Dan West's Rabbit Page

	NAME: WB ("White Bun") BREED: Ruby-Eyed Californian WEIGHT: 8 lbs. DISPOSITION: Sweet and shy. BORN: 2001, Adopted Summer 2003 PROFILE: I acquired this rabbit from a local breeder. She was literally days from being put down and used for meat. She has sore hocks from being in a cage (some of her breed have this problem) and had some lumps on her chest. Her feet have now healed, the lumps have vanished, and she is litter-trained and lives in the house and roams free in the yard! She's had quite a few health problems and she's getting on in years, but she's very tough and very spoiled. White Bun is very gentle and has an incredibly plush coat. Her ear tattoo says RB3A2 so sometimes I call her that. She loves to flop over on a towel or rug for a nap, will give you kisses, and is the best pet I have ever owned. She's a testament to how much a rabbit can develop a personality and become a great pet once out of a cage.
NAME: HOP BREED: English Spot WEIGHT: 3 lbs. DISPOSITION: Friendly and Curious BORN: Unknown, Adopted Spring 2007 PROFILE: Hop loves to explore and find things to play with. Oddly his favorite toy is the toilet brush in the bathroom. Sometimes I find the brush in the shower and have even found Hop in the shower! He is very clean and keeps himself well-groomed. I was told he was a female, but I am pretty sure he is a male. He's fixed, so it doesn't really matter! He is Flop's bonded lifelong companion as I adopted them from the same owner (see below).
	NAME: FLOP BREED: Sable Lop? WEIGHT: 3.5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Timid BORN: Unknown, Adopted Spring 2007 PROFILE: Flop doesn't know if she is a lop or not as she has what is called "helicopter ears." This means Flop has one ear that sticks straight up and one that is more of a lop ear. This gives her quite a bit of character. She is Hop's bonded companion and rarely leaves his side. They groom each other and play quite a bit. Flop is shy around people, except for me, and a little clumsy, but she is very gentle and feminine acting.
NAME: BUFF BREED: Lionhead WEIGHT: a little over 2 lbs. DISPOSITION: Ornery BORN: Unknown, Adopted Summer 2007 PROFILE: "Buff" is short for "Buffalo" as that's what she most resembles with long fur under her neck and on her chest. I adopted her from a family that did not want her any more. I think they kept her in a cage most of the time. Now Buff gets to play outside and enjoy quite a bit of freedom although she actually likes to be in her cage quite a bit when given a choice. She's a very loud thumper, especially if she wants a snack or attention. One of her favorite things is having her fur combed. She's quite vain and has grey/blue eyes.

The Pens

In Spring 2008 I built the rabbits new pens with iron gates and little houses for shelter.
They must remain in three separate pens because they fight if allowed to mix and mingle.
The rabbits are also allowed at different times to roam the rest of the yard and garden with supervision.
They even have their own herb garden full of mint and basil where they can graze
and their pens are bordered by purple lilac bushes like a proper English garden!

