What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens.

My name is Thumper. I’m a 3-year old Netherland Dwarf rabbit (or something like that) and I live at a place that some call the Nuthouse Preserve (whatever that means). My human has invited me to dictate an open letter to all humans, because she doesn’t believe that everyone who doesn’t provide good homes to rabbits fully realize the unkindness of the common pet rabbit habitat, and she hopes this letter will enlighten some humans to the common needs of pet rabbits everywhere.

As baby rabbits,  my family of siblings found ourselves in a large, comfortable playpen at a place called Tractor Supply. It was spring – the time of year when humans celebrate some manner of holiday by buying bunnies, ducklings and chicks for their kids. Rumor had it, that once a child picked you up to cuddle you and the parents saw it, you were gone – and you life from there on out was a downhill journey into darkness and despair.

They say you go home and are fussed over and annoyingly cuddled for a few days…sometimes as much as a few weeks. The humans buy you a small cage to live in, where you stay except when the children want to play with you. As you grow older and start behaving like a rabbit, instead of a cute little toy, the children soon tire of you. Many rabbits find themselves soon exiled to a cage in the backyard. If you’re lucky, it’s large enough to move around in, and has wires on the bottom so your body excrement doesn’t become your bedding – they will feed you some bland, pelleted food and keep your water bottle full. Hopefully, the cage will be high enough off the ground and secure enough that wild animals and roaming dogs and cats can’t breach it and carry you off to a horrible fate in the long, lonely nights.

You’ll sit up there in your cage, feet sore from the unchanging, relentless wire on the bottom of the cage…shivering in the corner on cold nights and panting near the door on hot days. If you’re really lucky, the humans have placed your cage in the shade. Your muscles soon ache from never being able to run and jump and dig. Your joints and bones stop working . long before old age sets in, from the same lack of natural exercise. You’ll soon find yourself becoming overweight simply because eating is the only thing you have to pass the time, and the ensuing obesity only adds to your discomfort. It’s not likely you’ll ever have a mate to love, or a family. And it’s rumored that those who do, do so to supply humans with food. Yes, we’ve heard that some humans actually EAT us.

Sometimes from the cruel confines of the cage that has become your life, you may see wild rabbits playing along the edges of the yard. When they see you, they stop and stare for a moment, then sneak back into the undergrowth in horror.

There have been other horror stories too – some rabbits being killed by the family dogs or cats…sometimes even the children themselves. On rare occasions, some have actually escaped back into the wild. No one has ever heard from any of those again. Whether their new life was prosperous or came to an untimely end, surely, either would be better than the slow death of the backyard cage.

Is it any small wonder, that having heard such rumors, that many baby rabbits take quite some time to come around to endearing themselves to their human captors? We’ve all  heard these stories.

I don’t know by what fate it was that I ended up in very different circumstances. I left the playpen at Tractor Supply like many others before me and after me. I spent my first few weeks in a cage in the humans’ house. They kept me clean and fed and even let me out of the cage to romp and run around the house. But after a while, like many humans, they got tired of cleaning my cage, they got tired of me chewing the carpet and the furniture and nipping at their feet. Before long, I too found myself in the infamous cage of death in the backyard. The cage was indeed large, and they had included a cozy wooden hutch. The floor inside was covered with a real floor (not wire) and fluffy bedding that was fun to shred. It was very close to the back porch too, out of wind and sun and rain, and inside a chain-link fence. At least I didn’t feel so vulnerable to wild things in the night. So I resigned myself to the fate that hounds all cute Easter bunnies. At least, mine would not be as uncomfortable as that of some, if they continued to care for me like this.

The first morning after my first night outdoors, I was STUNNED beyond words, when the large human came out the back door and actually OPENED my cage door! Was it OK to come out? What was going to happen when I DID come out? She sat down in a chair in the backyard and waited quietly. It took me a while to get up the nerve to leave the security of the cage. When I did, I found blocks at the door, to make my exit and re-entry easier. Well, I guess it’s OK, I can always return to the cage in the event of an emergency.


