It's official!!!

They're bonded, folks! Whoo-hoo!

Pea's been out 24/7 with the three other kids for a week and I've been waiting with bated breath (well, almost) for this:

Kayla, Hops, Ariel, Pea -- all in a row (read: not fighting or even chasing!)

Ariel's smushed in the back there, leaning against the Peaster. Ignore the poop in the pic -- it's time to clean the cages. The point is that they're all smooshily cuddling! I'm so happy I could bust!

I don't even feel ornery anymore that I missed John Edwards speak to a roomful of geeks anymore... I did for a while, but this makes me get over that pretty quickly (sorry, John -- it's a bunny thing!). =:-3

I love group love... I mean, er, um, group bunny love. That's it, yeah! :-D

BunnyBlab, episode 8: What do bunnies play with?

DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO EPISODE 8

As mentioned in episode 2, you don't have to spend a lot of money to keep your bunny entertained. Episode 8 of BunnyBlab will detail the different ways bunnies play and what toys you can give them to help you. (Hint: One of those toys is you.)

I mentioned Christmas Tree Shops is a good place for cheap toys (including tissue paper). If you are fortunate to live near a location of the chain (it's a New England-area chain), check it out for some bunny toys.

Don't keep first editions on your bottom shelves!

Pea in her basket -- shhhh! She's sleeping!

Wood toys in Pea's cage

"Binkies" and "pod bunnies"?! What other funny words to bunny people have for the objects of our adoration? Find out on The PetBunny Dictionary.

Check out some pix of Flemish Giants -- they're the biggies!

A perspective shot of a Flemish Giant

What I recommended BJ has on hand for Day One of her baby Flemmie's first day:

• Gas-X tablets
  
• Lots of hole-free towels for nesting
  
• Lots of fresh alfalfa hay
  
• An area to play in, free of hazards, but full of safe things to check out

More to come from BJ and her new Flemmie baby in the next episode of BunnyBlab!

Got feedback? Questions? A topic suggestion? Email me!

Next episode: How to littertrain your bunny.

Salad night

Episode 5 of the BunnyBlab podcast series talked about salads, but you may still be asking "How much salad?" The answer "As much as they can eat" may not help you in your planning. So here's what a week's worth of salad looks like:

---

And for a night (for four bunnies), at least this much (3 of my bunnies are pretty small):

---

This many carrots get stored in water in plastic containers (they get cut up from here), but the quantity is for a week:

Reason to bunnyproof, or The Bunnies, the comic strip

Don't learn the hard way. Bunnyproof now. "What's the hard way?" I hear you asking... Look.

Dekker's gotta keep drawing. His strip is HI-larious.

BunnyBlab, episode 7: Bunnyproofing your home

DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO EPISODE 7

Bunnies were perfectly designed for life in underground warrens -- they chew and dig like champions. But when you bring them inside, how do you prevent them from making a warren out of your house? Paul and Dana will give you some pointers on how to bunnyproof your house when you bring a bunny home with you in episode 7 of BunnyBlab.

Here is a channel I was talking about. They cost a lot if you get more than one package, which is like 8-10 feet, but they stick to the wall and are good for a cord or two.

But, see, they blend in...

Got feedback? Questions? A topic suggestion? Email me!

Episode 8 coming next week. Find out how to play with your bunny!

PetBunny and bunny dictionary

For about 8 years now, I've been a member of the PetBunny listserve. Almost all the activity is conducted via email threads, but there are plenty of the 400 members who have sites of their own, some of which are collections of pictures, some of which are reference sites. I'd like to point you today to a subset of Ken Albin's site -- The PetBunny Dictionary.

It was, in all honesty, a concept I had floated for a section of BunnyBlab, but back-burnered it because of its time-consuming nature. I'm pretty focused on the podcasts right now. But thanks so much to Ken for putting this together!

BunnyBlab, episode 6: What should I feed my bunny?, part 2 (pellets, kibble and treats)

DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO EPISODE 6

Episode 6 of BunnyBlab continues the discussion of what bunnies eat. Paul and I talk about pelleted food and one of a bunny's favorite topics: treats!

Here is the HRS chart for pellet allotment. And don't forget to check out the grid for the recommended analysis of food for your bunny. Is the food you're serving good for your lagamorph?

As promised, a pic of Pea hunting for carrots at the bottom of her salad:


Send in your photos of bunnies chowing down!

