Natasha Rabbitova's 2012-13 Blog

[MikeScone]

Natasha's made the cut on Disapproving Rabbits again - she was the rabbit of the day on June 18th - you can see it here.

Natasha disapproves of the whole thing, of course.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Aww, she's so funny! And she definitely looks disapproving there, haha.

 

[MikeScone]

I went down to Long Island for my father's 90th birthday this past weekend. My parents can't travel any more, so while they'd been upstate a few times many years ago while Scone was still alive, neither of them had met their "grandbunny" Natasha. I wasn't sure how Natasha would handle the five hour drive or the strange surroundings, but she was fine. Natasha didn't eat much on the trip, although she would take a sip of water now and then. I kept her travel cage on the passenger seat so I could talk to her as we drove, and I don't think she was too stressed out.

I set up an x-pen for her in the kitchen, where she could see everyone and be part of goings-on - but at the same time, she couldn't get at anything which wasn't bunny-proofed.

I made sure she had plenty of things from home so it wouldn't seem too strange. The floor mats are from my kitchen, and of course I brought Natasha's dishes and water cooler.

Natasha's stuffed friends Butter and Borders came along for the ride, too.

I gave her dinner as soon as we arrived, and she chowed down right away. By the next morning her appetite was completely normal.

I'd forgotten to bring Natasha's litter box, but pretty quickly she figured out the carry cage would work just as well...

My parents made a big deal out her, and by the end of the visit Natasha was sitting happily in my arms while my mother stroked her head. All in all, a successful visit.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Oh congrats on his 90th birthday! I'm glad Natasha handled the trip well. Has she ever traveled with you much before? I'm asking this because we are going to go up to Maine or another state close to there and we are planning on taking Ash. I don't want him to get very stressed out though.

 

[Tauntz]

Sounds like a wonderful visit!!! So glad it went so well for Natasha & your parents! Hope you all have many more wonderful bunny/parent visits! Congratulations & happy 90th birthday to your dad!!!! :birthday

 

[MikeScone]

Has she ever traveled with you much before?

Other than when I brought her home from her first home in Albany, about a four hour trip, and a couple of short rides to the vet and back, Natasha hasn't been in a car at all before this.

I think it helped that her cage was right next to me, wedged between the back of the passenger seat and the dashboard, so that she could see me all the time and I could talk to her. I aimed a few of the a/c vents into the cage so she had a flow of cool air as well.

She didn't relax, exactly - she sat up the whole time - but she didn't seem extremely stressed, either. She'd sip some water from time to time and wash herself occasionally, neither of which she'd be doing if she was terrified. I don't think she liked the constant feeling of motion, but she took it in stride.

As soon as we got back to Harford and I let her out, she ran under the woodstove to decompress. She was right back out again at dinner time, though, and seemed to have put the whole episode behind her.

 

[MikeScone]

Natasha and I had a weekend together. I've been fixing the sickle bar on the tractor - it broke the Pitman arm and various associated parts last fall, and the weeds in the ditches have gotten high enough to need chopping down. This seemed like a good time to replace the hardware and lubricate everything, so, with a trip to Tractor Supply, I'm ready to get out and mow.

In the meanwhile, waiting for the tractor battery to charge, I took a few pictures of Natasha...

Here she is, relaxing on the padded bench.

I have five throw pillows - three with rabbits on them and two red ones - and I used to have two rabbit pillows on the ends of the bench with a red one between. Natasha would throw the rabbit pillows on the floor at least once a day. I wasn't sure if it was just that they were on the ends, and thus easier to throw on the floor, or if she objected to the pictures of bunnies. So, as an experiment, I swapped the pillows around so that there are two red pillows on the end with a bunny pillow between. Result: all of the pillows have been on the bench for weeks.

So, what is there about pictures of rabbits that Natasha doesn't like? It's a puzzlement...

"Yes, Dad? Did you say something? Involving food, maybe??"

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

She's one cute bun!

 

[kirbyultra]

Hi Mike! I am glad to see Natasha is still the beautiful, charming lady she always is. Great story about her traveling. I think you being able to see her and talk to her during the car ride is helpful. Some people think I'm bananas but I can tell with my buns that when I get quiet and tired, they get increasingly tense as the car ride goes on. But when I remember to say a few words to reassure them mom's here, they feel better. I'm glad your parents got to meet her. I am sure that the weekend was memorable for everyone

 

[PaGal]

Natasha, if I may call her that, I am sure is simply insisting on her right to be the one and only bun in your home.

