Licorice

Here are some photos of Licorice (the bunny formerly known as Rascal) in his new home. We have been enjoying him tremendously -- he is a very loving, sweet, special rabbit.

His main pen is a wire enclosure under Meg's loft bed. He has an area roughly 3x6 ft to hop around in. We have his litter box, two rugs, his towel, and a big waterproof sheet under it all. He seems to like it -- he's usually stretched out in a corner watching the household through the door. The cats come by once in a while to say 'hi' and he hops right over to them. There are no cords in the room, so we can leave his pen door open while my daughter is up there. He likes to hop around and always explores her closet for a bit. I like to put him on my older daughter's bed in the morning to wake her up -- he hops on her to her head and nuzzles her face -- she is totally delighted by her bunny-alarm clock.

His litter habits have been great -- all urine in the box, some droppings outside, which we just sweep up and use as fertilizer in our flower garden. We have a bale of hay, and he gets fresh vegetables, fruit, crabapple leaves and branches and long stalks of fresh grass. His favorite is organic kale. He does not like arugula. Meg feeds him a bowl of vegetables every morning and evening -- remembers herself -- plus he gets a mid-day snack of strawberry tops or other fruit -- he loves bananas, apples and grapes, especially the stems. People have commented on our healthy grocery cart, especially seeing all the kale, then they feel better when we tell them it's for our rabbit. We've started to pick lettuce and peas for him from an organic garden nearby. We've planted carrots for him, and their tiny tops are coming up. When they're ready, we are going to put his outdoor enclosure around the area and let him eat and dig them up himself -- the girls are so looking forward to this.

If it's a nice day, I put up his outdoor pen, which is 3 ft high, with an outside litter box (I'm thinking I want him to consistently use a box). He likes eating our lawn grass and clover (we don't use chemicals) and stretches out in the shade. I'm either out there in the garden, or I have our dog, Shadow out there with him, and they lie close to each other and he alerts me to any cat approaching.

In addition to our daughter's room upstairs, we have a little rug and litter box for when he's hopping around downstairs -- usually the afternoon and evenings. He checks out all the corners (I close off the rooms with cords), then settles on his rug and eats a snack or chews on a branch. He also likes to sit on a little ottoman we have near the other pets' beds -- we call it his little tuffet. It really delights the girls' friends to come over and have a rabbit hopping around. He's a smart rabbit -- he was interested in cords when he first came, but no longer -- he's definitely prefers crabapple branches and grapevines. He seems to really like his upstairs pen -- looks relaxed and keeps it very clean, hops back in on his own after he's been out. His fur is very soft, sleek, no bare patches. He came with a few uneven patches on his back, but they've smoothed over. He eats everything we give him, plus a lot of hay, and his weight is steady. He's very mellow -- mildly curious, likes to hop around a bit, but not constantly -- he explores, then lounges. He seems to "know" our house well and has a few favorite spots. Very, very gentle with all of us. He's gone in to show and tell in our daughters' kindergarten and pre-school classrooms, and he just sat on his rug or hopped over to children who were holding carrots for him. He let everyone pet him -- the kids were sweet and gentle. Our youngest's pre-school teacher is also a bunny enthusiast and Licorice completed a unit on carrots (seeds, planting, washing, reading "The Carrot Seed"). She was blown away by how extraordinarily gentle and mellow he is.

Anyway, he's just become a great member of our family, and it seems very natural to have him with us. Thank you and his foster family for taking such good care of him and teaching him such good manners. And, I so appreciate your care in making the match for our family -- he's just perfect for us. Lots of people comment on his very soft fur and ask what breed he is -- do you know? He's just a very special rabbit, and we couldn't have asked for a better introduction to caring for a bunny. The reward is just terrific.