he leapt on my head from a nearby trunk. I hate being bitten, but can't help laugh as I'm being chased by this tiny fluffy white bunny who's wearing too much eyeliner.

Believing Willyum would probably not be adopted by sane people, we requested to do so. Nancy agreed and offered to try to pair him. Fortunately, an adorable female dwarf Dutch mix was at CHRS. Sparkle is as sweet as Willyum is wascally. She tolerates his outbursts, romps with and cuddles him. She joyfully bounds toward the refrigerator when she hears it open, sure she will be rewarded with a papaya, raisin or Cheerios (her favorite).

A year after Willyum came home, he cherishes the company of Sparkles, revels in his play space, enjoys his toys and tunnels, adores Mike, and delights in terrorizing me - nothing like witnessing a grown human run, screech, recoil and curse to give a bunny a good laugh. So even though he is our "Attack Rabbit", and has the sign to prove it, we treasure our tiny, terrible tyke, the irrepressible Willyum!

I was lonely, depressed, and bored in home school and needed a fuzzy companion and someone who would follow me around and kiss me gently in the night. I took in Foo Foo from a lady who had lost her home. Once I got him, Foo Foo went everywhere with me before I paired him with Jo Beth. He wasn't caged and he even slept under the covers with me. Being new to rabbits, I made the mistake of trying to pair him with another male. I didn't know they need to be neutered and that they would pair more easily with the opposite sex in most cases. Since he seemed to fight with all males, and I decided maybe he needed to be neutered to reduce his aggression levels.

That wasn't the only problem however; he just wanted a female who would love him and kiss him. I took the males back to their old caregivers and got in contact with my fiance's MOM! I remembered her saying she volunteered at a nice House Rabbit Society where Nancy pairs rabbits with each other and places them with proper people to give them all loving homes; that's where Jo Beth popped into the picture... (Foo Foo is tan and Jo Beth in multi-colored.)

One morning I woke bright an early taking Foo Foo up to the CO-HRS. He and I were determined to find him a lovely girl bunn to make his life complete! He decided to have a honeymoon with Jo Beth and he fell in love with her! In the meantime, I'm at home setting up their new home and personal space, I got all the supplies they needed from Nancy and even some fun toys to play with, too.

Foo Foo and Jo Beth came home a week later and seemed content to have each other and nobody else in their area. They loved their new home and most important, the parsley and cilantro they got every morning from me. We all three became good friends!

Now, they live in a 2 story cage, nibble hay all day, and beg their new daddy for papaya every time he's here! Their cage is right beside me while I do school and sure enough, they stick their little noses through the cage all day and can't wait for their evening play-time once school is done.

Without my bunnies, I'd be lost! My rabbits go wherever I do and I love them more than anyone will ever know. I think having a bunny is a privilege and they should always be cherished. I will never regret adopting Foo Foo and Jo Beth because they've made me a happier person!

In 1999 an abandoned Easter Bunny, only 7 months old, came to live with us. Her "owner", just six years old, didn't like her anymore since she didn't want to be squeezed and held whenever he felt like it. She was then relegated to a cage in the carport until my husband just had to bring her home. We named her Jane Doe, and my newly re-covered antique couch became her chaise lounge.

After being educated by the Colorado House Rabbit Society website, we realized Jane Doe needed to be neutered and introduced to rabbit society. As a new debutante, off she went to the Colorado House Rabbit Society and that wonderful rabbit lady, Nancy. Nancy introduced Jane Doe to many potential suitors, including Pierre, a young black and white rex mix, who was a native of the Colorado House Rabbit Society. He had been born into a large litter and then lived at the Rabbit Society for about two years. Upon meeting Pierre, Jane Doe immediately bit him on the head and sent him cowering to the corner of the pairing cage. But Nancy, dedicated and caring, had a talk with Pierre and he came to understand that if he played Jane Doe just right he would have a wonderful, loving, forever home. Somehow, with Nancy's guidance, Jane Doe and Pierre fell in love and came home together.

They spent many wonderful years, binkie-ing around, grooming, chewing cardboard boxes, crabapple branches, opening the mail, and loving their custom backyard, a wonderful rabbit-proof place they could dig, roll in the dirt, and eat anything they wanted in the organic garden. At night they slept together at the end of the bed! Jane Doe was definitely in charge, but Pierre, sweet and calm, didn't mind.