I spent that first day exploring the spacious and comfortable backyard inside the chain-link fence. There was grass to eat and a pond to drink water out of. There was a large variety of plants around the pond too – great places to hide in the shade – some even good to munch on! And much to my delight, there was the company of other creatures like many different kinds of birds, squirrels and chipmunks who often came to visit and share a meal. The birds were always knocking seeds to the ground from the feeders that were hanging from a pole in the middle of the yard, and these were tasty treats for myself and the squirrels and chipmunks. In the summer, there were even frogs at the pond. I have seen a snake or two, but fortunately, I’m too big and fast to be considered a meal, though I am sad to say, I have seen them take a frog or chipmunk or two.


My favorite spot is by the pond, between a concrete block and underneath a plant with thick trailing vines. It was a monster fern for a couple of summers. This summer, it was ivy. Either way, it’s a cool spot where I feel safe from unwelcome eyes and it’s relaxing to hear the constant flow of water going into the pond. I also enjoy watching the fish. I have a lean-to behind this beast of a plant called an elephant ear, where I can find refuge from the weather, if a storm rises suddenly and I don’t have time to make it back to my cage. There’s lots of dirt to dig in too.

This spring, we had a pair of goats in the backyard. The mother was mean to me at first, but when she saw what fun her baby was having with me, she pretty much left me alone after that. Since the humans used the fence that had been blocking off the gas tank to keep the goats from the pond, I was able to get under the tank and dig quite an impressive underground compound! The chipmunks and squirrels thought it was cool too. Even after the goats went back to the pasture, the human let me keep my access to the compound under the gas tank…until one night I wouldn’t let the boy catch me and put me back in my cage. The boy had forgotten me and left me out on quite a few nights and I had so come to enjoy the constant freedom,  so I thought, what if I hide in my compound where they can’t find me and stay out ALL the time? Silly human didn’t think that was a good idea…something about feeling I was safer in the security of my cage at night, even though I was inside a secure fence. She wasn’t impressed with my actions, and soon replaced the fencing around the gas tank so I couldn’t hide there anymore.

Oh well, I guess I can’t complain. It’s not like my life isn’t pretty comfortable without the underground compound. I have the freedom to come and go from my cage most days – except when the lawn mower man is expected – they are afraid he will leave the fence gate open like he did once before, and let me out. I don’t know why – I didn’t leave the last time he did that and I was out – I’m no dummy, I’ve got it made in the shade in this place, I’m not going anywhere! I’ve got my friends – birds, squirrels, chipmunks, frogs.


The humans even spend lots of time relaxing in the back yard with me and they don’t even kick me when I nibble their toes and heels. They buy me toys like balls to roll around and things to chew on, though one of my all-time favorite toys is empty flower pots – they are so fun to toss around the yard! They even buy me these huge blocks of seeds and other good stuff all pressed together into a brick – I dunno what’s in it but it sure tastes good and is fun to chew on!

Sometimes, I see other rabbits on the other side of the fence. Some of them have come close enough to have a conversation with. I don’t mind talking with them from a distance, but I let them know with some serious thumping that they aren’t particularly welcome inside my domain – this is MY yard and MY family – it’s a good, safe, comfortable place to be. I know how lucky I am. I know that very few of my friends and family lived this well. If only there was a way to let humans know how easy and inexpensive it would be to make a pet rabbit happy. All we want it room to run and play, good food and grass and hay, clean water, just a little attention now and then. My humans even say I have quite a personality. The big human even told me that the night and morning I hid out in my compound and she thought I was gone, she cried all the way to work that morning. I figured she liked me OK, since she takes such good care of me – she even took me to an animal doctor once because I hurt my eye (man, I don’t EVER want to go back to THAT place!) – but I had no idea she cared THAT much!

Just please spread the word. Don’t buy rabbits for your kids at Easter and let the creatures end up with the cruel fate that so many meet. If you can’t bother to have us in the house, give us a nice safe yard to play in, like my humans have given me. I don’t require very much attention or bother – I don’t think it even costs that much to keep me well cared for. And if you really CAN’T afford to care for a rabbit properly, just don’t get one for heaven’s sake! Get a goldfish or a Betta for cryin’ out loud!

Be kind to animals people. You have a lot of power in this world – please use it wisely. With great power comes great responsibility. Don’t be an irresponsible pet owner.

Yeah, I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I hope that by some other human reading this, maybe my advice might lead to some other rabbit having a better life too.


Sincerely,
Thumper, the rabbit