Rebel Rabbit came to live with us in April of 1999. He was about 2 months old. My husband and I lived in a small apartment in California . Rebel Rabbit got his name because he was dressed in a coat of grey like a Confederate Soldier. Later we would learn that the name suited him for other reasons!
When Rebel Rabbit was with us for just a couple of months, he had already learned how to escape from his cage. We forever called that move “Jailbreak”. One morning I woke up to a new sound of galloping. It sounded like a miniature horse doing laps around our apartment. I asked my husband why he didn’t put Rebel Rabbit to bed, but he assured me that he did. Rebel Rabbit was so proud that he escaped from his cage! He was just kicking up his heels and doing all kinds of Rabbit Acrobatics. He would even jump up onto our bed and walk around on us to wake us up in the morning.
We moved from California to Florida and Rebel Rabbit was my best little travel companion. His cage fit perfectly in the folded down rear seat of my car. He was such a little trooper. We had so much fun smuggling him into the hotels across the country.
Rebel Rabbit was one of those rabbits that do not like to walk on slippery floors. Luckily for him we have always lived in houses that are mostly carpeted. Our house in Florida had a split floor plan so the master bedroom was on the other side of the kitchen. We made a ritual out of “beddie bye” time every night. I had a large bright red wool scarf that we would roll out across the kitchen floor for Rebel Rabbit to run across to get into the bedroom. It truly was a “red carpet” treatment for our little king.
We were there for about two years and then moved to Arizona . Again, Rebel Rabbit was my best little travel companion. I could flip down my visor and use my vanity mirror to see him in the back seat. He would let me know with just a look that he was not pleased with the traveling!
The next house we moved into had stairs! We were worried that Rebel Rabbit would have a hard time. Were we wrong! Yes, he was cautious at first but once he mastered them, it was just one more feather in his cap. We tried to partition off part of our living area there so that he would not get behind the couch and dig at the carpet. One day, he was stretched out on his side in a very proud pose on the other side of the partition. He showed us! We had a gate that we used to block off some doorways to keep him corralled in certain parts of the house. He eventually chewed a hole big enough to fit through.
We went to work one day and put Rebel Rabbit in his cage just like any other day. We must have been in a big hurry and neglected to close the top! When we got home that night, I went right to let Rebel Rabbit out and to my horror, the cage was empty! After doing a quick scan we realized that he had posed in a very proud fashion right under the dining room table. We never discovered any mischief from that day. He had no food or water all day because he was locked out of his cage since the side door was closed.
Rebel Rabbit had his favorite treats. He absolutely loved Triscuits. He would try to get inside the box if we would let him. We knew that “people food” was not really good for him but we learned to give him very small pieces. All we had to do was crinkle the bag and he would come flying out from whatever hiding place he was in. He also learned to love cherries and grapes. In his last 6 months he would come out at 5:00pm (you could set your watch by it) for his treat. He would come right to the edge of the kitchen floor and kind of do a double nod of his head diagonally to show his excitement. Then he would come almost completely onto the kitchen floor with just the tip of his left rear foot still on the carpet. He reminded me of a base runner in a baseball game. One of his other favorite treats became Kale. He could not get enough. I would have to stop at the store every 2 to 3 days to get a new bag of Kale. I could not come home empty handed. He would expect me to come through the door with that bag! He would greet me and then do his little dance at the edge of the kitchen floor while I got it washed for him. In the evening hours he really learned how to “work us” for a treat. Every time we went near the fridge or the pantry, he would come running out.
Rebel Rabbit hated closed doors. If someone was in a room with a door closed, he would come and scratch at the door until you got up and opened it. Sometimes he would make a game out of blasting through a partially closed doorway at full speed, doing a lap around the room and then blasting off to another part of the house.
Rebel Rabbit had a Bunny Condo. It was quite plush with wall to wall carpeting. If Rebel Rabbit was in there, God help you if you tried to reach in there with your hand! He could be quite ferocious with his lunging and growling. That behavior earned him his second name, Booger Bear. He was sometimes a booger sized bear! The same rules would apply if you tried to touch his bed, or any of his numerous rugs and mats that are scattered through the house.
Rebel Rabbit loved to chew! We had many toys for him but they were never as fun as chewing on: my husband’s jeans, slippers, record collection, trunk, coffee table, futon, speakers, or carpet, to name a few.
Rebel Rabbit had such a great sense of humor. He would sometimes untie my husbands shoes while he was distracted watching T.V. Sometimes, he would wake up in the morning and slip his feet into his slippers, only to find a little present left there the night before. Sometimes, Rebel Rabbit would do what we call “Blowing a Red Light”. That is when your are just walking along and then suddenly a streak from your peripheral vision, a graze of soft fur against your ankles, and now it looks like you are trying to balance on a high wire.
Rebel Rabbit hated it when I would use the computer. If he were here now, he would be nudging my ankles to stop what I am doing. I never knew if it was the sound of the typing or the lack of attention that annoyed him
Rebel Rabbit was a guardian rabbit also. If a workman came into our home, he would have to step over the top of Rebel Rabbit, Rebel would not budge for a stranger.
Rebel Rabbit earned his freedom in his last 6 months. He demonstrated that he could be trusted to be out all night. He would sit at the foot of our bed. I would have to let my eyes adjust if I got up in the middle of the night so that I would not hurt him. Sometimes he would wake us up with a warning of several loud thumps indicating some type of danger somewhere. Perhaps a dog barking in the distance, or a bunny rabbit loose in our bedroom.
Rebel Rabbit was not the kind of rabbit to jump into your lap, but he was always in the same room with us. He would let us “put loves” on him as long as your hand did not get too close to his butt and as long as you absolutely never reached under his chin. He would also give us “kisses loves”, that’s when we can kiss him on his forehead.
When Rebel Rabbit got sick, we tried to get medical help for him. In retrospect, we realize that just like the way he lived his life, he had to leave on his terms. There was no real lengthy illness, we had no hard decisions to make. He got ill and in a matter of 36 hours, was gone. In his final hours, he finally let us hold him. We held him more in his final moment than we had his whole life. He has always known how well loved he was, but he truly was not alone in his final moments. He was laying on my chest and lifted his head up to say goodbye. He looked at both of us as if to say “thank you” and then rested his head back on my chest for his final breath.
Rebel Rabbit has enriched our lives. His lessons have taught us so much about love with his tenacity, humor, determination and pure spunk. We are truly grateful to have spent so much time with our best friend. We will miss him and all of his antics.
February 14, 1999 – September 30, 2008
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