Bunnicula's Story

I was purchased as wee bun along with my first wife, by the brother of one of Mama's friends. My first owner did not have time for us, so he gave us to his sister, Mama's friend. After a couple of months, Mama's friend realized that her children did not play with us very much so she offered us up for adoption. Mama had always wanted bunnies, so she asked Daddy if they could take us. Daddy wasn't so sure at first, but Mama begged so Daddy gave in. He said that she could have us as long as he got to name me Bunnicula after one of his favorite book characters who just happens to be a rabbit.

When I was about 4 months old, my former wife and I came to live with Mama, Daddy, a doggy sister, and 2 little hooman siblings. The third hooman sibling came just a few months later. The hooman siblings ended up naming my former wife Pumpernickel. She was all black and they thought the word sounded fun.

Pumpernickel and I were not used to being indoor bunnies. We found it much more to our liking. No pesky bugs and the temperature was always right. Plus Mama set up a pen for us in the then unused dining room, and we had more room to bounce than in our old cage. Mama even started litter box training us which was quite interesting.

Mama took us to the exotic pet vet for a check up and learned that we had ear mites and were reaching (or had reached) sexual maturity. The first issue was easily remedied with some ear drops. The second issue required surgery which Mama agreed to since she thought we would be happier being able to stay together. She didn't want any baby bunnies. The surgery was arranged and everything went well. After a week or so of recovery, Pumpernickel and I were able to go back to sharing the same pen and no longer had to cuddle through the bars.

We lived happily for another 2.5 years. Then one evening, Pumpernickel died. I'm not sure why and neither do the hoomans. She seemed fine and then she was dead. The thing about us rabbits is that we are prey animals, and we tend to hide our illnesses well. We don't want predators to know when we might be sick or injured. The hoomans were sad. I was much sadder. You see, rabbits mate for life. Pumpernickel was my whole world. The hoomans showered me with extra attention and built me a brand new condo, but I missed my buddy.

Mama did some research and decided she needed to find me a new mate. She found the Georgia House Rabbit Society and made me an appointment for bunny speed dating. I was really shy about going on a date. I didn't want to interact with any of the girl buns they put me with. The match maker said that is a good sign with rabbits though. One girl bunny was really persistent. Her name was Rosa and she liked Mama right away. Mama agreed to a trial bonding. I did not like Rosa. She came on too strong. After several weeks, it looked like we could learn to get along. We even bonded for a short while. Although Rosa's assertiveness turned me off and I began to fight with her. Four months into the bonding process (which is long), Mama and the match maker decided to try a new girl with me. I was happy. Mama and the hoomans were sad since they seemed to love Rosa. They said she was more like a dog than a rabbit and very outgoing. That is probably why I didn't like her as much.

When we got back to the rabbit center, the match maker put me with a boy bunny first. He was black and reminded me of Pumpernickel. I liked him. Then I was introduced to Cleo and I thought she was okay too. The match maker and Mama decided it was probably safer to go with a girl bun since boy-girl bonds are much more common and often easier to achieve. That's when Cleo came home with us. I was really nervous around Cleo at first. She is a little assertive too, all girl bunnies are, but she isn't dominant like Rosa was. After a week, I allowed Cleo to share my space. We have been together ever since. We just celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago.