Harvey vs. Balloon

[Whiterabbitrage]

Has anyone out there seen this behavior before??

Someone gave me a balloon so I tied it to a rock to keep it from floating away and to lower it to Harvey's height. I thought she might be amused by having a strange new object to explore. However except for giving it the occasional Stink Eye, she avoided it at first. ( I only let her near it when she was under constant supervision)

After a week or so, she started doing something so strange! She would stalk the balloon, like a cat, low down, creeping slowly forward, then BAM! She would leap, grabbing the string in midair, and race away at top speed, dragging the balloon! The first time it happened we thought the string had gotten caught in her teeth. But after over a dozen times, I can say for sure that Harvey knows what she is doing.

This was the behavior: stalk balloon, if it looks good then grab and run! After a speedy race around living room throw balloon to one side and dodge to the other side and finish run. Has anyone seen this behavior?! I tried sooooo hard to get a recording, but she would stalk the balloon many times without grabbing it. And some days she wouldn't bother with playing with it at all. Really want a video of this behavior!! She looks hilarious racing around dragging a balloon.

Yesterday was the last day. Harvey had it out with Mr. Balloon. I was moving the balloon a bit, trying to interest her in it ( her interest in Mr Balloon waned as his helium depleted. Ever since he was nearly flat and no longer floated, she didn't bother playing with him anymore) so I was moving it just a bit to get her interested, and bam! Harvey snatched the balloon, sort of pinned it down with her back feet, and was boxing it with her front feet. It didn't seem like frightened boxing, like she used to box the broom before she got used to it, it seemed playful. I tried to give her a craisin as a reward for interacting with the balloon. It would be great to keep the balloon interactions going until I can get videos. BUT SHE DIDNT TAKE THE CRAISIN. Instead she grabbed the deflated, pulverized bit of Mylar that used to be Mr. Balloon, and ran off with it! Ran to her room!

Has anyone ever had a rabbit bring something back to their territory?!

I went after her and she was in the far corner, boxing the balloon again. Talked to her and offered the craisin and this time she took it, but then grabbed the balloon right after and hauled it under her chaise lounge. Was she hiding it for later??? I've never seen her do this! I diverted her and dug the balloon out. Obviously she should be tempted to chew on it later. But wow! What a weird thing to see.

So has anyone seen anything like this? It was more like a dog than a rabbit. Why would she hide the balloon?!

 

[RavenousDragon]

I had a deaf and blind rabbit (spayed female) who would hump balloons until they popped. It was pretty hilarious- and the only thing I've ever seen her hump in the time I had her. My rabbits both will take items they have decided are theirs (inevitably something they shouldn't chew) into their cages if they can make it that far. A week before Christmas, my Whiskey decided he really wanted to open one of his 'daddy's' presents and stole it and dragged it all the way up to the third level of his cage before we could catch him. It's so funny when they do that.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Thank you!!! I had no idea rabbits would do this! It's hilarious!! And your female bun that humped balloons until they popped, oh man!!! Too bad you didn't record your that. That would have been a sight to see! Thank you so much for your info

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Hey!! Just managed a vid! Finally after all this time!! Does anyone know how to upload a video to this site?

 

[Watermelons]

Youtube? Never tried actually adding a video before 😁 i have to see this

 

[stevesmum]

You must share this video, it sounds absolutely hilarious!

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

https://youtu.be/-_u6_H10nP4

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-_u6_H10nP4[/ame]

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Sorry took a couple tries. Both links are the same vid. Hope you guys enjoy

 

[Ivythelionhead]

Aweee!!! What a silly bunny.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Commander Bun-Bun wold attack any ball rolled on the floor and pop them--except the tennis ball. Ted, our big lop used to love to fetch wicker balls--I'd roll it on the floor and he would fetch it and bring it back and drop it by my feet so I could roll it, again and again. Bunnies are strange!

 

[bunnyman666]

Trix used to play kill the doo rag.

I have watched Harvey steal the balloon several times. It never gets old!

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Wish all you guys with weird buns could have gotten vids. I would have loved to watch them all! Thank goodness technology is evolving.

We tried Harvey with balls of all sizes and types and she has no interest. You were lucky Nancy! A rabbit that played fetch, that's so cool.

I thought of you and Trix the other day Bunnyman, when Harvey grabbed her balloon and beat it up with her front feet. I thought of Trixie and her doo rag!

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

https://youtu.be/RzrPNtSijR0

 

[ravenmoore36]

Our bunnies have babies much as a little girl has dolls. 2 of them are interactive. Move and make rabbit noises. The smaller of the 2 is the size of a baby bunny. Our boy will activate the bunny by licking or doing that paw flappy thing they do. Then he will run round the room circling the toy then binky a bit before laying down with it.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Ravenmoore!! Where did you get those toy bunny dolls! I've got to get one too. They sound so cool!

 

[ravenmoore36]

We had an independant toy shop . i got the interactive toy bunnies in a closing sale few years ago.

 

[RavenousDragon]

My Whiskey has two stuffed animals that he loves dearly. They don't make noise or anything, but he will try to carry them around (they are too large for him to carry successfully), he grooms them almost to the point of obsession (the one we call Schrodinger is crusty and gross from saliva most of the time), and he even puts them in his little 'house' when it's cold out. if he can't find one (e.g. when we are washing them) he gets very upset and sad. It's pretty darn adorable. He even knows their names and will find either Schrodinger or Pavlov when asked to do so!

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Dragon are you kidding me?! This is so cool. The pet store out here was a having a sale last year and I wanted to buy Harvey a little stuffed Yoda, but I figured she would just chew it up. What kind of stuffed animals do you use? I mean are they for kids or dogs? And doesn't your rabbit shred it? Harvey loves to shred carpet. I'm afraid Harvey would chew the the toy and end up with a blockage. Can you please, please post pictures of the stuffed animals you use? And tell me where you got them? I want to try this but want to play it as safe as possible.

P.S. I really like the names of your stuffed animals! Especially Schrodinger. Very funny and cool names.

 

[RavenousDragon]

Of course Whiskey is blurry (he was quite upset I took his stuffies out of his cage and put them on the floor next to him! He had to make sure they were both ok). But the pumpkin (Schrodinger) is a dog toy (from Petsmart), and the frog (Pavlov) is a kid toy (one of my old ones, I have NO idea where it's from). He has never tried to chew them up, just lick them to death (he does try to destroy other things- he even used to tear up carpet before we got on him big time for it, but we decided to give him a stuffed animal because whenever one fell on the ground he had to run to it and groom it). We just make sure they don't have actual eyeballs (I'm terrified he's going to chew one off and swallow it). I would start with maybe supervised visit with said stuffed animal and see if he tries to chew it or groom it or ignore it (my other rabbit has her own stuffed animal but ignores it completely, and all my previous rabbits just ignored stuffed animals).