Hello, Little Bun

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Hello, Little Bun

Selkie (top) and Evie

Selkie came first. He's a "Kashmir lop", a smallish rabbit with distinctive markings and floppy ears. (Actually, when he was very new, his left ear stuck up - but eventually gravity won, and he became a true lop.)

Evie, whom we were told was a "dwarf lop" but who grew to be quite big, was acquired to be his friend. After a short "getting-to-know-you" period, they did become firm friends, and would almost always be found together.

We were told that they were both females. However, rabbits' "bits'n'pieces" are somewhat ambiguous when they are young; and they both turned out to be males! Actually, that was a blessing in disguise, as we found out later - males (when they've been neutered) normally get on very well; but females are territorial and can be quite cranky. Surprised? So were we.

Friends who'd had rabbits before us gave us their hutch, which now graces our back lawn. Here it is:

(I really ought to fix that lid...)

Being somewhat eccentric, I decided to build them one for inside. (After all, it can get quite cold in Tasmania in winter.) Voilà:

- and with the lid up:

You can see their blue cage under the hutch. This is the standard mode of transport to and from the garden. While taking them in and out, I found myself singing a little tune to accompany the process. This eventually became the chorus for the following song; the melody for the verses followed naturally enough.

Just before proceeding to the song - some more pictures of the bunnies when they were young. (You can click to see bigger versions.)

Young Selkie, pic #1 Young Evie, pic #1

Young Selkie, pic #2 Young Evie, pic #2

Young Selkie, pic #3 Young Evie, pic #3

Here is the link to the music, hellobun.mid. You can have this playing in the background while you follow the lyrics below. (To save this midi file to your hard disc, right-click here.)

If you'd like to see the musical notation in addition to the lyrics while listening to the song, you can right-click to download the Noteworthy Composer file, hellobun.nwc . If you go to Noteworthy's website , you can download their freeware Noteworthy Player, which will play the file for you.

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All fixed? Okay, here are the lyrics:

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I've got two friendly bunnies;
I love them very much.
To keep them warm and comfy,
I built them an indoor hutch.
When I wake in the morning,
And greet the break of day,
I go into the lounge-room,
And this is what I say:

Chorus:

I give them for their breakfast
Some rabbit and guinea-pig mix;
I also add some pellets in
A ratio of four to six.
I take it to the lounge-room,
And they look very coy;
But when they see what I've got with me,
The bunnies jump for joy - and I say:

Chorus - please, do join in!

Now if the sun is shining,
And it's a lovely day,
I put the bunnies in their cage
And take them straight away
Outside to the back garden,
Where there's an outdoor hutch.
I put them in, and they give me a grin
To thank me very much, and I say:

Chorus

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And when the evening gathers,
And it gets dark and cool,
I go outside to get them in,
And usually - as a rule -
They get a little bit grumpy
Until they're back inside,
But after a while they give me a smile
To say: "Thanks for the ride!" - and I say:

Chorus

Then later in the evening,
I give them for their tea
An apple and a carrot,
Which fills the buns with glee -
And if I'm very lucky
I might get a little lick,
Which makes me very happy
And gives me quite a kick - and I say:

Chorus

And then I poke the fire up,
To keep my bunnies warm.
(I never let them feel the cold,
'cause that would be bad form.)
And when I close the hutch lid,
To put the buns to bed -
Because I've never liked "goodbyes",
I say these words instead:

Chorus - all together now:

"Hello, little bun, hello, little bun,
Hello, little bun!
Hello, little bun, hello, little bun,
Hello, little bun!
Hello, little bunny,
Hello, little bun!
Hello, little bun, hello, little bun,
Hello, little little bun!
Hello, little bun, hello, little bun,
Hello, little bun!
Once more, with four-part harmony and feeling:
Hello, little bun, hello, little bun,
Hello, little little bun!
Hello, little bun, hello, little bun,
Hello, little bun!"

( \
\ \_ _/( \
o o \ )
=(_T_)=
"

EPILOGUE

Life has a way of dumpimg on you. Eventually, I did have to say "goodbye" to one of my little friends, in a way which I found upsetting.

Rabbits normally live for from about eight to twelve years. However, at only four years of age, Evie contracted "snuffles".

When humans get the snuffles, it basically means a head-cold. It's usually gone in a few days. With bunnies, however, "snuffles" is a serious respiratory tract infection; and once they've got it, they don't get rid of it. Worse still, some strains can be very quickly fatal.

In November 2003, this was what happened to my poor old Evie. In spite of after-hours rushes to the vet and injections of antibiotics, my lovely big grey bunny passed away one very sad night.

So now I have only one friendly bunny, whom I treasure. (Fortunately, he escaped unscathed.)

In closing, here's a picture of Selkie in his indoor hutch taken late in March 2005.

POSTSCRIPT

In July 2004, Selkie developed a problem which is apparently quite common in small breeds of rabbits. The teeth roots can grow up and interfere with the surrounds of the eyes. I noticed him pawing at his face, and saw that the area under one eye didn't look right.

I took him to the vet, who immediately prescribed antibiotics, which we gave him twice a day for a couple of weeks. The situation improved, and my little friend got his old cheekiness back - although he was clearly slowing down.

It happened again toward the end of April 2005. This time, I noticed that the pupil of his left eye was clouding over, like a cataract. Again, the vet prescribed antibiotics for him, which helped - but he was effectively blind in that eye, and also obviously ageing fast.

On 1st June, I took him to the vet for a check-up. His weight was down a bit, but he appeared OK, considering his overall condition.

Over the next week I noticed that he was hardly eating, and his litter was almost clean. He looked so old and tired. Yesterday (9th June) I took him to the vet for what turned out to be the last time. He'd lost a quarter of his weight, and was all floppy - his muscle tone was very low.

You can guess the rest. At about 4:30 on a wet, foggy Thursday afternoon, I let my little brown bunny go. He's now buried next to his old grey friend.

So long, little bun. It was lovely knowing you - both of you. Always remembered, with great affection.

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