Ball and Chain

I am currently looking after three rabbits for a friend.  It's a short walk away and involves opening the run in the morning, and closing it at night.  No problem.  The favour is recipicated.  But our rabbits are free range.  This means they need someone to be in the house when they are out and about.  The alterative is for them to be stuck in the hutch 24/7.

Holes in the lawn

I didn't think I would worry much about the few, unimportant plants in our garden, including the grass.  Yesterday I put a dissuading brick down the new hole being dug under our lawn.  Margaret, as she came in doors, wondered why we only seemed to have one rabbit.  She moved the brick, and out jumped an angry rabbit.  It had been stuck down it's hole for about an hour.

So on with the battle of the lawn.  and where is that Leicester fox?

Chapter Two - Rabbits

Time passes and the brain grows dull.  Elizabeth's friend's rabbit had a surprise litter of kits.  The sun was shining, the birds singing in the trees.  We visited the rabbits.  Small rabbits have a way of appearing harmless.

What I have learned.
Rabbits will eat almost everything.  They don't eat daffodils, so there is some colour in our garden at the moment.  Otherwise they have systematically cut every living thing off at ground level.  The clematis has died, the passion flower, the rose bushes.

The vet tells me that hysterectomies come as standard for female rabbits.  Yes and at a price.  I decide our rabbits will still have the wild element left intact.  The rabbits say this means they will dig up our lawn.

Our lawn mower has broken down.  At last, the rabbits have a function.  Sure enough they are excellent at keeping the grass short,....and now the moss and buttercups are taking charge.  Rabbits do not eat moss or buttercups.  I guess a bit of yellow in the summer will be pleasant.

All of life under one roof

They say it is inevitable that after children, there are pets.  From the age of one, my oldest daughter was looking for dogs when ever we were out of the house.  Indeed, 'dog' was one of her first words, but it took a while for her to realise that for most people, having a dog is a choice.  So she began her campaign to acquire pets.  Soon she had an ally in her younger sister.  Her parents were not keen on the idea, not even a hamster.

Chapter One - Gerbils

It is amazing to live close to another life form, that never seems to worry about the things I get exhausted by.  I went with my girls to choose two brother gerbils.  They were very sweet.  I am reminded of the wild gerbils I saw as a child in the Iran desert.  Peter and I were with our parents visiting Persepolis, a world heritage site.  In stead of being captivated by the drama of King Xerxes Rock cut tomb, we were transfixed by little desert gerbils, scurrying about in the dust.

What we did not think about was that young gerbils love to nibble holes in everything they touch.  Young children are not bothered about this, and there is a synergy between the two.  For parents this is a nightmare.  Brand new clothes reduced to shreds in minutes.

Gerbils are quite domesticated and defecate in the prescribed container.  However, to avoid the smell, we add chinchilla sand.  This they love to dig in, spraying the sand out of the cage.  Before you know it, socks have picked up stray gerbil poo, and you've guessed it, next thing you know you found it in your bed.