The Bonded Buns The Love Story of Lily and Mister

When Lily first came to live with me, we had a little ritual where I would lay on the floor, face down, and she would hop up onto my back and give me an exotic bunny back massage, then she would lay down for a few minutes.  It was a wonderful experience and I swear it relieved all to the tedium and stress from my system.  She loved have her nose and cheeks rubbed.  When I got home from work in the summer I would take her into the backyard where she would binky like crazy, dig like crazy and occasionally manage to escape to the neighbors yard (which make me crazy). And of course there was the evening ritual that amused my neighbors the most catching her to bring her back into the house. 

As much as having a sweet little Lily leap with joy when I entered a room, I always felt that this Sweet little girl had more love to give than spending a couple of hours a day with me could use up.  She constantly attempted to befriend Sooty and Cleopatra but they ignored her.  By this time I had educated myself on the nature of bunnies and believed that it would be a good idea of selecting a mate for her. 

As luck would have it the same PetSmart that had Posted Lily as being "Free to a Good Home" a year and a half later had another such posting.  I called the number and arranged to meet the male rabbit "Misty".    When I asked if he was "altered" I was told that he was not, but that he had never shown any inclination to acknowledge his "nature".  As Lily by this time had been spayed for over a year I knew that there was no chance of my becoming a BunnyGrandmummy, so I packed "Misty" into the backseat and headed home, going over in my head all that I had read about bonding rabbits....keep them in a separate room for a few days, don't leave them alone together, be prepared for fights, I was a little bit trepidation about what the next few weeks were going to be like. 

Lily was a free range rabbit, so I could not follow the advice of the experts and keep them is separate cages.  I put Misty in a cage and set it in the living room as I installed the baby gate between rooms.  Before I could turn around Lily had come to inspect Misty, as neither one of them were showing any signs of aggression I let them be.  Lily circled the cage and Misty kept turning to see her.  They seemed interested and curious about one another but not aggressive.  I took Misty out of the cage and the behaviour continued with the circling of one another and the curiosity but no aggression....until Misty got on top of Lily (sideways I might add) and began to show his "nature".  Lily was mildly perturbed, I was a bit embarrassed (I'm not sure if it was because of what he was doing or the fact that he was doing it sideways and backwards) but I decided that "Misty" was in fact "Mister".  Lily decided that he was dirty and needed to be bathed.  I have no doubt that Mister thought he had landed in heaven.  They spent days with Mister in his cage for about a couple of weeks (which included Misters recovery from the surgery that was booked the day after his arrival).

Lily and Mister had 6 very happy years together.  On July 8, 2008 Mister moved on to the rainbow bridge.