Oh
dear. The spring-like weather has set Dijon off. He’s not in the mood
for love, but in the mood for destruction; he’s being a very naughty boy
today! And Mabel is also displaying some undesirable behaviour, too.
Let’s
start with Mabel. She is determined to gnaw her way into the innards of
our one remaining armchair. She has managed to find her way beneath the
skirt – so she cannot be seen – and now she is scrapping at the
upholstered parts doing her level best to make inroads to the interior.
Shooing her away results in an angry flicking of her back feet and a
defiant return to the chair moments later.
Dijon has aided her a
little, but he is more intent on ripping the cover to shreds. Now,
originally this was a three piece suite that was bought to furnish out
home when we moved in 15 years ago, so it has (had) lasted well.
One
armchair succumbed to Neroli, our previous Dutch houserabbit, who
succeeded in tearing in to it unbeknownst to us. Ideally, we would like a
few more years use out of the remaining chair and sofa as we are
reluctant to splash out on a new one when there are destructive bunnies
on the loose.
Anyway, Dijon has been making the most of he teeth
by gnawing sizeable chunks from the outer cover. And he simply refuses
to be shooed away; he doggedly remains attached, determined to finish
the job of embellishing the cover with a fine selection random holes.
Not only that, but he is adamant that the decorative piping around the
cushion and backrest would look better if it were removed, an
improvement that he had made a start on.
They weren’t like this when the weather was cold.
So, from now on only the blog will be updated.
And here is the first update of spring...
Mabel and Dijon are now very settled in their ways, and they are quite happy with the arrangement in the living room: in the morning, the Easipet pen is arranged to allow them access only to the dining area of the living room. Straight after their breakfast they are allowed out, and out they stay until it’s time for school (at weekends they stay out). IN the late afternoon and evening they are given access to the entire living room.
At meal times they have become terrible beggars, and it’s not unusual for them to stand on their hind legs, stretching as far up to the table as possible, demanding something from our plated. They look like a couple of performing poodles the way they tiptoe on their back feet. It’s highly undignified behaviour for bunnies.
Over the cold winter they have learned that radiator give of a pleasant heat, and they love to sit as close as possible. This does keep them out of mischief, but does mean they are in a permanent moult which has caused the filter on the vacuum cleaner to block more than once. Two rings of black, brown and white fur are a common site on our carpet.
They have also learned to sleep in sunbeams that shine through the patio doors. In the morning they shine onto the radiator, and at midday/early afternoon onto the piano, so Mabel and Dijon will move around accordingly.
If they spot one of us out in the back garden, then the moment we come back inside, the two of them run to the living room door awaiting a treat. If we forget to bring a freshly picked apple twig, strawberry leaves, or a few blades of grass/oats, they do grow a little cross.
It’s hard to believe they’ve been with us for 20 months. They have caused relatively little destruction in that time. Only my slippers and remote controls have really suffered - Dijon has a taste for leather and rubber.
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