The Crazy Rabbit Lady

         There are those, many of you and myself amongst them, who question my sanity.   



Clothilde





        As I was wandering around the Spice Bazaar about a month ago, I fell for the furball pictured above.  I have broken with my tradition of naming pets after ancient kings. Clothilde, however, does sound like a very noble medieval woman.  Viewed from certain angles, it is impossible to see her eyes.  She has grown into a curious and friendly young rabbit who runs to greet me, licks my feet, makes funny little grunting noises.  Her temperament will of course change during adolescence, but will then even out. 

         Three rabbits you say, well, that's a bit eccentric perhaps, but not completely crazy.  But it gets better.  Three days before buying Clothilde, I let Luli and Enkidu meet.  They did their deed.  Luli grew and grew.  Very early Sunday morning, she gave birth to seven.  At first I counted nine, but realized my mistake. 

          Rabbit kits are born blind, bald and deaf.  They look like chewed gum, all pink and fragile, and can fit in the palm of my hand. (Oddly, unless she is overly stressed, a rabbit mother will not reject her kits if they have human scent on them .) Some of them have grey skin where their fur will be darker.  Yesterday, they developed a fine, peach fuzz all over.  All of them will clearly have floppy ears, and their tails are disproportionately long because they're bald.   For such challenged creatures, they are quite active.  They blindly squirm their way into the middle of the ball formed by their own bodies to reach the warmest spot.  The blanket of Luli's floor covering them moves as if by itself.  Possibly the best part is their tiny squeek toy voices.

     You may ask, what will I do with seven more rabbits?  A few might already be claimed. otherwise, I have six weeks until they're weaned to figure it out. 



It's nearly impossible to get a clear picture of the nest.  This is the best I could do.