Moo hits the town

Last Wednesday I went to Riobamba as usual and read up on breeds of black and white rabbits. Looks like Moo is a mixed breed with mainly Checkered Giant in her but she lacks the distinctive black stripe down her back and the black butterfly on her nose. I also read up on ways to tame rabbits so I was excited to get back and try them out on her. She had other plans.

So I opened my door and looked immediately to the cage. She was gone. My eyes wandered to my room to look for her but instead saw that the entire floor was covered in rabbit poo. Every square foot, evenly distributed. I walked in shock to my room where the trail continued.

I was about to lean over and look under the bed for Moo when suddenly she surprised me - standing up on hind legs to greet me on top of my table - she's more hare than rabbit - looking extremely innocent and pleased. I swiftly picked her up against her wishes and saw there were blood splotches all over. Geez. What happened? She didn't look in pain and at first glance I couldn't find the wound.

I began by picking up all the poo...mercifully bunny poo is relatively neat compared with other animal poo. I was also pleased to see she had not yet made it to my bed, at least that I can tell. It seems she started by devouring her generously stocked bag of treats (dandelions, white clovers, and carrots). She wandered around below the cage, then hopped up somehow, and for some unknown reason, on the guest bed to explore there. She hopped back down, and up onto my bookshelf. Using the books like a ladder, she made her way on top of my table where I think she hurt herself. Conveniently, my bag of (human) food was on a chair next to that, so she helped herself to that and smeared blood all over. Finding the end of the line, she went back to the table for a snooze.

I haven't figured out how she snagged her toe. The blood began on my table but there's nothing on it that she could have caught herself on. Later that night she nipped the rest of the hanging nail off and the wound's healing.

She had been extremely naughty but she was injured and was actually pretty docile going back to the cage, so I went downstairs to cut up a carrot. When I came back, she had escaped again. But she heard me come in and, in an instant, she was racing towards me from my room. I stood in shock again as she ran up to my leg and nudged me, then stood up on hind legs to beg. I gave her a carrot and she ran off to eat it. Maybe potty training and having her run free isn't too far away... once I rabbit-proof everything.

So now when I open the top of the cage, she leaps up on my shoulder. I put her on the floor and she hovers around me begging for treats. If she runs off somewhere, she's learned one very important sound: the crinkle of a plastic bag, which means TREATS, and she runs back to me. She even responds to 'Moo,' 'come', and kissy sounds. It's great that she's mostly lost her fear of me, but it's also kind of sad that she's only interested in me for food.