Featured Friend: Charlie Brown

Every couple of weeks I hope to share the story of one of the foster bunnies.  This week I have chosen a sweet old guy who claimed my heart the minute he came into rescue.

Mr. Charlie Brown

 

Background-

Charlie was in a home with a family for 10 years until the kids went off to college. Then he was given to a head start program where (we were told) the children under the age of 5 would torture him, we believe one way was to poke him with pencils.  This went on for about 2 years before someone took him home. He was then kept for a few months on their porch before turning Charlie over to the rescue. 

Health-

Charlie has splay  legs which is probably due to a birth defect.  He is also battling an enlarged heart with fluid building around it. He will remain on medication for his heart issues and this also means he's anemic. Poor Charlie's troubles continue as he was recently diagnosed with having 3 parasites.  We believe this would account for his loss and inability to gain weight even though he eats all the time.  A mass has also been discovered on his liver.

Personality-

Despite all his health concerns, Charlie craves attention and enjoys snuggling with people. His favorite activity is to snuggle with his foster mom while she plays Scrabble on her Kindle.

My experience with Charlie- Charlie is a lover, hence how easily he has stolen my heart.  He will come over and snuggle with me when I put him in the playpen. Charlie rests his  head on my arm due to his splay legs which keeps him from being able to hold his head up for long periods. He will then quickly fall fast asleep.  One of my absolute favorite things in life is a bunny falling asleep in my arms.  It is such a rewarding and peaceful moment to know they trust you enough to go to sleep.  That is a true sign of that a bunny loves you.  Especially for a bunny who has been through so much in his life to feel that safe around people.  Charlie is a gentile old man who has been through a lot in his 12 years.  His 13th birthday will be March 20th.   We hope he continues to progress so we can throw him a big celebration. He deserves it!  

A busy day at the rescue

Today was a busy day at the rescue with lots of volunteers helping the foster bunnies.  From this rabbit educator's perspective, this was a beautiful sight and so many things happened today to brighten these dear rabbits' lives.  We were even lucky enough to have a couple of teenage volunteers who came and made toys for the fosters.  I will post pictures and more details on the "Toy Box" page soon. With several volunteers there today many of the rabbits were able to play and get socialization time.  These bunnies were lucky enough to enjoy the company of caring humans today: Charlie Brown, Malani, the sisters (Esme and Gytha), Dallas, Pepper Potts, Honey Bunny, Gyro, Rumpke, and Owena.  I did fail to get pictures of these socialization sessions because I was either with a rabbit or gathering additional information for the blog.  I promise to take more photographs at future visits.

Today I was able to spend time with a couple of bunnies by myself.  Of course, as soon as I got there I tried to snuggle with Mr. Charlie Brown but he was not feeling it today.  Even after Mary putting him right next to me, he promptly turned an hopped away.  My best guess is that he was upset that I was playing Boggle on my iPad and not Scrabble.  He LOVES to snuggle while people are playing Scrabble and I messed up his routine. I was a bad bunny friend.  Though, I did redeem myself later by attempting to snuggle with him on the couch.  Damon tried to get Charlie to come to him because he was playing Words, but Charlie proudly came to me.  We snuggled about 25 minutes on the couch. He slept peacefully as I carefully rubbed his head.  More information will be posted about Charlie Brown soon as he will be my featured friend this week.

Charlie Brown and I snuggling on the couch. 

I was also able to sit by Gyro's pen and rub her head for quite a while today.  Gyro is a bit of an "odd bird" but we love her for that.  As a baby she would almost always lay upside down like she didn't have an internal gyroscope (hence the name, Gyro). Now, as nearly a "teen" (in bunny years, of course) she still has some silly antics.  Gyro is definitely showing signs of becoming a people bunny but wants NOTHING to do with her siblings.  In the past, she has mildly injured two sisters when they got too close to her pen during playtime.  Though, she gets all of her energy and attitude honestly from her mother, Cleo, as my friend Andrea can attest.  ;) And to be honest... she's always been my favorite of Cleo's babies. Shhh! Please don't tell the others. :)

Miss Gyro 

More pictures from days visit will be added soon. Waiting for my photographer to finish his day job first before he can start on my "to do" list. 

Welcome to my blog!

I have been a bunny mom since 2005 and am currently a bunny mom to three. Recently, I became an educator for the House Rabbit Society and have been volunteering for a local rescue for almost 5 years now.  When I'm not caring for bunnies, I am following my first passion as a primary teacher.  I am a self -proclaimed geek who loves to learn and teach/help others. So, no surprise that I spend most of my time teaching/learning from my students and the bunnies in my life.  

My plan for this blog is that it is a place for learning about and celebrating in the joys of house rabbits.  I will post lots of fun stories, pictures, moments of the lives of house rabbits as well as educational information.  I am by no means a rabbit expert and am learning as I go. If you're interested in learning more about house rabbits, I encourage you to visit the House Rabbit Society website (www.rabbit.org).  

I hope you enjoy reading future posts about our bunny babies, Mo, Louie, and Theo, too, as well as posts about other things bunny related.  

So, for visiting our page and saying hello, here's some cuteness to make you smile.  Welcome, new friend!