This just came on a lionhead list that I'm on. I did not write it - I'm not sure who did exactly...so please do not forward it till I can track it down.
It is a letter to a breeder - from a rabbit.
[line]Dear Breeder,
I know that you have been exhorting us all to come into color and coat, ever more
urgently as the days draw closer to ARBA convention, but I must confess that I just can not do it. My middling color and coat condition is just that, middling, and the expression on your face this morning, when you fed us, makes me feel that some sort of explanation is in
order.
Look, I was planning on a fairly easy summer. A summer in which I could relax and
muse, and be in great shape to color and condition up nicely for the fall show season.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. I am not complaining about having been bred and
delivering bunnies. On the contrary, I was quite happy about it. Truth is, being in heat is no picnic. The thing is, I was happy to have delivered my one little bundle of joy. He would grow on all the milk I had for him and raising him promised to be a breeze!
But.... when I returned to my nest box the next evening, there were three more kits in there! Look, I don't mind raising other doe's bunnies but you could have let me know something, before plopping them in there. Satet is a nice doe, and I know she had a large litter and moving the three littlest ones to my box was, probably, the best thing for all parties concerned. In addition, my little black son was elated to have brothers and sisters. So... you know... I can see why this was done.
The problem, though, and the reason I am mentioning this now in explanation of my
current coat and color condition, is that those little additional bunnies were blues! And you know what that means! A lot of work! It's not that I think blues are any less Himmies than us blacks. Oh certainly not that. No... it's just that the blues in our little community of cages are a different bloodline and are.... well..... you know.... high maintenance!
Don't get me wrong. It was fun to raise those little blues. I really, really enjoyed it.
But... it was good that my little buck was so robust and eager or he would have been in trouble, for sure. Those blues... they just need everything! Can't tell you how many times I was simply levitated by their greediness.
You know well what a great job I did raising these kits. Satet, looking from her cage
across the way, just beamed at how her fostered bunnies were growing, all the while
sustaining all manner of pummeling from the four that were left for her to raise.
So.. you see, my summer was a bit more involved than I had planned. It didn't help
that you waited until the first of September to separate all of the bunnies.
To sum up, I think the mediocrity of my color and coat is about the best you can
expect at this time, considering everything that has happened.
I deserve a vacation.
Yours truly, Vera. Black Senior Doe, Cage 31