Jane Doe passed over the Rainbow Bridge in August 2007. Pierre grieved, lost weight, and stopped doing binkies. After a few months we decided to bring him back to the House Rabbit Society, hoping he was ready for a new companion. Again, Nancy went above and beyond any match making service, introducing him to some lovely single lady-bunns looking for a well-trained husbunn. All seemed to go well at HRS between Pierre and a lovely red rex bunn we all fell in love with. Dear Nancy delivered them home together, with new toys, treats, and yummy grains. The lovely red bunny knew she wanted to stay immediately, having the run of the entire house, her own litter and hay box, and a wonderful look-out point under the living room sideboard, where Pierre loved to hang out.

She was Johnny-on-the spot for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all treats. She was confident, curious, and an exceptionally intelligent rabbit. She loved being petted and would come when called. Soon, however, she realized she did not need a husbunn at all and dismissed Pierre to the back bedroom! He could not even peek around the corner of the door before this lovely red bunn let him know it was now her house. PERIOD! After several consultations with Nancy, it was back to the House Rabbit Society with the both of them. Nancy, in her wisdom, determined the beautiful red rex was really a single, due to her superior intelligence and confidence. We were very sad, but understood that some bunnies really are meant to be "the only one". Pierre stayed at the House Rabbit Society for several weeks, with all those wonderful volunteers taking care of him, and Nancy counseling him, but he was through with "women"! It was back home to Colorado Springs to be a bachelor - or so we thought.

Two months later I read a classified ad of someone giving away a 7 month old Florida White because her son had outgrown it. Well, you know that ad had to be answered! I emailed her and advised her to take the bunny to the House Rabbit Society or somebody would be feeding it to a large snake! Next thing I know, she is in the lobby of my office with the bunny in its cage, so I could take it up to Broomfield! Of course I called Nancy, who suggested I just put the cage in my living room and see what Pierre would do. He started sleeping next to the little bunny, she in her cage, and him on the outside next to her. He started grooming her through the wire! What was happening here?!? Could this be a case of a May-December love developing? So it was off to the vet for little Cocoa to be neutered. After a few weeks of recovery, we cautiously allowed Cocoa and Pierre time together in the pantry every day to get to know each other better.

What do you know? They fell in love and are a very happy couple today! Cocoa's youth and enthusiasm is delightful. She runs through the house, around the garden, up and down the stairs, and can binkie about 4 feet straight up in the air. They snooze together under the sideboard for their afternoon naps and groom each other each evening. Pierre has taught Cocoa very nice house rabbit manners and she doesn't even eat the fringe on my Turkish rugs. Even though both bunnies have free run of the entire house, they are always together. It's a wonderful life for all of us! Our endless thanks to the House Rabbit Society for such a marvelous bunny as Pierre.

The start of our wonderful little herd was when Bonbon came to live at the Savage family home on February11, 2006. He was a free baby bunny in a box at a Petco store as a baby at risk of becoming snake food!

Then our mommy brought Kya home to live with Bonbon on October 18, 2007. While we lived together for five months, she contemplated putting us with another of her pairs because Kya was an opinionated girl with lots of opinions about LOTS of things. She liked to be boss and would only let Bonbon kiss her eyes while she was asleep. If he woke her up then, he'd get bitten!

So in February 2008, Mommy put us with Poptart and Lilly and everything seemed to work okay, until our little Poppy went over the Rainbow Bridge. Poptart was the glue for our smaller herd and molded everything together. Without him, Lilly would not have let Kya be in the group. Our strong personalities clashed without our calming Poppy.

Then Mommy came upon a bunny named Jamal, who'd been found starving at the side of a road in Utah. She hoped he would help us all get along even better. He was very grateful to be at our house! Of course, Kya did not let mommy off that easily though. At first, Jamal lived in between us in his own run.

It took quite a while to get us to be a group again. We had to take several field trips to various neutral areas such as friends' yards and PetSmart adoption booths. All of us have always liked to demonstrate how nice bunnies can be. Kya was a great Big Bunn advocate, while Jamal is a good advocate for Angora Bunns. Lilly and Bonbon are just good bunny ambassadors by being friendly so friendly.

Mom put us together for several days before she went on a vacation and, much to her surprise, we didn't hurt each other. When mom called home to check on all of us, she was so surprised she could hardly believe what she was hearing! All her bunnies were in a pile snuggling. We had all finally decided we wanted to be a family. Kya was still an opinionated girl and let others know when it was okay to snuggle with her since she was the queen bunny and you never wake the queen. But she always liked having her sisters and brothers near to snuggle me when she so choose. But she let Lilly think she is boss most of the time. Mommy just loves all of us and has had special names for us.

