Three miles of piney woods to the next nearest neighbor, a few more miles to the paved road, and I could wander in the woods unsupervised til the stars came out, just be home by dark, from age 6 or 7. Probably why I learned early to keep flashlights working.
One of the lessons for kids thereabouts was never open someone else’s wooden “figure 4” box traps — don’t steal from trappers — and do your own carefully because those more often caught sick rabbits than healthy ones.
And when preparing and cooking your rabbit always wear the rubber gloves and glasses, and clean everything very carefully.
Tularemia was about as common then as now, but the states where it’s prevalent have changed.
Times have changed too, at least for a while, antibiotics do work.
Never convinced my great-grandmother, who always worried we weren’t fat enough to survive eating through a straw for three months if we got lockjaw.
My Mom was always terrified that us kids would catch Tuberculosis. We used to go explore the old abandoned Tuberculosis hospital. There were lots of abandoned beds in the woods with bug screens over them. The idea being that the fresh country air was good for the lungs.
Thank God for modern medicine.
My wife asked if you knew about rubbing their butts. Just to make sure she was taking about the same thing, I asked who’s butts. She said the bunnies’ butts. “They need to be rubbed to get them to poop when they are very young. It simulates their mother licking their back side. The mother eats their poop to keep the den clean.”. I told her, “the dude seems to know what he’s doing.” But, to really make sure we were talking about the same thing, I showed her your pictures of your newly adopted babies. She then said they are big enough to not need to have their butts licked anymore.
I don’t know if my wife is blowing hot air up my . . . um, never mind. Lets just say she is smarter than me and I don’t know and am too lazy to Google this s. . ., um, stuff.
So just in case. Dude, if your fury ones are not pooping, I have been told you should rub their behinds with a moistened q-tip. Oh man, I can’t believe I just posted this. I blame it on the cuteness of your little ones.
Your wife is spot-on. AFAIK, almost all baby animals get that … treatment … from their Moms. If your howling horde of hounds ever throws a litter, you’ll get to watch! Yummy!
If you’d missed school (don’t ask me how I know this), you’d have seen it yourself.
Dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, squirrels, guinea pigs, hamsters… And then there’s the whole barn…
If you’re in-the-least squeamish about food, sit up all night with your favorite bitch whelping a litter some day. You’ll ether stop being squeamish or stop eating all together! (And I dare you to let her lick your face, for days afterward!)
Sorry, I keep looking at the picture in the OP. Cuteness…. Overdose…. Must…. Resist…. I’m going to go stick a pickle fork in my eye now!
Well I had hoped for better numbers. One had a slight gain and one had a slight loss. Weighing is really important. Now I know to increase their caloric intake. Tomorrow I will start mixing some heavy cream into the Goats Milk and increase the amount that I Feed. I did observe one of the Bunnies eating s blade of fresh grass. Another piece of good news is no diarrhea. Their droppings have all been tight and dry.
And now time for Dimbo the Blinky to have his pickle fork at the ready…
Bunny pictures!
I can tell by their mannerisms. The lighter one is very active and always trying to make dash for freedom. The heavier one is calmer and better tolerates my poking and prodding. If I’m not sure, I just weigh them.