 

[Rosies Rabbitry]

Great that you can have your Natasha sleep with you. Klova, my first rabbit was doing really well with using both her litter box and the cats until I got more rabbits. Now when I let her run around, I have to clean up after her and any of the other rabbits. They really enjoy the playtime together so a little clean up after is worth the enjoyment that I get just watching them.

 

[MikeScone]

I got a small brown paper bag from the pharmacy yesterday, and I decided to make Natasha a new toy. I put some of her favorite hay in the bag, tucked in a baby-cut carrot, and left it on the floor for her to discover.

"Hmmm... what's this Dad's left for me? It smells of yummy stuff. How can I get it open?"

"If I nibble a hole in it, I can pull the hay out..."

"Oh, the heck with it - let's dive right in!"

Natasha seems satisfied with her morning's play...

 

[Tauntz]

What a nice surprise treat! Looks like fun! Great job! Looks like Natasha is a happy bun after her morning surprise!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Great minds think alike. Just made one of those today for mine and they love them. I recycle the bag their litter pellets come in as, just take the outer layer off and then tie with string. Isn´t it great when the simplest things keep them occupied for a while.

 

[MikeScone]

I think Natasha had been getting a bit overenthusiastic in playing with her stuffed yellow bunny friend, so Butter had to go up on the shelf for a few weeks awaiting restorative surgery. I had a few minutes Sunday to dig out the yellow thread, and Butter's back to health, with only slight cosmetic issues where I sewed the rip shut and sewed her right arm tight against her body. At least, there's no more stuffing coming out...

Natasha seemed delighted to see her friend back. She immediately started to groom Butter, and when she'd licked her all over, knocked her flat and made sure she understood who was the dominant bunny in this warren.

I also found Natasha's baby keys in the litter pile outside when I was dumping out her cage for a good cleaning and recarpeting of the balcony (they must have been thrown away with the litter in some earlier cleaning). When I left for work this morning, Natasha had just put the keys in her empty food dish.

All is well in one bunny's world...

 

[MikeScone]

Fall is definitely here in central NY state. Things are getting downright chilly, and the apples are ripe. I gave Natasha one right from the tree on our front lawn - I haven't a clue what sort of apple it is, but Natasha definitely approved!

Of course, after digging right into the apple, she had apple juice all over her mouth. So, time for a good wash...

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Aw! So glad to see Natasha is doing well. Love her feisty little personality!

Rue

 

[MikeScone]

I've been reorganizing the electronics in my living room, swapping out some stuff that hasn't worked for a while and so on. With all of the different boxes and connections and remotes, I decided it was time to replace the 1970's Heathkit preamp, tuner and amp with an AV receiver with surround and video switching and iPod integration, and all that modern stuff. Typical of technology, it was cheap - a fraction of what the Heathkit cost 40 years ago (not even correcting for inflation).

Anyway, I had to try it out, so I put in a BluRay version of Jurassic Park, figuring that would have interesting surround sound effects. Natasha came in to see what I was doing, and she was fascinated. She sat upright, right in front of my chair, and I could watch her ears swiveling to follow the dinosaur sounds from speaker to speaker. The video part of the movie was meaningless to her (she had her back turned to it), but she was sure interested in the audio part.

This is the first time I've ever seen her take any notice of TV at all. I remember that Scone would always run into the living room and jump on the couch to listen to the warp drive effects on Star Trek, and he'd occasionally sit next to me on the couch and watch Antiques Roadshow when they'd show something particularly colorful, but Natasha never seemed interested.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Mine don´t really take that much notice of the telly but they do notice and thump when there are any loud noises coming from it.

I did laugh imagining Scone watching the Antiques Roadshow, maybe he was getting some tips to raid the attic to see if you had anything worth trading lol.

 

[kirbyultra]

That's a fascinating story about Natasha following the surround sound. The buns know everything!

When my Toby used to live in my living room, he'd always sit still watching Project Runway with me. He'd sit proper like a human with his face to the screen, ears perked up! I think the upbeat runway music is what he tunes into, but we joke and say he's a huge Heidi Klum fan.