Our beloved Kya recently traveled over the Rainbow Bridge to live with Poptart and Poppy. We miss her and it's been hard to carry on, but we're all glad Mommy got us altogether to share our fun and our love in our little herd.

As empty-nesters with plans to move to a mountain community an hour's drive away from the nearest rabbit-savvy veterinarian and to use that home as a base for extended RV trips, we were concerned about providing experienced and prompt medical care for our bunnies. When we were on the road, we were worried about finding a veterinarian in an unfamiliar city. The thought of making frantic Friday afternoon - before a long weekend in the snow - trips down the mountain for emergency bunny care was just too stressful to imagine. We certainly did not want to jeopardize the bunnies' health because we could not get medical care in time.

With that in mind, when Max, our 10-year old bunny lost his partner, as difficult as it was, we decided to stick with the plan of "no more bunnies". Max became blind with cataracts and then suffered an e-cuniculli-related stroke which caused him to be confused about where he was. Max would run frantically in circles until his back legs got tangled beneath him and caused him to fall. Seeing him like this was absolutely heartbreaking. We felt if he had a sighted partner he would be more secure and less frightened when he woke up from a nap and did not know where he was. So we put our "no more bunnies" plan on hold and decided to find a helper-rabbit for Max.

We wanted a mature, calm bunny who would be a loving companion for our old guy. Frankie, a bunny who had faced unspeakable adversity, seemed a likely candidate. Frankie had arrived at CO-HRS starving and sporting a huge abscess covering his forehead from ears to nose. Nancy LaRoche spent hours and hours tending to Frankie, gently cleaning his wounds and administering treatments. After many months of medical care, including weekly surgeries to clean his incision, Frankie was declared adoptable. Frankie has an endearing way of insinuating himself on every two and four-legged being he encounters. With a head bump and nose presented, dare I say "shoved", under chin or hand, Frankie demands to be petted, groomed or otherwise acknowledged. He is active and curious with humans and cats but gentle and attentive with little Max. Frankie grooms Max lovingly as if he knows exactly what he needs. Maybe Frankie remembers the love and care he received from Nancy and is now giving that same thing to Max.

Whether cheek-to-cheek or nose-to-toes, they are always together. When Max awakes frightened, Frankie is nearby to lean against him for support and reassurance. Sometimes, I find Frankie lying across Max's back as if to say, "I've got you, brother. Hang in there, bro!"

Our intention is to make them complete "house rabbits" by leaving their cage door open and letting them have run of the house some day soon. We are slowly working our way there and, aside from a couple little accidents on the carpet, we've been marching steadily toward that goal. They are also almost completely litter box trained now - using it almost all the time for everything. Very smart bunnies!

And we are seeing their individual personalities show through - Angus does not like green beans but will do ANYTHING for a piece of parsley and Janet prefers to have the slinky in the water dish. She also has a routine of grooming him every night before bedtime. They are so loving toward each other and quickly becoming very affectionate toward us as well - coming to us and hopping on our laps for some good petting time. They are just blending into our family better and more quickly than we could have ever hoped.

Well, we are happy to say that in the time we have invaded our new home we have become spoiled rotten. We have already trained Mommy and Daddy to make us fresh salads everyday, give us yummy papaya pills and even treat us to the occasional banana slice. We get to live in a huge condo with two floors (one fully carpeted), two bathrooms, stairs, underground parking and even a garage that leads us into our very own bunny lodge! And what a grand lodge it is, since it is equipped with toys galore to keep us busy all day and night long. We even get to go outside to smell the fresh air. Of course, these jaunts are supervised by our human slaves.

We wanted to send you some pictures of us playing. The slaves were not able to catch our binkies, since we are just so fast. We want to thank all the House Rabbit Mommies for taking care of us until we found our forever Mommy and Daddy!

We HOP to see you soon...

Breck and Copper

Then I noticed Buffy starting to get depressed, and she would often cry herself to sleep at night. If you have never heard a bunny cry, it is the most heart-breaking sound you will ever hear! I decided Buffy was in need of a companion, so I took her to Colorado HRS to meet some bachelors. After a few unsuccessful pairings it was love at first sight for Buffy and Emerson. They are inseparable, and love each other whole bunny-heartedly!

Whomever said fairytale love story endings don't exist have never met Buffy and Emerson. They are completely devoted to one another, and are so happy to be together! Little Emerson is quite the character. He loves to dance and run in the living room, and he welcomes me home every evening with a little kiss on the nose!

Thank you for bringing us all together!

