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Monday, October 4, 2010

Rescued young ones.............

Saturday, October the 2nd was a gorgeous day weather-wise and Veronica was not the only bunny  to get to be featured in "film". The first video is of the brother of "Fast Eddie", these 2 brothers were born at Heartland Rabbit Rescue after their mother was found running through a neighborhood in Edmond, OK.

This video has only about 30 seconds of footage but enough to allow you to see that the "baby" has grown into a very good-looking youngster. They are bunny "adolescents" now and anytime they are allowed running free privileges inside the warren you can be sure they elicit upset and irritation from everyone they get near (sound familiar?).

It is remarkable how most (if not all) of us mammals follow the same trajectory of development and decline. Young...increasing physical abilities, need lots of care and attention, adolescent...can look out for self but reckless and irritating, adult....fending for self (mostly), healthy, elderly....decreasing physical abilities, increasing needs for care.

This dependent, independent, dependent path is followed by human animals, rabbit animals, dog animals, cat animals, rat animals, ad infinitum. We all start out relatively helpless and dependent, then proceed to relative independence and.....if we are lucky to live that long.....begin a period of decreasing physical abilities and waning independence. For those of you that continue to cling to the delusion that we humans are not animals, well........

Here is a brief view of a bunny version of a middle school kiddo.
The next video is of Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn was running the streets of Noble, OK when she was about 7 weeks old. She was emaciated and in poor shape. Luckily for her she ended up at Heartland instead of being a predator's meal.

Gwendolyn is a real sweetie, she is very social and often seeks out strokes and petting from humans that happen to be around. She knows that humans call her Gwendolyn and will respond to that name. In the video we can see her finding some tasty bits by digging in the earth and....using her special ears and eyes to listen and watch for danger.

Gwendolyn belongs to a group of animal people that do not attack or hurt other animal people for food. She is a vegan, a live and let live individual, a prey animal, unlike the more usual companion animals cats (obligate carnivore) and dogs (omnivore)....who are both predator and prey animals.

Gwendolyn has a different approach to life.....she is quiet for the most part and rarely vocalizes (the better to avoid drawing attention to herself), she (along with all bunnies) has very little odor......if you sniff a healthy bunny what you get is a very faint smell of fresh bread. At least that's what they smell like to me. Take a good whiff of a dog or a cat and you will likely get a much stronger smell (not a fresh bread smell, for sure)......they do not need to be as invisible to their environment. Cat and dog animals also make lots more noise than do rabbit animals.

Can we generalize? Vegans.....quiet, little odor, live and let live. Predators.....noisy, stinky, hurt others.

Here is Gwendolyn enjoying the outdoors.
 Most of us humans have been exposed to cat and dog animals. A much smaller number of humans have been exposed to rabbit animals (or other non-omnivore or non-carnivore animals).

Rabbit animals and cow animals and horse animals and sheep animals and chicken animals all share an approach to living that can be called vegan. They do not typically use other living (sentient) beings for food or clothing or entertainment, etc. (note: chickens will eat insects, worms and sometimes carrion)

None of the previously named animal people eat sentient beings for food. They do not hunt or stalk or ambush or kill other (sentient) living beings (except accidentally or in self-defense).  Notice what we human animals do with vegan animals.....we exploit them, enslave them, kill them. (Hell, we exploit and kill all other animals, but numerically by far the largest number of our victims are vegan animals)

We tend to ridicule human animals that emulate the vegan animals and try to live a life of not harming others. Readers that practice a vegan lifestyle are familiar with this. Readers that follow other approaches to living almost invariably think (or have thought) vegan folks are extremists, weird, odd or peculiar.

Average folks believe enslaving, exploiting and killing just for convenience, pleasure, entertainment or taste is 'normal'......avoiding harm to others is, well, 'weird'.

Curious, isn't it?

9 comments:

Krissa said...

