RESOLVED Chicago Ridge Rabbits Need a Ride - And a Transport Coordinator ASAP

[Leaf]

downtownbuns, I PM'd you.

BlueFrog, it looks like I'm missing a small carrier and the larger one right now. All else is accounted for. I may possibly get the large back tonite, I'm not positive...

Which rabbits do you have lined up so far, any ideas?

Any potential bunny nappers this time around?

I can't wait to see the Rex and the blind girl - both sound very special. The lops, if any like the handsome man you have a pic of, are too beautiful for words. I wouldnt be suprised if Catnap does take some. Surely not too hard to place?

When you have a chance give me the rundown on the rabbits probably involved.

Depending on scheduling I may take Sabrina (little black lionhead) to Springfield this weekend. Elmer Fudd (brown boy) has a tendency to chew on hands so I don't know about him going with her (I dont want to go 170+ miles to reclaim him but would if necessary). The little Rex girl.. you know, she may stay. I don't know, but I lost one of my own this week (Ibimi) so space-wise I'm only going to be one up from my own numbers before this new transport.

My tired brain needs to recoup and have a chance to think.

 

[slavetoabunny]

downtownbuns wrote:

Leaf, I sent you a pm with where I will be in Union. Let me know it that place works for you.

Does this mean you are going to make the trip or do we still need to coordinate transport?

 

[Kpink]

Bunny nappers???? Surely you aren't speaking of me, are you???? :biggrin2:

I didn't nap any the last time.....I was a good girl!!! :mrsthumper:

Of course doesn't mean I can be that strong AGAIN.........lol lol

 

[gentle giants]

I'm curious about the Rex-is that Narcissus, or am I getting confused about who is at what shelter? I adore full sized Rex, and you hardly ever see them around here.

 

[bellapsyd]

awww! my little Elmer Fudd is a hand nipper? Funny he didn't bite me when I sat and pet him the entire last transport!

Did we decide on a transport date? I'm going to lay it on the line here:

this wknd:I can do it saturday but EARLY. I mean early (I have to be back at my house at 10:30 AM in time to leave for work. Sunday would be better.

Next wknd: I cannot confirm yet if I am available. I have tentative out of town plans and I'm not sure when I will know if they are definite or not. Probably not until much closer to Friday.

If my scheudle is too limited this time around, feel free to have someone else take my spot from Chicago Ridge to Gilman. If it can be worked around, then I'm in. Please keep me posted.

 

[myheart]

Leaf wrote:

Any potential bunny nappers this time around?

So glad bunners are not heading north... They would have to stop at my house for salad.......all seven to ten of them!!! (Patch and Luna wouldn't mind, really...)

myheart

 

[downtownbuns]

Does this mean you are going to make the trip or do we still need to coordinate transport?


I will need to speak to my hubby more tonight, he was open to it this morning, but did not give an answer. I will let you know tonight. I also pm'd slavetobunny. I figured that since the carriers were in Union, we do not have carrier in Chicago. Assuming this, someone needs to get the carriers up to Chicago. If there are people that would be willing on taking legs of trips to get the carriers to Chicago, and then take legs the following week to get the bunnies to Union, that woudl work as well. I thought that this would get to complicated, so I offered to do the whole trip.

 

[BlueFrog]

gentle giants, you're not the first person from central or southern IL who has mentioned that you guys rarely see rexes. I'm always flabberghasted to hear that, because we see both purebreds and even the occasional partbred regularly. In fact, that's probably the most common breed to go through Chicago Ridge. There must be someone local breeding broken blacks and broken castors. Every single one that's come through has been sweet tempered and stunningly beautiful. They are also nearly unplaceable in this area. I have no earthly clue why, aside from size, because I'd fill my house with them. All fourteen of the rabbits CR/AWL killed last month were broken rexes, and I mourn each and every one. I did get a huge Californian rex with the softest coat ever from that batch to a friend of mine, and a couple others got adopted out or sent elsewhere, so none of the selfs (who arrived from the same source right after the brokens were killed) died.

This rex is not Narcissus, who finally FINALLY found a home (Huzzah! Huzzah!) This is the calico colored rex, four years old, that I mentioned briefly in the Chicago Ridge thread in the general discussion forum. Long story short, the two things his divorcing human owners agreed on were (a) they loved this rabbit but (2) neither was moving someplace that they could keep him. Big monorchid boy, super sweet, very pretty (red and black spots on his head and along his spine), and with the saddest "I miss my parents" eyes I've seen in a while. I knew he would be first on the kill list due to his age and had been emailing around privately trying to find him a slot somewhere. Unfortunately, no one wants "big" rabbits in this area (as we've discussed before).

Leaf, I have you down for the Angora, despite her already being a favorite of the Catnappers, and the rex boy. After that is open for discussion! You're probably not going to believe me, but the lop I took and subsequently photographed was "the ugly one" of the bunch, though all are similar in appearance.

I'll PM you later. My mother needs some assistance right now, so won't be for a bit yet.

