Instead of one new refugee, the population of the south warren was now increased by about 15%. While 2 of the babies did not survive....the remaining 9 are beautiful and cute and fun and wonderful.....but.....each baby born in a shelter means some other bunny cannot be rescued.
Some bunny, or cat, or dog facing execution in a municipal shelter will possibly not be accepted by a shelter that does not practice the killing of healthy animals.......because of lack of space due to births by animals that came into that shelter already pregnant.
If that bunny or cat or dog was pregnant, that meant some human that was responsible for them.....failed them....and failed any other animal that couldn't be rescued because of unanticipated shelter births. Think of it this way, every shelter birth means somewhere some other animal will die. Every animal purchased from a breeder means.....some animal in a shelter somewhere dies because they weren't adopted.
Make no mistake, humans fooling around with the lives of others by domesticating living beings and making them dependent on us also makes us responsible for those lives......and for those deaths. Get it?
Enough growling from me..........now for the cute part. First is a still photo of the tiny one of the bunch, he/she is bracketed by yellow arrows. This little one, right now is less than half as large as the siblings. The white fuzzy stuff surrounding them is fur that mom pulled off of her chest to make a nest for the kiddos.
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| The tiny one.......age 1 week |
So far mom has been doing a great job of caring for her babies.....domestic mom rabbits do not hang around their youngsters except when nursing and cleaning them. It is speculated that the reason for this is a reduction in chances that a predator will find the babies. Rabbit babies have almost no scent and mom staying away reduces chances that a predator will be able to locate the babies by smell. Notice the round tummies....mom is doing her job admirably.
The babies are terrific, yet this situation exemplifies ambivalence......because of their unexpected arrival and the resources and time needed to care for them....somewhere, sometime some other bunny animal(s) may well not be rescued.
Spay and/or neuter companion animals, please. Urge others to do so....and begin living as an ethical vegan....please.
8 comments:
What gorgeous babies! And I am happy for them and their mom that they had a safe place to be born / give birth and to be protected now. But as you pointed out, this means someone else out there will lose out = and I am sorry for them. But the babies look great and I hope they will have very happy lives! ... That is so interesting about them having no scent. Nature does some pretty smart things sometimes. ... Well, mom is clearly doing a fine job. And when she is away from the little ones, I hope she is not worrying and mostly I hope she's getting some rest! :)
Thanks Krissa for commenting.
Mom appears to be...aside from being ravenous...doing well. She is a little on the skinny side but she is being provided with the calories to remedy this and she is eating...boy is she eating. The strain on her body....given all the milk she has to produce for so many babies....seems to be adroitly handled by her so far.
Super job on the video VE! Your words are well chosen and your teaching talents are once again put to good use. Sometimes I feel like we are futilely shouting above the clamor of the takers. Thank you for standing your post.
I just filled mom's food dish again. I'm thinking we need to get her one of those feeders that fills the dish automatically. chuckle, chuckle. She's especially fond of raisins and the pumpkin seeds of course. No surprise there. Well, the oatmeal disappears just as fast. "Calories..MORE calories!" she says.
Krissa, we try very hard to see to it all of our furry children get loving, safe homes. As you know it's not easy. The safeguards we have in place probably reduce the amount of adoption inquiries, but we get more sleep knowing we did our best to place them in loving forever homes. With people like VE on our side I am greatly encouraged. I can tell you VE's arrival in the mornings is the highlight of the day for these furry children. It is truly a delight to watch their joyful dances when VE greats each one every morning. One in particular, Gwendolyn, follows VE like a puppy, often tugging on his clothing for attention. She's trained him well and he gives her treats on demand now.
Thanks VE and Murph's Mom for the updates on how mom is doing. ... If I could do something to support the wonderful work you are doing, I sure would. The world needs more human folks like all of you who are truly making a difference for those who would otherwise suffer who knows what fate. ... Tell mom she has a 'fan' half way across the world. And I love raisins and pumpkin seeds too!!! I actually have them on my cereal every day. :) With soy milk of course. double :)
Thanks Murph's mom for your comment and kind words. I admit it, Gwendolyn "owns" me...she is the bunny's thump. :-)
Thanks again Krissa, I will convey your admiration to mom. :-)
Oh gosh - They are so darn cute. But your point on (too much) cute is well taken. So many animals and so few homes! Glad these very lucky ones made it to loving safety.
Thank you Bea for commenting. Wouldn't it be great if there were so many homes and so few animals needing homes. :-)
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