	NAME: Sir Huffs-a-Lot BREED: Mixed Black/Grey Agouti WEIGHT: 5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Sneaky Troublemaker BORN: 10/2000 DIED: 7/2007 PROFILE: Sir Huffs has been with me since day one as he is the offspring of my first pair of rabbits. He has been trying to escape whatever enclosure I put him in since the first day he could walk. He has escaped from buildings, tunneled under and jumped over fences. He never runs away, but probably has spent more time in my neighbor's yard than he has in mine. It is not uncommon to see him relaxing in the middle of the street late at night after a day of scheming a jailbreak. I spent over $300 to fence, re-fence and reinforce my backyard in Pennsylvania to contain his lust for freedom. Other than his mischief, he is sweet and will give you a kiss on occasion. He huffs and puffs when you pick him up, hence his name.
NAME: Ratty BREED: Netherland Dwarf WEIGHT: Not quite 2 lbs. DISPOSITION: Playful BORN: Unknown VANISHED: May, 2007 PROFILE: Ratty was the smallest adult rabbit I have ever seen. She was passed on through a few different owners who didn't want her before hitting the jackpot and coming to live with me. She had a malocclusion, so she needed to have her teeth clipped every couple of months. She was generally well-behaved and very calm when being held or picked up, which is unusual for a dwarf as they are most often highly-strung. She was St. Jasper's girlfriend and they met their demise from a damn coyote.
	NAME: Saint Jasper BREED: Harlequin WEIGHT: approx. 8 lbs. DISPOSITION: Scared BORN: Unknown VANISHED: May, 2007 PROFILE: Named after my favorite restaurant in town, big Saint Jasper was abandoned by his previous owner at the local Petco where I adopted him after seeing him housed in a fish tank!! He was a great bun, but he was very frightened by almost everything which leads me to believe he had a bad home life before coming here. He lived the good life, but even everyday birds would seem to scare him. He liked to hide in his house and follow his girlfriend Ratty around. After I moved to the rabbit ranch in the "country" he was more calm and assertive until a coyote broke in and... the rest is a sad story.
NAME: Sentry BREED: Dutch WEIGHT: approx. 4 lbs. DISPOSITION: Wound Up BORN: February, 2006 DIED: May, 2007 PROFILE: I saw an ad in the paper for free rabbits. Following the death of his sister Fatty, Sir Huffs needed a new mate with which to share his section of the yard. A breeder was getting rid of eight rabbits and I chose Sentry out of the bunch. She had never been out of a cage before I brought her home. For the first few days she took little hops until she learned to stretch her legs and hop like a real rabbit. She darted around the yard at breakneck speed running old man Sir Huffs in circles. She was called Sentry because she patrolled the fence line! She was killed by the same damn coyote that got St. Jasper and Ratty.
	NAME: Fat Bun (Fatty) BREED: Broken Black Dutch w/ Blue Eyes WEIGHT: 6.5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Lazy BORN: 10/2000 DIED: 7/22/2006 PROFILE: Fatty was also the offspring of my first pair of rabbits. I originally gave her to a family who kept her for a year and then decided they didn't have time for her anymore. She was attached to her brother Sir Huffs and whenever he escaped from the yard, she was right behind him. She was a blue-eyed vacuum that would eat almost anything and kept the backyard lawn trimmed. She tunneled into, and mowed down, my garden in 2003 devouring snow peas, bok choy, carrots, lettuce, and even tulips. She would also give you kisses and stand up on her back legs at your feet if she thought you had a snack. Her recipe for life was: eat, flop, repeat. She died from a respiratory infection. I planted some mint over her grave; something edible seemed appropriate.
NAME: AJ SPECS: Chestnut Agouti Netherland Dwarf, Female. WEIGHT: 2 lbs. DISPOSITION: High-spirited and mean. BORN: 11/2000 DIED: 7/15/2005 PROFILE: AJ was retired from the rabbit show circuit where she won a couple of times. I bought her in 2003 because she was the cutest and meanest rabbit at the rabbit farm. She was ALL bark and no bite though. She was the smallest of my rabbits so she thought she needed to act tough by growling and thumping all the time. She actually liked to be held and petted, but catching her was a challenge. I did not give AJ her name (it was tattooed in her ear), so it didn't stand for anything as far as I know. She was felled by the rabbit disease pasteurella along with her pal Mr. Cordial.
	NAME: Mr. Cordial BREED: Grey Dutch WEIGHT: 4 lbs. DISPOSITION: Friendly and outgoing BORN: Unknown DIED: 7/14/2005 PROFILE: I looked all over the area for a another Dutch rabbit after one of my previous rabbits died. I couldn't find one anywhere. I visited a pet store where they said this rabbit was just brought in because a family couldn't care for him anymore. They had no other info about him. He turned out to be the best behaved rabbit I have ever owned. He used his litter box faithfully and loved to chew sticks from a pear tree. He seemed happy all the time. He was stricken down by pasteurella in summer 2005.
