My first bunny
I thought it might be nice to write alittle (or alot, we'll see) about the first bunny I ever had.
When I was a kid, my parents moved into a house that allowed pets for the first time. I was 4. They decided to get me a bunny. Even though I was so young, I still remember going to the farm to pick out which one of the free baby bunnies I wanted to take home with me. I remember there was a litter of babies, and the mother rabbit was the biggest bunny I had ever seen! I didn't even know bunnies got that big.
I have always loved bunnies even as a kid. I was born near Easter time, so almost every stuffed animal I had as a kid was a rabbit. I use to put them on harnesses and "walk" them around outside. My mom tells me stories about how I use to try to sell rocks, to earn money to "buy bunnies".
So when I finally got to pick out my first real rabbit, I got a little tan and white one. We took him home in a cardboard box and my dad built him a hutch in the backyard. I named him "Nibbles", after the way he nibbled on the carrots I gave him.
I grew up with Nibbles, he was my baby. My parents made me keep him outside, but everyday I would carry him inside to play. My parents eventually broke down and allowed me to keep him inside during the winters, because he was inside most of the time anyways. Nibbles was never neutered, I was young then and didn't know to get him fixed. He was always really friendly though, and very good with not having accidents.
As a result of not being fixed, Nibbles use to "dance", as my parents explained it, around our legs when he came out to play. I remember one time the neighbors cat somehow got into his hutch, but instead of the cat hurting him, he went crazy humping the cat and nearly gave the poor thing a heart attack! The cat couldn't figure out how to get out of the hutch again so I had to go out and rescue it.
One time another neighbors hunting dog broke lose and got into our yard. He broke into Nibbles cage but luckily my dad was home to stop him before he hurt the rabbit. Just another one of the many reasons why you should keep your rabbit indoors if you can!
I remember I use to dress Nibbles up in doll clothes, and when my friends came over they would bring their hamsters and we would play house with the pets being our babies, and I would push Nibs around in my baby carrage.
Nibbles got older and older, but never had any health problems to speak of. He was around all through my school years, and even came to school with me on more than one occasion.
Then one winter day, 15 years and some months after we had brought tiny little Nibbles home in a cardboard box, I had a strange feeling and went out to see him. He was weak, but still had enough strenth to greet me when I came up to his cage. I picked him up and carried him inside where it was warmer, and wraped him up in my coat. I held him for awhile, and talked to him, and he eventually fell asleep then took his last breath resting in my arms. His death was very peaceful and even though I was very sad over losing him, his death really helped me to come to terms with death, and to learn that it isn't always a horrable, violent, scary thing.
The next day we buried Nibbles outside in the yard, in a cardboard box much like the one we had carried him home in 15 years earlier, near his hutch in an area where he loved to dig. My brother made him a wooden cross that's still there to this day, and my next door neighbor came over and told us the story of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.
So there's the story of my first bunny love. I still miss and think about him sometimes, he was with me all throughout my childhood. It wasn't until a few years after his death that I felt ready to get another rabbit, which is when I got one of my current rabbits, Zeus. But that's a story for another time!