Gwendolyn's video isn't playing, but I'll try again from time to time. She looks and sounds like a real sweet pea. What is Fast Eddie's brother's name? Peter Gunn? :) I remember that song in his video! It's by "Art of Noise", well that version anyway. ... This made me laugh out loud: 'you can be sure they elicit upset and irritation from everyone they get near (sound familiar?)'. Oh boy, is that familiar! I fully support whoever made that invention that creates a sound only teenage humans can hear that drives them away. I want one! :) ... Yes, it is curious the derision that is directed at human beings who live cruelty-free. Luckily I'm never the butt of that, but there are plenty of people in my life who just don't get it. And I'm the "eccentric" but lovable (fill in the blank with family affiliation or friend status here). ... My boy cat is the only feline I've ever noticed a distinct smell, but it's not stinky. I can't quite describe it. And he's neutered so not sure where it's coming from. ... Well, I'll keep trying Gwendolyn's vid. Thanks for sharing. (I wish human teenagers were less annoying than other teenagers!!!). :)

Krissa said...

Yay! I got to see Gwendolyn, too! :) The expression of her eyes and face are far too sweet to look like she was about to say "you kids get out of my yard!". When she went on alert a few times it was almost like "hey! wanna come play?". I like her music, but I'm not sure what it is. .. Mostly looking at her I just want to give her a hug. :) It is easy to see that she has thrived with the love she found at Heartland.

Christina said...

These are great videos. The bunnies know how to have a good time. I have always believed Glenn that human being are animals too. We are the worst kind often because we plot, plan, and take selfishly but we are capable of great things too. While I am not a vegan or a veggie I would never ridicule you or anyone else for choosing such a caring and aware lifestyle. I consider myself lucky when I meet new people like yourself. It adds to my life and you have truly added to the bunnies lives.

Heartland said...

Good one Krissa. Although Peter Gunn would have fit, his name is Diganeli. He is always in his brother's shadow who casts a bigger shadow only slightly. Fast Eddie's ears are a smidgen longer than Diganeli'. The choice of background music for him made me laugh out loud too. Gwendolyn's theme music is Strangers On the Shore. A bit before your time. She would cuddle right up to you. Loves attention and will go flat and stay there until you stop petting her. A lovely bunny soul and a treasure to be around.I'll tell her Krissa sent her a hug. She will feel special. Thank you from her.

I agree Christina. Glenn and Juli have enriched all our lives. What a gift they are to these babies and us humans alike. They make me laugh and just think how many people pays others for that, and the ticket prices aren't cheap. I always look forward to their visits.

So I'm Thinking Of Going Vegan said...

You've made some fascinating observations in this post, and I didn't realize that so many other animals are herbivore. I love cats, but maybe I'll have to consider adopting bunnies next time. Great food for thought! :)

veganelder said...

Thanks for commenting Krissa, glad you enjoyed seeing the bunny folk in "action".

Someone once observed that if teenagers really understood how ignorant they were, they would never leave home....hence they have to have the mindset that they know everything and are superior to all......that's what helps get them to leave and go out on their own. Plus, the unpleasant components of their personality ensure that no one misses them very much and tries to prevent them from leaving.....an interesting way to look at it. All that in the name of dispersal from the nest.

veganelder said...

Thanks Christina for commenting. I appreciate that you would not be mean to veg folks....that is sometimes not the case.

I agree, the Heartland warren is a great place to meet terrific rabbit folks and terrific human folks. :-)

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Heartland and for your writing about Gwendolyn and for your kind words.

Gwendolyn is indeed a treasure.

veganelder said...

Thanks for commenting So I'm Thinking of Going Vegan. Yah, apparently the ratio of carnivores to herbivores and omnivores is something like 10 to one. In other words there will always be (in a balanced biotic system) many more non-carnivores than there will be carnivores.

It is curious when you think of it how many humans only interact on any sustained basis with animals (dogs or cats) that are carnivore or omnivore when that does not accurately reflect the makeup of the biotic balance of the planet.