Bunnies Galore

Now that the baby bunnies are a few weeks old, I have been keeping busy by bringing them out for play every morning. They develop very quickly. A few days ago they were tentatively stumbling around, and now they rip around the porch! My ambition is to train them to jump hurdles. I think this would make them infinitely more appealing to the pet market. Speaking of which, these bunnies are FOR SALE in Anchorage right now. 

This is one of the two lilacs. I can't tell them apart, so they do not have names yet.

This is "Notchtop", so named because his mother accidentally nipped one of his ears while he was being born. Also named after a prominent peak in the Colorado rockies. And finally, a really tasty diner in Estes Park! As you can see, they really like the geranium flowers. You will see many more pictures like this. It's one of the few times they sit still long enough to take a good picture.

They have been surprisingly fascinated by the pile of sticks, and climb under and over them as often as they can. 

"Tug" cleaning his paws.

Already, they are trying to find ways to sneak out.

"Mink" trying to climb.

They also want inside.

"Kahawa" trying to run on the door-sill and not quite fitting.

When one bunny discovers something fun, another will notice and come to investigate.

They tend to congregate underneath people, which means you really have to watch your step!

It's our dusty shoes that they are after.

 "Polar Bear" isn't as big on exercise as the rest. Mostly big on eating flowers.

I believe we may have found a yet-unknown pollinator mutualism between baby rabbits and geraniums.

"Bean" is by far the best jumper of the lot, and puts out extra effort by jumping on top of the box to get a flower snack.

We put up a broom as a jump bar. Polar bear didn't quite see the point.

Bean looks like a pro, and is loving it.

While most are game, not all bunnies are successful the first time.

"Cadbury" starting his approach.

Nice landing!

"ZZ" (spotted one) seems to like to find other bunnies and try to start a pile. He's not so big on the outdoors just quite yet. 

I let them out to run around every morning, and my hope is that by providing them new toys and by rearranging the obstacles they will develop into more intelligent and fun-loving rabbits! The enjoyment and companionship you get from a pet grows in proportion to the time and effort you give. 

How do I know when it's time for them to go back to their nest? When they start to make a pile and fall asleep! At the moment, they are still patient enough to enjoy sitting in my lap, but I wonder if they will become more restless as they get older. 

Leaving Tok for the Big City

The winter field season ended after many successful lynx captures, some close calls with bad ice, and the usual snow machine abuse. Back in Tok, the sun was heating up the world and the snow was starting to melt. Life was pretty quiet again. Then several things happened, all at once.

• My job at the refuge was suddenly cut due to budget constraints.
• I found a new seasonal job working for an outdoor education camp in Anchorage.
• We began the process of moving out of our duplex.
• I broke my fibula while nordic skiing (betcha nobody's done that before!).
• Two of my pet rabbits gave birth and we now have an additional 13 rabbits (albeit miniature ones) to transport. In my defense, these animals became pregnant before we were informed that we would have to move.

Needless to say, with a broken leg I was pretty much useless. Which may have been okay after all, since I was able to give Dash plenty of space to work his packing-magic. But even with the best calculations, it is difficult to fit the personal belongings of two people into a couple of subarus. We had a lot of moving assistance from generous friends.

Amani is faithful to his cage, even when the bottom has been taken away to be packed. 

While my industrious boyfriend was busy packing, I finished some paintings. The outlines were in place, and I just needed to color inside the lines. I've been practicing with using isopropyl alcohol to give a mottled effect in my backgrounds, and I used it here on the yellow birch trees.

September, watercolor and pen

One of the many, many disappointing things about breaking my leg was no longer being able to join Dash on hikes to check on the trail cameras. I was hoping to climb up the ridge across from Hona Mt. and get the Mentastas from up high, one last time before we left. Anyways, there are a pair of coyotes that frequent the ridge top where we have put some cameras, and we always see their tracks running along the top. When we checked on our cameras back in January, the days were so short that it was often dark by the time we finished the ridge loop. On a particularly cold night, we were lucky enough to see the full moon rise, and with it a "moon dog" illusion appeared. And that was the inspiration for this watercolor, Moon Dog.

Moon Dog, watercolor and ink

While trying to think of with ways to entertain Amani, Dash came up with the great idea of using a "cut-out board" to "dress him up". Unlike forcing your pet to wear a costume (and let's be real, no animal likes to wear clothes), this is a completely humane way to have fun. By the way, this is now Amani's favorite box. How can we tell? It's the only box that he hasn't ripped to shreds, which I interpret to mean he has a certain level of appreciation for it.

For example, here we have a flaming lion...

... and here is the manatee side (his least favorite of the three)...

...And mermaid! (merman? Amani is neutered, so it shouldn't matter, but we should probably stick with the gender he was born with)

And here is my bandaged foot, photo-bombing a perfectly cute composition.

Amani has helped to teach me the virtue of relaxation. He is really good at it. He even fell asleep while grooming his leg. 

I will have plenty of baby bunny photos to share soon! And not much else while my leg heals.