Disappointment

January 27, 2020

A disappointed Babs

Well, there were no babies for Babs this week. I’m not sure what this means. It could be she’s not pregnant but would like to be. Or it could mean she got pregnant a week later when she revisited Buddy. Or perhaps she just likes the idea of a baby box. I don’t think rabbits can have hysterical pregnancies.

As for Bitsy, she totally enjoyed destroying her box.  Every day, she’d pull the cardboard apart a little more and move around the dirt and straw. I took it out yesterday. She’s definitely going back in with Buddy. Maybe I’ll aim for the 29th. That would mean babies on February 29th. Auspicious? I think not. Just easy to remember.

And in further disappointment, I unhappily report that I have once again lost a fortune on Youtube because I cannot remember to bring my phone outside with me early in the morning.  My four dogs have been putting on quite the show lately.

“Four dogs?” you might ask, adding, ” but I thought you only had three dogs.”

Mr. Headbutts can now be counted as an official dog. You see, at dawn every morning, Rupert and I leave the warmth and comfort of the house to do chores. Rupert still lives in the house because he isn’t growing very quickly. He remains small and slim enough to escape through the gaps in the pasture fence. (He’s fine with this arrangement. Me, not so much. Having lost hope that he’ll bulk out, I’m working on plugging those holes.)

So while I go to release the ducks from their nightly confinement, Rupert runs to the orchard gate, squeezes through the gap between the double gate to join Radha and Bear. Once he’s there, he pretends he’s as excited to see me coming as they are.  Then he greets Radha by chewing on one of her legs.

This gets Radha dancing, and in the next instant they’re wrestling. That captures Bear’s attention. Now that he’s no longer Radha’s only canine playmate, he’s more than happy to indulge himself in a little play for a few minutes. So he throws himself at Radha, growling like he intends to kill her, his massive mouth open wide. As the two larger dogs rise on their hind legs, front legs around each other’s shoulders, Rupert circles around them, snapping at their heels, making them dance more than they already are.

That’s when Mr. Headbutts charges in. Bucking and leaping, he darts at both big dogs, swinging his very hard head.  The first day this happened, I watched Bear, who has PTSD over Dixie the Cow butting him into doing somersaults, run yelping from the ram lamb as Headbutts chased him mercilessly. This morning, four days later, Mr Headbutts dashed in and hit Bear in the side, then raced off, head turned over his shoulder as he looked behind him. I swear he was grinning.

Much to my surprise, Bear chased after him. They raced in circles for a moment until the old man was panting. That’s when Radha took over and really gave the lamb a run for his money. By then Rupert was back at Bear’s heels.  While the big dog was distracted, Headbutts once again darted in to land another blow. And again, Bear raced after him.  The play only ended when they saw me coming with their breakfast.

Sigh. No bunny babies and no video. What do you want to bet that, should I remember to bring my phone with me tomorrow morning, there’ll be no playing?