NAME: Fumble BREED: Chestnut Agouti Netherland Dwarf WEIGHT: 2.5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Friendly and Fiesty BORN: 7/2000 DIED: 6/2003 PROFILE: Fumble was the first house rabbit I got. She was very attached to me and would sleep on my pillow above my head at night. Later she was Petey's girlfriend and they were inseparable so she went outside to live with him. Found her dead under the porch with no visible injuries, not sure what happened.
	NAME: Petey BREED: Broken Black Dutch w/ Blue Eyes WEIGHT: 4.5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Scared BORN: 10/2000 VANISHED: 8/2003 PROFILE: Petey was everyone's favorite rabbit. He was very handsome and all muscle. His right eye was blue but the top portion was brown (pictured). He would sit still and let you pet him for as long as you liked. He just vanished without a trace from the yard one day. Because he was scared of everything and never would even attempt an escape, my guess is that a hawk flew off with him. A few days later a hawk grabbed all the neighborhood wild rabbits too.
NAME: Baby Bun BREED: Broken Black Dutch WEIGHT: 3.5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Friendly and Loveable BORN: Unknown DIED: 2/2004 PROFILE: I bought Baby Bun from a mall pet store. I usually wouldn't buy a rabbit from a pet store, but I felt sorry for him and he seemed to really like me and really hate the noisy mall. He was very well behaved and affectionate. He would often just flop over and go into a deep sleep. In fact, you could pick him up while he was sleeping and he wouldn't wake up. One day he just suddenly dropped dead as I looked on in horror. My guess is a that he had a sudden stroke or heart attack caused by a congenital condition. He lived a good life!
	NAME: Skunky BREED: Broken Black Dutch w/blue eyes WEIGHT: 3.5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Friendly but Dimwitted BORN: Unknown VANISHED: 8/2002 PROFILE: My neighbors were moving and wanted to get rid of their pet bun. I agreed to take her and changed her name from "Thumper" to "Skunky" because she looked like a skunk with the white stripe on her head. Apparently she started her life at a nearby mansion where she didn't get along with the resident angora rabbits. By coincidence, the same day I brought her home, my friend brought me her rabbit, Spencer, to watch for a while. The union of those two resulted in Petey, Sir Huffs, and Fat Bun.
NAME: Spencer BREED: Mixed Black/Grey Agouti WEIGHT: ~5 lbs. DISPOSITION: Angry w/tendency to bite! BORN: 1992 VANISHED: 10/2000 PROFILE: Spencer spent his long life cooped up inside a bedroom. When he came to my place he was eight years old. I put him in the outdoor pen but he kept escaping. Finally, I just let him live free in the yard. I didn't have the heart to keep him locked up in a cage. Every morning he would be at the back stairs for food and drink. He chased wild rabbits and a real skunk. Amazingly, he actually chased a deer across the yard one day. He was old and began to lose weight. One day he just wandered off into the woods and never returned. After living alone in a house for so long, you could tell he loved the outdoors and became mellow and loveable in his golden months.
	NAME: Wild Bun BREED: American Cottontail (wild) WEIGHT: ~ 4 lbs. DISPOSITION: Cautious BORN: 2001 VANISHED: 2003 PROFILE: The rabbit adopted me rather than the other way around. He came to live in a bush behind my house when he was just a little bun. He would often squeeze through the fence to interact with my pet rabbits. When I moved a block over in the neighborhood, he followed and set up shop there. He would eat food out of my hand and would put his front paws on my lap if I was sitting on the ground. I caught him one time and gave him a grooming and a flea treatment. I have some great photos of him (like the one on the left) as he would let me get very close with the camera. Later he went blind in one eye and I believe he became a victim of the neighborhood hawk.

WB actually changes color between seasons. In the summer she is much lighter with all
white paws and a smaller nose marking. In the winter her paws turn dark,
her nose marking expands and her ears turn black. For an evolutionary perspective,
you'd think it would be the other way around so she'd be better cloaked in the snow.

This is my great-aunt Ruth holding Petey. I took Petey to her nursing home
and he was a big hit with everyone. He sat still while she petted him for an hour.

Sir Huffs-a-lot kicks up some dust while he digs a hole in the
yard in one of his classic escape attempts. My herb garden was on the other side of the fence!

Dan's Rabbit Page