Easter is a week away and so Bunnies are on my mind. Our garden in Iowa is home to wild rabbits passing through or taking up residence. In the early years, when we had feisty outdoor cats, they would harass rabbits on a daily basis, catching their babies to torture and kill and I would try to rescue them but to no avail. Now our cats are soft indoor animals and critters outside roam free. One of the rabbits became ‘our’ rabbit. While a youth, he was attacked by something and one of his rear legs was badly broken. We expected him to be picked off quickly due to his infirmity, but he managed to keep surviving in the wild, hopping through our yard, one leg dangling. After a few months, we started rooting for him - admiring his survival skills - enjoying having a bunny of our own without the upkeep. He survived the winter bigger and healthier than before, traversing our garden on his three good legs. Eventually we no longer saw him, but still found ourselves looking for him every day.
My family had multiple encounters with bunnies over the years, beginning with three baby bunnies that Mom got it into her head to give my little sisters one Easter. I had a friend in school who was in 4-H and had baby bunnies to give away. They were black
eared Australian rabbits (-who really cared about the breed – they were Easter BUNNIES!!!) My friend checkedtheir rear ends and assured us that they were all the same sex so there would be no undesirable consequences. There was much squealing and joyousness for the first week. Then continual searches for wayward critters that had somehow ‘got loose’, we followed trails of bunny poops up and down the hallway to determine their destinations. It wasn’t long before they were ensconced in a nice hutch built by dad and located behind the rumpus room, out sight - out of sound - out of smell. Interestingly enough, there were soon more baby bunnies -the ‘same sexed’ parents seemed capable of breeding no matter what combinations we put them in. We were overwhelmed by the nuisance of continual birthing combined with no destination for the produce, since we didn’t eat them. So eventually they disappeared as many undesirable pets do when they have worn out their welcome. Later on Mom tried ducks thinking they would eat the bugs in our swimming pool, they did and in their place left duck ‘floaters’…..our dog loved chasing them around the back yard, they didn’t last long - soon travelling off to happy duckland. Mom was a sucker for the pet longings of her kids, we had lizards, rats, hamsters, fish, cats, dogs, horses, almost a goat, ducks and of course numerous rabbits. Later on - since we had the hutch already - a younger sister finagled 
getting ONE rabbit, a very big albino named ’Flower’. We all had unpleasant encounters with him. He often got loose at night running at large with his pink eyes glowing evilly in the darkness and making a harrumph gruuuummmph noise as he hopped in our direction. I worked nights as a waitress during his time at our home and had to be quick to get across the backyard to the pool house where I slept, lest Flower catch up with me. I should have kicked him, but was too much of a pacifist in those days. He would squirt us at will especially when feeding him and I confess that I occasionally turned the hose on him in retaliation. No matter how hard we try, we can’t quite wipe the memory of Flower off.
My family had multiple encounters with bunnies over the years, beginning with three baby bunnies that Mom got it into her head to give my little sisters one Easter. I had a friend in school who was in 4-H and had baby bunnies to give away. They were black
eared Australian rabbits (-who really cared about the breed – they were Easter BUNNIES!!!) My friend checkedtheir rear ends and assured us that they were all the same sex so there would be no undesirable consequences. There was much squealing and joyousness for the first week. Then continual searches for wayward critters that had somehow ‘got loose’, we followed trails of bunny poops up and down the hallway to determine their destinations. It wasn’t long before they were ensconced in a nice hutch built by dad and located behind the rumpus room, out sight - out of sound - out of smell. Interestingly enough, there were soon more baby bunnies -the ‘same sexed’ parents seemed capable of breeding no matter what combinations we put them in. We were overwhelmed by the nuisance of continual birthing combined with no destination for the produce, since we didn’t eat them. So eventually they disappeared as many undesirable pets do when they have worn out their welcome. Later on Mom tried ducks thinking they would eat the bugs in our swimming pool, they did and in their place left duck ‘floaters’…..our dog loved chasing them around the back yard, they didn’t last long - soon travelling off to happy duckland. Mom was a sucker for the pet longings of her kids, we had lizards, rats, hamsters, fish, cats, dogs, horses, almost a goat, ducks and of course numerous rabbits. Later on - since we had the hutch already - a younger sister finagled 
getting ONE rabbit, a very big albino named ’Flower’. We all had unpleasant encounters with him. He often got loose at night running at large with his pink eyes glowing evilly in the darkness and making a harrumph gruuuummmph noise as he hopped in our direction. I worked nights as a waitress during his time at our home and had to be quick to get across the backyard to the pool house where I slept, lest Flower catch up with me. I should have kicked him, but was too much of a pacifist in those days. He would squirt us at will especially when feeding him and I confess that I occasionally turned the hose on him in retaliation. No matter how hard we try, we can’t quite wipe the memory of Flower off.
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