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Mickey in Mourning

© Dorothy Hoffman

Rabbit Report from the Home Front
Occasional Updates on my Rabbit Family

In our last installment, Mickey was in love with his new companion Bebe and proud as a peacock at having a second though less amorous companion, Bailey, to play with occasionally. Mickey's bliss only lasted for a few of weeks, though, when Bebe, the love of his life, suddenly died.

In the brief time she spent here, I'd come to love Bebe for her outgoing, friendly, curious and affectionate personality. She settled in easily and had an immediate connection with Mickey. Losing her was heartbreaking both for me and for Mickey who thumped and thumped his foot in protest then ran upstairs to hide as I sobbed over Bebe's lifeless little body.

For the next few days, Mickey followed me everywhere and demanded constant petting and reassurance. I found him sitting in Bebe's favorite spots - places he'd never hung out in before - looking dejected and sad. Despite his naturally gentle disposition, he even turned aggressive with Bailey, and I had to keep them separate unless I was around to break up a fight. But slowly, over a couple of weeks, Mickey's little heart began to mend, and he started to make some tentative "moves" on Bailey.

Recently, I started leaving the pair together unsupervised for most of the day, but the fence stays up at least until I'm sure there are no more scuffles or disputes. Fortunately, these incidents are becoming milder and less frequent. Bailey isn't afraid to stand up to Mickey, who's twice her size, and Mickey has returned to his normal gentlemanly personality. The main reason I still shut the gate, at least for the morning, is to ensure that Bailey actually gets to eat her own breakfast veggies. She likes to take her time stretching, doing some morning jogs around the pen and chewing up the rug before she daintily nibbles her lettuce and carrots. Mickey prefers to gobble up everything in sight as quickly as possible, and the little tubbo really doesn't need an extra breakfast.

We've lived through two sad losses in just a couple of months and a lot of disrupting changes, but our little family seems to finally be settling in and becoming good friends.