Amanda, Buffy and Emerson

Still, the best was yet to be - a roomy 5 story condo cage, toys, treats (never enough of these, but I keep hearing words like "Obesity" and "GI Status"). Amazingly, it wasn't long before I had the run of several rooms and boy, I really took advantage of all that space. LuEllen and Dave think my mad dashes and elaborate happy dances could win awards. Best of all, my new slav...er...humans couldn't seem to get enough time with me!

The only glitch happened the first couple of weeks when my bunny-pal Fiver and I had a tough time sorting out the details of our new relationship. Living with another bunny - morning, noon, and night - was a little more complicated than we first thought. But our humans gave us time, space, and a couple of car rides (they also got a lot of support from Nancy and Rachel at HRS) and before long we had become the best of friends. Now we really are a family and things just get better every day.

Thanks, friends at HRS, for taking care of me until I could get to the family I was made to be part of!

Bunny kisses from Chloe (Joni)

We got Elle from a shelter when she was just a little baby. She was precious; and she is solely responsible for the beginning of what is going to be a very long love affair with bunnies. She introduced me to bunnies and their strong personalities. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have found Oliver. Elle got me involved. She got me looking up ways to be a better bunny mom; and she led me to the Colorado House Rabbit Society. From there, I started volunteering. I brought my husband along to clean bunny cages one bright Saturday; and introduced him around to all of the rabbits. Oliver caught my husband's eye and he fell in love with him! Our next goal was simply to get Elle to feel the same way. If only all arranged marriages could work out so beautifully!

Oliver saw Elle and he was in LOVE. Elle took some convincing. One of the volunteers at the shelter was quite sure she had already chosen her mate - ME! Since that is simply not possible, Nancy helped Elle to decide Oliver was oh-so-much better for her than I could ever be. I am sure Oliver's kind, good-natured, easy-going attitude helped!

My bunnies are complete opposites. I have a sweet, adoring little man of a bunny with a soft demeanor and a charm that could warm even the coldest heart. Whenever company comes over who doesn't really understand my love for my bunnies, I let them hold Oliver. He wins them over every time. Then there is my feisty, busy, Queen Bee of a bunny, Elle. She keeps everyone on her toes, except my adoringly precious Oliver. He takes her antics with a grain of salt. He is truly perfect for her.

Oliver is a light in my life. When I get home from work, he shyly, softly (not really gracefully - Oliver is not graceful) clumps up to me for forehead tickles and reminds me of the importance of unconditional love. He is a good man; and he is doing well. Thank you to Nancy and to everyone who helped with Oliver. Together, Elle and Oliver are my pride and joy. I couldn't have imagined better bunnies.

Sawyer has the softest coat. It took him about six months to fully relax and come out of his shell. I remember the day I finally got a kiss from him! Finn is a major kisser! When I lie on the floor, he grooms my entire face! Talk about love! I am so happy to have the two of them in my home. They bring joy every day.

Moe is my little throw rug! He is so fun! We have had Moe (known as Moses while at HRS) since the summer of 2006. He came with beautiful Sophie, who sadly passed away at Thanksgiving this year. We were all devastated and heart-broken. Fortunately, it didn't take Moe to long to bounce back. The result is that he has bonded more strongly with us. Moe lives upstairs and enjoys his free-range lifestyle. He is very curious and follows right behind us to see what's going on. We have to be very careful not to step on him because he is always underfoot!

Moses jumps up on our bed and hangs out for petting and treats. He's the first bunny to ever take a nap with me! He laid his little head down right next to mine. That was a very special moment with Mr. Moe. And we are hoping to find a great new girlfriend for Moe soon.

In attendance were adoptive family member Mom, Dad, Charlotte, Ben, Adam and Beth - a friend. Thirteen year old Charlotte (mother of the groom) planned the big event for days prior. The petite bride didn't seem to mind wearing a flowing veil adorned with dainty pink silk roses acquired from a Build-a-Bear birthday party.

The handsome, though portly, groom sported a rhinestone-studded white satin bow tie with somewhat less enthusiasm. Though in one of these photos the groom seems to have wedding jitters as he hops away, the couple was joined forever in matrimony. They vowed to love snuggle, and groom each other 'til death do they part.

Following the ceremony, the couple was presented with an elaborate "cake" created by Charlotte and her friend, Beth. This amazing bunn-friendly, three tier non-confection consisted of assorted veggies, and treat tablets. Gracing the top were carved carrot likenesses of two sweet bunnies who warm our hearts each day with their undying love for each other!