Day 20: The tortoise and the bunny

 Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 20: The tortoise and the bunny

This morning I received an email from a friend who bought 160-gallon tank for her turtle, Penny. This reminded me of a time when, back in South Africa, I had neighbors who had a tortoise.

This tortoise, Alexander, would lazily crawl around the garden, sit by the gate watching traffic, or sit for hours in the sun.

Every now and then though, Alexander would get mischievous and park himself on the driveway to the house. When my neighbors, Paul and Linda, came home they wouldn’t be able to drive the car inside the garage because Alexander was blocking the way.

Picking Alexander up and moving him was not an option as he weight in the region of 50 kg (110 lbs) and Paul couldn’t really get a good grip on him. So the only option was to wait until Alexander moved or tempt him with something to make him move.

My son, Dieter, a small boy in the days was eager to meet the tortoise but Paul and Linda were not keen on letting Dieter close to their pet. Even though tortoises are friendly, and recognize their owners, there was no telling what Alexander would do when faced with a strange child.

So we took Dieter to the Bunny and Tortoise Park in Benoni. This park is home to a great number of big tortoises who are used to humans. Small children are even allowed to sit on them.

When we arrived at the park though, Dieter didn’t exactly take a shine to the tortoises, even seemed a little afraid of them. Instead the bunnies had his undivided attention. 

He looked at them, he wanted to catch one, but the bunnies weren’t keen on being caught. They saw him coming and hopped away.

Not getting anywhere in his catching endeavors he turned to mom and dad and pleaded “Can you catch me one?”

We didn’t think we would do much better than him but okay, we would give it a shot. While my ex-husband chased a small black bunny, I went in hot pursuit of a brown one. The both of us walked, ran and even plunged onto the ground a few times in an effort to catch a bunny, but the little buggers were faster than we were.

Tired, dusty and more than a little sore from hitting the ground several times, I eventually, eventually caught the brown bunny and handed it to Dieter. He looked down on the bunny and said, “I actually wanted a white one.” 

Well, thought luck, it had taken me the best part of half an hour to catch the brown one and it would have to do.

If he had asked to hold a small tortoise I gladly would have gotten him one, but catching another bunny … no thank you, those little buggers were way too fast.

Can cats count? An Easter experience.

It was a glorious Easter Sunday morning.  It had been raining on and off for the entire week, but now that Sunday was here the sun decided she had been in hiding long enough and poured her golden rays over the Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood.

Continue reading at: 

http://connymanero.weebly.com/blog/can-cats-count-an-easter-experience

Homemade Easter Decorations

Just as millions of people decorate their homes for Christmas, so does Easter ask for creating a little atmosphere for the occasion.  To be original or to save money, you can make Easter decorations yourself.  It is fun, it is easy and it is something to do with the kids.

Most of what is needed you will already have around the house and where it comes to fun little projects like this, there will be no shortage of eager little hands to help either.

Continue reading at:

http://connymanero.weebly.com/blog/homemade-easter-decorations

Easter celebrations and creations.

At Easter Sunday, Christians around the world celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.  For children and adults alike, Easter also means fuzzy bunnies, delicious chocolate eggs, all sorts of colourful candy and painted eggs.  Let’s have a look at Easter celebrations and creations.

Continue reading at: 

http://connymanero.weebly.com/blog/easter-celebrations-and-creations

Goodbye Kiki, hello Zippy

Recently I learned from a friend that she called her Beta fish JC (short for Jackie Chan).  Even though JC swims alone in an aquarium and thus has nobody to fight with, everyone knows that Beta fish are fighters and that Jackie Chan is a fighter, hence the name is appropriate.

Whenever we adopted a cat, finding a name was never a problem. 

Chanel was named after Coco Chanel, creator of the famous Chanel No. 5 perfume.  Since Chanel was our fifth cat, the name was perfect.

Charlotte had a mischievous grin on her face when we first met and she reminded me of an ex-colleague named Charlotte who was always up to something.

Mickey came to us with a name.  After mom died and dad decided to move to a retirement home, a home had to be found for Mick.  I knew right away that I was bringing Mickey to Canada because I didn’t trust strangers with him.

Gabriel looked angelic when I first saw him.  I was told that he was a fighter though.  Naming him after an archangel was the logical choice.

With our latest addition, we made a bit of a mistake.

When we adopted a four week old bunny, we named her Kiki because she kicked up a storm when held.  Today, barely four days later, we’ve decided that Kiki is not the best name for the creature and we renamed her Zippy.

If you were to see her move, you would understand why.  While most of the time she hops, if she gets playful she zips from here to there.  Quick as lightning she is and catching her (during her roaming free time) is near impossible.  The best thing to do is to wait until she gets tired and then make a move.

How do we know where Zippy is?  All we have to do is look for Mickey, he follows her around like a big brother.

Gabriel sniffs her and when she gets on his nerves, he swats her with his tail.  If she doesn’t get the message, he sits on her.  If she happens to be under his butt, so be it.

Charlotte is still a little wary of the newcomer and keeps her distance.  If Zippy crosses the line, she gets hissed at. 

As for Chanel … she’s scared of her own shadow, so when she first set eyes on Zippy she ran like a bat from hell.  Soon her curiosity got the better of her though and very carefully she had a closer look at Zippy.  Today they’re not really friends yet, but she lets Zippy sniff her tail.

I’m confident this will have a happy ending.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the little trouble maker.

 A shoulder can be quite comfortable

You heard of grumpy cat ... this is me, grumpy bunny

Smells like chicken 

                                                Mickey is inspecting Zippy's accommodation 

                                                  (can be extended when Zippy gets bigger)

Meet Kiki

Kiki

Easter has come and gone and with it a lot of bunnies are looking for a home.

It’s quite common for children to fall in love with these soft, adorable creatures and to beg their parents “Please can I have a bunny?”  When a couple of more ‘pleases’ follow the question, parents tend to give in, either to silence their child or because they fancy the pet too.

After a few days it’s a different story.  Providing food and water for bunny might be considered fun, but cleaning its cage is anything but.  Unlike cats and dogs, bunnies make a mess and to prevent the situation from getting out of hand, bunny’s living conditions need a lot of attention.

The result … kids are no longer interested in their cute pet and the parents get sick and tired of cleaning up after it.  Before long the parents decide that the bunny has to go. 

Where ones pet stores were crowded with bunnies, now animal shelters get flooded with them.

Fortunately, there are people who are willing to open up their heart and their home to these rejects.  Most of them have considered such adoption for some time, have researched a bunny’s requirements and know about the work involved.  When they feel they’re ready, they adopt from a shelter rather than buying at a pet store.

Kiki is one such a rejected bunny.  Wanted with Easter, no longer wanted a few days later.  Fortunately, we were at the right place at the right time and were able to rescue one little bunny from a life in a shelter or worse.

As Kiki grows up, I’ll keep you updated with stories and pictures.