Rene.

It shouldn’t have been his time to go, having only turned four this June, but alas he is gone.

I remember the first time I saw Larry. It was at fair in 2006; my first year of rabbit 4-H. He was still a baby, caged with his two brothers. My friend Mary was the owner, and she had named them after the Three Stooges; Larry, Mo, and Curly Joe. Originally he was Curly Joe, but we changed the names because I already had a horse named Joe, and we didn’t want it to be confusing. He grew into a very nice young buck, and he was the sweetest boy. Probably one of my quirkiest rabbits too. I can’t tell you how many times he made me laugh.

The next year at fair, I remember holding him in my arms, waiting for Fit and Show to start. He was so exhausted from the strange noises and fire works that go on at the fair, that he took comfort being in my arms and fell asleep. I had never had an animal fall asleep so completely in my arms before. I was so content to just hold him, that when I had to wake him up, I felt bad. I would’ve let him stay like that as long as he wanted, if I was able.
Later during fair, I was holding him in my lap at the petting area; a circle of hay bales for us to bring our rabbits out for the public to pet. After about 5 minutes of this, he decided he had to go, and all of a sudden I felt something warm and wet on my pants. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he had peed on me where it looked like I had peed myself. It was so embarrassing. Luckily, my friend had a change of clothes I could borrow, so I wasn’t humiliated for long.

During this same year, I bought a female Himalayan, who I named Lily. The following year, they had a beautiful litter of six. I remember feeling so proud for them, even though I had been the matchmaker, and I’m sure Larry wasn’t even aware that those babies were his. But nonetheless, I would hold up one of those tiny kits to his cage door and let him smell it, saying what a proud daddy he should be.

I love walking into my rabbitry and seeing all of those fuzzy animals. They all have their own personalities and habits. Larry had a few to name. One of my favorites, and probably the one that I’ll miss the most was the way he’d sit up on his haunches, and place his front feet on the cage wiring quite a ways up. Then he’d cock his head to the side a bit, and that’s how he’d stay until I came to the cage. It was as if he was saying ‘I see you! Do you see me? Come pet me!” And when I would open his door, he’d make sure he was right there, sticking his nose out for me to pet. He loved being stroked from nose to forehead. He would stay there for hours if you continued to pet him, just about falling asleep in the process. On some days he’d have a lot of spunk and jump around the cage, making little grunting noises.

I am sad to say that this year I have lost a number of rabbits. A couple were sick, and a couple died from old age. For others, it was just the appropriate thing to do. For Larry, I believe it was his time, and although I have had many a rabbit’s death to deal with, he was the first one that I ever witnessed. I have never seen one of my adult rabbits laying dead in their cages (or seen them being euthanised by the vet) and I have never had to bury one. That is, not until today.

Goodbye Larry. You’re in a better place now..

I figure I should take this time to also remember a few other rabbits that have passed away, that I haven’t mentioned anything of. This year I have lost Torrey, Snuggles, Lily, Opie, and Autumn, as well as Larry. Torrey and Snuggles got sick and had to be put down. Lily and Opie both had personality issues; Lily chewed the fur off of her feet to the point that they were raw (I tried everything to fix it) and Opie, would rub the fur off of his face, and spray so that the rest of his coat was sticky and gross (no amount of baths can clean that). It was the appropriate thing for them to be put down as well. Autumn and Larry both passed away because it was their time to go.

Torrey - Daughter of Autumn and Valentino. My beautiful baby that won a Best of Breed and a Best Opposite at only 3 months of age. She was from the first litter I ever had. She lived to be 5 years old, and through that time, she was one of my most special bunnies. I’ll never forget the way she’d always be waiting at the door for me, and how she’d come up and nuzzle me, sometime even licking my face. We’d play a game where I’d say her name really excitedly and she’d spin around in her cage a few times, come up and give me a bunny kiss, and then we’d do it again. She and I had a strong bond. I’ll never forget her (and her cute little airplane ears).

Snuggles - Daughter of Poppy and Valentino. My larger-than-should-be holland lop. She started out as the runt of the litter, and was so small that her siblings just pushed her out of the way. I brought her inside where she would eat her fill, and then I’d hold her. Her favorite place was to rest on my shoulder, snuggling up to my neck (hence her name). I remember one time we brought her to a show to keep an eye on her while the other bunnies got judged. It was a bit cold that day, and she was shivering, so I put her in my coat pocket, where she picked up the name “Pocket Bunny.” As she got older, she grew and grew to the point where she was a third larger than her mom. Even as a larger rabbit, she still loved snuggling into my neck when I held her. She had the softest Holland Lop fur I have ever felt. I’ll miss that girl.

Lily - Bought from my friend Mary. Larry’s lovely girlfriend. She was always the skinniest little bunny. Although that is just how the Himalayan breed is, she was always so petite. And when she was pregnant, you could hardly tell. I was so surprised when she produced six babies. Six! I thought she had maybe two. She was always a very sweet rabbit, although very shy. It was only the last year I had her that she started coming up to the cage door more often. I always felt bad because she felt the need to chew her feet. I tried so many things, but in the end I could see she was miserable. My little Lily, you were beautiful.

Opie - Son of Caprice and Pudge. He was the most adorable little boy growing up. Everyone loved him; from his disposition to his looks. That boy was the spitting image of his father, Pudge (aside from being a different color). I used to nickname him Toad as a baby, because Caprice loved feeding him so much, his belly stretched out so far that he looked like a little toad. It was cute.

Autumn - A gift from a friend. She was such a great mother to her babies, and a easy-going rabbit too. She’d always be up at the cage door, with her nose pressed against it, waiting for me. I’d give her a kiss right on the nose, where she’d either stay there and make this ‘mm’ sound (kind of a grunty noise), or she’d pull away, shake her head, and press her nose into the cage for another one. She was one of my oldest rabbits, living to the age of 5 1/2. I’m sad to say that she passed away while I was on my way home from Europe. I’ll never forget how sweet she was.

RIP every one of you. You’ll all be missed.