LIVING
LIVING
JUNE/JULY 2010
THE RABBIT.
Our oldest son arrived home
recently clutching a most beautiful dwarf rabbit; snow white
coat with a stripe of spice running along its spine and the most
endearing eyes. It hopped out in front of him when he was making
his way home on his scooter and hoping to prevent it from being
killed by a vehicle, he scooped it up and tentatively continued
his journey home, steering with one hand.
Not being a natural lover of
animals, I tend to avoid them as I have enough creatures to care
for; so when my family began cooing over our new visitor, I
refrained from joining in except to shout that rabbits also need
specific care and since our children had already proved their
inability to effectively care for animals, (one dead dog, 2 dead
goldfish and a lost tortoise) the rabbit would be better off
with someone who desperately wanted one.
Much protesting ensued and
within minutes, our daughter had drawn up rudimentary plans for
a hutch which she and child number two proceeded to
make..messily. Our newly tiled and tilled garden was immediately
littered with plastic, blue paint, hammer, nails, and wire mesh.
I screamed at them to clear up
and get rid of the rabbit. I loathe plastic and so do rabbits.
We returned home later in the
day to find the rabbit hopping around happily in the children’s’
sitting room, a trail of neat, glossy, perfect balls of faeces
dotted throughout the floor. I screamed bullets of instructions,
to clean up the poo, respect their home and get rid of the
rabbit!
The next day, I returned home
to an even worse situation. I had the misfortune to sit on the
sofa in the children’s room and sunk into a pool of soft sticky
fluid. Being medically trained, I instantly recognized a stain
of bile to mean vomit ….of a rabbit’s nature, since the black
pearls of poo were again evident beneath the piano. This time,
my fury resounded throughout the house and the children knew
this meant serious anger.
The rabbit was seriously
banished to the garden from which it discovered the neighboring
field, a rabbit’s dream…lots of shade and plenty of unclaimed
hay. Being a creature of some intelligence, it soon discovered
the plot of land behind our house which I will remind you,
contains too many cockerels and far too many smelly hens, along
with a constant water supply and an endless supply of food.
The rabbit has obviously found
its niche and is now thriving. Only the other day, I spied it
hopping freely among the birds, a bit dirty but hugely obese.
Glad that it no longer resides with us, I just hope that during
the economic crisis, nobody looks at it with other ideas in mind
but I am hoping that its colour and general innocence will
protect it from either animal or human predation. Meanwhile, if
anyone wants a rabbit…….
Alison Lorentzos
copyright 2010
