I was going through some pictures on my computer (thanks to my son, he scanned hundreds of photos for me and loaded them), and it was so nice to see pics from way back when...many I haven't looked at in years. Thought I'd post a few of them here.
The first two are of a cat I had many years ago, Snooch. You know how so many of us talk about 'heartbunnies' here? The one that, amongst all of the bunnies you've had throughout your lifetime, has a bond with you that is stronger than all the others, or more special in some way? Well, Snooch was my 'heartkitty'. He was with me for 12 years, and he was the most intelligent, and special, cat I've ever met. He loved to go camping with my husband and I, he adored going for rides in the truck, he would stand up to dogs 7 or 8 times his size and not back down, and through some of my toughest moments, he was always there to comfort me.
LOL...I'm tossing this one in because it always makes me smile. The dog in the background is Charlie (Brown), a little beagle mix I grew up with. He and I went on many adventures together, and he was very much like Skip of "My Dog Skip" fame. Charlie never backed down from a challenge. He was fearless, loyal, loving, and tenacious. He used to go for rides with the milkman every morning, joining him on his route when the truck stopped at our house. He wandered the streets of Dartmouth of his own accord, and I swear, half the town knew who he was, but didn't know me. He would sometimes go down to the main bus stop at our local shopping center and wait patiently for the bus that travelled back and forth from Dartmouth to Halifax. When it arrived the driver would let the passengers on and then invite Charlie aboard as well. He'd stand by the driver for the entire trip, watching as they crossed the Angus L. MacDonald bridge, drinking in the sights and sounds. When the bus returned to Dartmouth once again, Charlie would hop out and head on home.
The dog in the foreground is Lester, one of Charlie's illegitamite sons. (All of those forays round and about the city was bound to leave behind some sort of legacy.) Lester was nothing like Charlie; where Charlie was intelligent and a free spirit, Lester was dependent and, well, not quite so smart. But he was one of the most sweet, loving dogs I have owned. After all of the kids in our house grew up and left, Lester became rather despondent, and he began wandering off, sometimes going for days at a time. Searches throughout the area generally would find him making friends with someone's children, romping and playing with them for hours at a time. In the end he wandered off once again, and this time found a family who had several young children. They all fell in love with the moptop little dog who loved to play, and so when they asked if me (and their parents) if they could keep him, how could I say no? Lester finally found *his* family.
This next one is a picture of my son holding one of my litters of Holland lops. This was taken well over 20 years ago, so the names of the little ones he was holding has long since escaped my memory. This was back in the days after I'd given up raising and showing BEW Polish, and decided to take on a couple of other breeds. I never did raise very many, but each litter, and each of those little bundles of ears and legs and nonsense were so wonderful. I still miss them.
This little guy was Fiver. He was the most favorite of all my Blue-eyed Polish. The guy was a true gentleman, a sweetheart with a wonderful temperament and great sense of curiosity. I showed him a few times at the main rabbit/poultry show in Nova Scotia, and he came *this close* (holding fingers together) to winning Best in Show. He was runner-up to a little Dutch boy, and that day he earned himself a huge trophy. Not that he cared; as long as he got scritches behind his ears and lots of attention, he was happy.
Unfortunately, Fiver developed a deep ear infection that just would not heal, despite all of my vet's best efforts. He developed wry neck, and after treating him aggressively for quite some time, there was just nothing more the vet could do, and he was humanely euthanized. That was one of the hardest days for me...holding my sweet little Fiver while the vet administered the injection. When I walked out of the clinic, the vet too had tears running down his face. He'd treated Fiver many times and had come to know him well, and he too developed quite a bond with him. Fiver will forever be one of my 'heartbunnies'.
How's this for an old photo? This is Billy (a.k.a., Billy Jack Rabbit). He was the second rabbit I ever owned in my life (my first rabbit, a lovely little grey Dutch, was a pet store bunny and died only a few weeks after I bought her). Billy followed a few months after I lost my first bunny, and he was quite the tyrant. He was built a bit like a hare, and he was full of spit 'n vinegar, tearing around the house at breakneck speeds, getting into everything, and (to my father's intense dismay) rabbitauging every wire or piece of wood on furniture that he could find. Despite Billy's lack of house etiquette, however, he was a wonderful rabbit.
This next picture is also very old. The white rabbit in the background is Sam, a bunny that someone gave to me when they said they could no longer keep him. Sam too was a sweetheart, a gentle soul who loved nothing more than to graze in the backyard and cuddle up with me on the livingroom sofa. I can't remember now how long I had Sam, but he melted my heart.
The agouti rabbit you see is Thumper. She was my very first heartbunny. I had her for 7 years, during some pretty tough times when I was a teenager. Thumper - when she lived in the house - used to sleep with me at night, hopping onto my bed and stretching her body across my pillow. I'd often wake up to feel her breathing softly near me, or have a hind foot dangling in my face. She, like Sam, had a heart of gold.
One small story about Thumper: When she was around 4 or so (and I was around 16), my dad decided that rabbits could no longer reside in the house, so Thumper had to be moved to new living quarters in the backyard. Back in those days, I lived in an area where no one locked their doors when they left the house, and backyard cages did not need to be protected from anything other than wandering animals or the weather. Times were rapidly changing though, and one day, about a year or so later, I came home to find Thumper's cage door wide open, and she was gone. I was panicked, as I knew someone had to have opened the door, and from the look of it, had walked away with her as well. Thumper was no stranger to the backyard and never wandered far when she was set loose to graze; in fact, her favorite hiding spot was a long deep tunnel she'd dug under the lawn. I searched everywhere for her, but she was gone.
The next morning I summoned the courage to call a local radio talk show and ask for their help. It took a lot for me to do so, as I was painfully shy back then, but I would have done anything to get my beloved bunny back home safely. The radio host, while he did sort of laugh at my request (after all, who kept rabbits as pets back then?), he did announce that there was a big brown rabbit missing, and he asked anyone with information to call the station. To my surprise (shock!), someone called right after the show ended, and they left a message stating that some children who lived in their building had been toting around a big brown rabbit. They'd thought it rather odd, as these children didn't have pets, and their parents were known to neglect the kids and simply not care. So I thanked the man intensely, called my boyfriend, and we went to the address provided. Sure enough, when we knocked on the door and it opened, a gaggle of kids were there, running through the apartment. When we asked if they knew about a rabbit that had been seen in the area, a couple of them quickly responded, "Nope"...but just as they did, Thumper appeared, darting across the floor of the living room. I ran in and scooped her up in my arms, so grateful to that kind person who took the time to respond to my plea on the radio, and Thumper and I went home.
She lived for almost another year after that, until she finally succumbed to ovarian cancer. She was my Thumper.
And finally, I thought I'd add a picture of Raph. Since many here already know his story, I won't add any more. Just a photo of my very special guy, who taught me so much...