 

[gentle giants]

BF, I have to see a pic of this guy, do you have one? I had a wonderful calico Rex buck when I was a kid, and have been wanting another one ever since. Is he neutered yet?

 

[myheart]

BlueFrog wrote:

Unfortunately, no one wants "big" rabbits in this area (as we've discussed before).

That is so sad to hear. And for those of us who would likeBIG bunnies, they become difficult to find.

myheart

 

[BlueFrog]

gg, I'll see what I can manage regarding pictures but since the rex is still physically located at CR right now, no guarantees. I can guarantee he is beautiful, and so sweet. Not neutered yet, and has the giant testicle (just one visible) to prove it.

myheart, I'm hoping I can nab you a nice big girl before the next euth call. These lop boys are small to me - maybe 3 to 3 1/2 pounds, definitely smaller than my 4+ pound Fiona - and the director of CR declared them "too big and not cute enough to be adoptable." I suspect that's a big part of why I wasn't notified before they went to the back room.
:bigtears:

 

[gentle giants]

Does Rex guy have a name yet? Is he promised to Leaf, or still available?

 

[BlueFrog]

I'm sure rex guy has a name, but I don't know what it is. I think his placement is up to you and Leaf! I believe she was taking him in to save his life, not because she was specifically looking for a big calico rex.

 

[myheart]

BlueFrog wrote:

...and the director of CR declared them "too big and not cute enough to be adoptable." I suspect that's a big part of why I wasn't notified before they went to the back room.
:bigtears:

:bigtears:

I just want to cry about the things you have seen...

myheart

 

[BlueFrog]

myheart, rescue work can indeed fill one's head with sights that can't be unseen, and those images can tear you to shreds if you let them. Just the other day I recounted the story of Evil Grandma, and my subsequent save of her rats Ben & Jerry, which launched me back into rescue after a very long hiatus. Evil Grandma, I'm sad to say, no longer even counts in my personal top five horror stories, and I know there's much worse out there than what I've seen. Surprisingly, few of these awful sights resulted from helping at Chicago Ridge, and of those that did, in every case CR was helping the animal - like that poor blind Angora found in the woods.

Without the support of RO and Catnap, I guarantee that I wouldn't still be pulling animals from CR/AWL, because I couldn't stand the memories of the massive numbers I wouldn't have been able to save. Medication may be blurring my nearly photographic memory a bit, but not nearly enough to erase the pictures of all those faces...

If I focused on where the animals came from, instead of where they're gone, I'd lose what little sanity I still possess. (All evidence to the contrary, I'm not yet completely crazy :biggrin2 I'm fortunate to have a very supportive network of fellow rescuers, fosters, and adopters, who lend their ears, send me pictures, and tell success stories that help balance out the horror.

But even more fortunately, most of my stories do have happy endings. I can hardly believe the transformation in the "forest Angora," who was binkying around her cage begging the Catnap director for treats this afternoon. That image will long outlast my memory of what she looked like when she arrived at CR!

And of course my own home is filled with animals whose vibrant good health and cheerful personalities help wipe away the remembrance of what they looked like when they came to me. I even had a new arrival today, in the form of a hand tame ringneck dove. Right now it's easy to snarl about whomever turned a partially wing clipped domestic bird loose (or, at a minimum, who didn't consider her disappearance worth reporting) and her subsequent near starvation. Instead, I'm choosing to focus on the nice people who captured her in their yard and took her to CR so she'd be safe. Once she's all filled out and happy again - which, at the rate she's going through seed tonight, won't be long! - I'll have years of warm memories of a beautiful bird to overwrite the picture of her as a scrawny little thing.

 

[bellapsyd]

I am glad there are people like you BlueFrog. I want to be more involved in rescue, but I just become too sad and ruminate for days. I do my part by donations, fundraisers, and helping out here- like driving rescues. I tell myself it's better than nothing. And of course- I've adopted a few of the foster bunnies I've taken in!

 

[BlueFrog]

bellapsyd, there is no "only" about the things you do for rescue!!! Every piece is vital - especially that "giving homes to buns in need" part. :highfive:

 

[Leaf]

BlueFrog wrote:

The final number is up to Leaf & transport capacity of course, but yes, I'm all for seven to ten buns on this trip. Leaf, even if Catnap takes some of the lops, OK to add on some other endangered bunnies to the trip in their place? And yes, I will insist Catnap gives up the blind girl!

Send along whom you see fit, as transport space allows. Can't wait to see the blind girl and the Rex.. any pictures before the send off?

 

[Leaf]

BlueFrog wrote:

bellapsyd, there is no "only" about the things you do for rescue!!! Every piece is vital - especially that "giving homes to buns in need" part. :highfive:

Amen to that!!

Elmer Fudd agrees

:laugh:

 

[Leaf]

Kpink wrote:

Bunny nappers???? Surely you aren't speaking of me, are you???? :biggrin2:

I didn't nap any the last time.....I was a good girl!!! :mrsthumper:

Of course doesn't mean I can be that strong AGAIN.........lol lol

I'm pleading the 5th!

Of course, if Iwind up with some empty carriers you'll be my first suspect!