And just to share one more scene...this is after Abby (who got Kate to adopt Tiny) got Kate to agree to foster Miss Bea, a lionhead rabbit that needed to get out of the shelter environment. Abby has asked Kate how things are going.
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Abby interrupted her thoughts, “So how is my big boy doing? Is he getting used to the idea of sharing you with another rabbit?”
Kate laughed. “You mean am I getting used to sharing him with another rabbit?”
Abby’s eyes opened wide. “You mean the two have bonded already? Do tell. What has been happening?”
The two women cleaned cages and fed the animals while Kate replayed the events of the last few days.
It all started the same night Kate got Miss Bea. After Abby left, Kate got the rabbits fed and settled for the night. As usual, she left Tiny’s kennel door open but kept him locked in her room. She figured that since Miss Bea was shut in her cage, the two would get along just fine and there would be no fights over territory.
A couple of hours after she went to bed, Kate heard thumping. Tiny started jumping on the bed and running around the room. She woke up enough to tell him to settle down or she’d put him in his kennel and lock his door. Then she felt him jump on her…only it wasn’t Tiny…it couldn’t be Tiny. It wasn’t heavy enough. She felt the weight on her again – sitting on her chest. She opened one eye and saw two beady eyes staring at her face. She closed her eye and then opened both eyes. The eyes came closer to her face and she wanted to scream. Then, the eyes backed away as Miss Bea sat on her haunches and started cleaning her face, staring at Kate the whole time.
Miss Bea was out of her cage. Miss Bea was sitting on her chest. Tiny was thumping and having a fit. What was happening? Was this all a bad dream? She wasn’t sure if she wanted to wake up or not.
As suddenly as she was on Kate’s chest, Miss Bea hopped back off and got on the floor. The thumping got louder and even Kate could tell that Tiny was angry. She tried to hush Tiny while she stared at Miss Bea. What was this devil rabbit doing out of her cage? Why was Tiny thumping?
Then she saw him. Tiny was in Miss Bea’s cage. He was locked in Miss Bea’s cage while the little devil ran around the room and then entered his cage and chinned his food bowl, water bottle and litter box. As Tiny watched her, he rattled the cage door with his teeth and continued thumping.
Miss Bea was claiming HIS turf? Kate didn’t think so. She got up out of bed and went to catch Miss Bea. The chase was on.
Miss Bea ran under the bed. After several attempts to get her out, Kate went to her kitchen and got a broom to shoo her out. Miss Bea ran out from under the bed and out the bedroom door that Kate had accidentally left open. Score one for the rabbit. Kate ran after her. Tiny continued thumping.
Miss Bea ran to the kitchen, then the dining room. Kate chased her under the desk where the rabbit promptly nipped her. Another point for the rabbit. As Kate yelled at the rabbit, she took off for the bathroom. As Kate ran into the bathroom, she tripped over the rabbit dashing out the door. The rabbit scored again..
Kate was determined to catch her now. She ran into the bedroom. No Miss Bea. She went back down the hall, and with a honeyed voice called, “Miss Bea, oh come here little darling.” Her mind added the words, “So I can strangle you.”
Kate trapped Miss Bea under the couch but she didn’t have her broom with her. She went and fetched the broom, only to find the rabbit had disappeared again. Score another one for the rabbit. Miss Bea 4, Kate O.
Kate searched the house for the rabbit. Her racing heartbeat matched Tiny’s continual thumping. She finally found Miss Bea trying to hide behind the refrigerator. “I’ve got you now” she exclaimed as she grabbed for Miss Bea’s rump. Miss Bea twisted out of her hand and took off, thumping at her. She was left with a few strands of fur in her hand. Great…now she had two rabbits thumping. Score another point for the rabbit? Would the rabbit give up at 5 points? 7 points?
Kate was not giving up. No rabbit could outsmart her. Ok…maybe this rabbit could. But not for long. Kate had a college degree for crying out loud. Certainly she could catch a rabbit.
She decided to try enticing Miss Bea to come to her for a treat. She went to the frig and got two carrots. One was for Miss Bea and one would be for Tiny. She knew Tiny might calm down once he had something to eat.
Tiny. He’d stopped thumping. Was he all right? Had the devil bunny hurt him? She raced down the hallway to the bedroom, hoping to find Tiny ok. She stopped in the doorway and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Tiny was back in his cage. Miss Bea was back in her cage…and her door was shut. When Kate walked near her cage, Miss Bea thumped. Tiny replied with a thump of his own. Kate debated between strangling the rabbit and giving her the carrot she carried. She decided giving Miss Bea the carrot was the best choice. She dropped a carrot in Tiny’s cage and one in Miss Bea’s cage and then went to the bed to sit down. Tiny grabbed his carrot and ate it immediately. Miss Bea sniffed at the carrot and turned her back to Kate and started grooming herself. Score another point for the devil herself.
By the time Kate was done telling the tale, Abby was hunched over holding her sides and crying because she was laughing so hard. She had stopped cleaning cages at “score one for the rabbit” and couldn’t continue until Kate was done. “Oh hon. You should be a comedian. It sounds like the devil rabbit can give you plenty of material. So tell me, how are Tiny and Miss Bea getting along now? And did you figure out how Miss Bea got out of the cage?”
Both women tried to start back to work as Kate continued with the story.
“Oh yes, I figured out how the brat gets out of the cage. She opens the door and lets herself out. What is even worse is that Tiny seems fascinated by her cage and as soon he goes in to check out her food, she shuts the door on him and he is trapped.”
“No. She does? But you said you had to share him with her. I was worried they would fight if they were both out together.”
“Oh, I was worried too. But no, that isn’t what has happened at all. I think I’d be happier if they fought a bit. Instead, Tiny has decided to become her protector. They now sleep together in his cage and if I go to catch her, she runs behind him and he won’t let me catch her. In fact, if I try to grab her, he nudges my hand and he almost nipped me once. You’d think he was her…” Kate struggled for an adequate word. She remembered the classic movie with Marlon Brando. “You’d think he was her GodFather. He was making me a deal I couldn’t refuse. Leave the gal alone or he’ll nip me.”
Abby broke out into peals of laughter again. “The Godfather? Forget that…he’s THE BUNFATHER!”
