Want to make your kids really, really, happy this Valentine’s Day? See if your local animal shelter is having a bunny event today. February is Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month so lots of shelters are hosting Valentine’s Day happenings. It’s Love Somebunny at the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society (DPVHS) here in western Massachusetts , but you can find some bunny love near you here.
“I can’t believe we have a bunny,” my daughter said over and over again on the ride home with Chocolate Chip a year ago. She’s still saying it today and with only slightly less awe and reverence. Rabbits command that somehow, and deep adoration. What provokes such bunny love?
“It’s the ears,” says my friend Hans Teensma, book and magazine designer and serial bunny owner.
“They have awesome ears,” says Sandy Riggs, who says her three rabbits are “curious, affectionate, mischievous – and very soft.”
“Curious and affectionate,” agrees DPVHS adoption counselor Jane Rosazza, “and wildly entertaining. They also help me stay in shape because I have my fridge stocked with fruits and veggies that me and my bun can enjoy together.”
“When I look into the eyes of my two bunny girls, I see trust and love,” says Betsy Alden who’s on the board at Dakin. “Rabbits are very timid and nervous and so you must handle them carefully and hold them close so they don’t feel fearful. They ask very little, need very little, and are just lovely to be around.”
“They’re smart,” says children’s book author Lynne Bertrand. “And the smart thing leads to mischief. When our rabbit is having a slow day, he’ll wait till the dogs are near his area and then deliver a sledge-hammer thump, which even makes me jump at the other end of the house. The dogs throw hair everywhere and scatter like cowards and I find them later under the beds. I swear the rabbit is looking at me with his smart eye going, ‘That, plus I’m cute.’”
I’ve got to admit, Chip is a much bigger, more gratifying presence in our household than I expected a bunny could be. As soon as I’ve gotten rid of The Others to school and work in the morning, and before settling down in front of the computer, I do two things. Refill my coffee and let the bunny out of her crate.
Having her nibble on my Uggs (she rejects bunny slippers, likes socks, loves Uggs and bare toes) makes it so much easier to stay seated and resist the laundry, dishes, cuticles…
The dogs are all guilt (walk me walk me the sun is shining shouldn’t you be outside? I want that toast crust, didn’t you hear me the first 500 times I asked?). The cats are fickle (oh I love your lap, I hate your lap, I love your lap and so on). Bunny is happy to roam this room. Lick my toe, chew the dog’s ear, do a twisty leap across the floor, stretch out in the sun, yawn, stand up on her hind legs, wiggle her nose, and repeat. She’s a great bunny for kids because she actually seems to love being held and having her ears stroked.
Many rabbits, though, are quite timid, as Betsy Alden says. Another friend at the shelter says it’s because they are “nature’s Cheerios,” prey for everyone out there. So you want to talk with the folks at your shelter about individual bunny personalities. And you want to talk with your kids about respecting the nature of the particular beast. In many ways this is the beauty of a bunny as a pet, how much it teaches kids in that regard. No one talks about this better than Ann Hodgman (no one talks about much better than Ann Hodgman come to think of it), so check out her article at Wondertime. If you get serious about bringing a bunny home, everything you need to know is in there.
Now, no bunny piece would be complete without the obligatory Fatal Attraction mention, so here it is. If you deeply hate Valentine’s Day indulge yourself deeply: Get some salted caramels and a really peaty Scotch, rent Fatal Attraction, and watch it — fast-forwarding past the bunny part, of course.
On the other hand if you deeply love the fact that Valentine’s Day is now less about fighting for a reservation at an overpriced restaurant and more about fighting over that last pack of red construction paper at Target, then forget the trite heart crafts and cakes and make some Love Bunnies with your kids (to celebrate the newest member of your family perhaps?).
Check out the Bunny cupcakes at FamilyFun here. Fluffer bunnies here. Bunny valentines here. Clay bunnies here.
lisa stiepock
The former editor of the former Wondertime magazine, Lisa has spent 20-some years reporting, writing, and editing in the fields of kids, nature, travel, and animals both wild and domestic. She lives in a woodland cabin in western Massachusetts with her husband, 9-year-old ...
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