Got feedback? Questions? A topic suggestion? Email me!

Episode 7 coming next week. Learn how to bunnyproof your home.

Back. And tan.

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've been on Maui for five days without technology (my choice, as there was a laptop and a wireless connection where we stayed). Happy graduation, Ryan! Much fun was had and many memories were created. Maybe I'll post details (or a list of activities) in a few days. This post has to be quick, as I'm getting caught up on work, too.

Anyway, my kids had their two favorite bunnysitters -- my neighbor Judy and my best friend, Maggie. Making salads before I left took a while and always adds to packing and preparation time, but it's worth it knowing the bunnysitters can be in and out in about 10 minutes a day. I try to make it as easy as possible for them, although Maggie was a sweetheart and bought them fresh mesclun mix and served it up for them yesterday.

So, I'm back and ep 6 of BunnyBlab will be up soon. It just needs a bit of editing. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to post it. Sorry for the few days of stalling! I'm still pretty much keeping to my podcast a week schedule, though... Just not always the same day each week. :-)

BunnyBlab, episode 5: What should I feed my bunny?, part 1 (hay and salad)

DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO EPISODE 5

Bunnies are no one-trick wonder when it comes to food. Variation in their diet is key to good nutrition. What do the little guys eat, after all? Episode 5 of BunnyBlab will talk about varieties of hay and fresh veggies.

Paul and I talked about going geocaching (straight up a mountain). Check it out!

We talked about Oxbow Hay, which is mail order and also in select pet supply stores. Let Oxbow Hay educate you on hay varieties.

Here's HRS' salad list, so check it out and try out the veggies with your bunny one at a time, so you can see if they like it or not.

My list of the usual salady suspects:

• red leaf lettuce
  
• green leaf lettuce
  
• romaine lettuce
  
• chickory (aka endive or curly endive)
  
• escarole
  
• dandelion greens
  
• broccoli rabe (mostly leaves and stems)
  
• carrot tops

Garnishes:

• dill
  
• parsley
  
• radish greens
  
• bok choy (aka Chinese cabbage)
  
• collard greens

Every other week(ish) (Vit A veggies):

• kale
  
• spinach

No Zantac. :-)

Does your bunny have a favorite veggie? Email me!

Episode 6 coming next week. The second part of the "What should I feed my bunny?" series will talk about pellets and treats.

An Inconvenient Truth

So I saw Al Gore's movie yesterday. I have to say -- Wow. Compelling, powerful, interesting. I'd pay good money (which, if you know me, is saying something right there) to see him in person, but now I don't have to... My $9 for the movie went to, well, I didn't know where. After the movie, I went shopping. Straight to Border's (had to get your Elements of Style, Eric!), so I picked up Gore's book by the same name as the movie. During the movie I kept thinking "I gotta see this again. These details aren't sticking like I want them to." Now I don't have to worry about it. The book has it covered. Towards the beginning of said book, in Al's intro, he says that all the profit from the movie and from the book are going to a bipartisan, nonprofit with the purpose of educating the public on the climate crisis. It was a bit odd that he didn't name that organization, though... How could he shy away from people checking up on the money trail?

I'm encouraging everyone I know to go see this movie. The pictures of fading, fading gone glaciers were shocking enough, but the graphs of normal fluctuations vs what we've been doing to the atmosphere the last 30 years was enough to even make the skeptics stop and say "Hmmmmmm...."

Now I read enough environmental magazines -- most having to do with wildlife, but not all -- to know that the global warming is not a theory concocted by some wacky hermit scientists, but by, well, all the scientists who study climate and global changes. Why do we think it's a theory? Because many politicians want us to. The crap that's clouding up our atmosphere is, as is no surprise to anyone with a pulse, big business and big money. This big money has funded many of the winning campaigns since the '70s. Non-environmentally friendly politicians have no immediate need to see the facts and care about what they mean, not collectively they don't. Sure, maybe one or two realizes that the future of the planet (as far as being habitable by humans) isn't so certain, but that'll never affect THEM... Gore says it will, actually. Even in the timeframe of one human lifespan -- mine and yours. It's scary stuff. We need to pay attention and adjust our behavior. Now.

The Slowskys

Okay, she's seen it. I can post something else...

Comcast has been running a very clever campaign (entertaining, at least) about a turtle couple who can't stand Comcast High-Speed because it's too fast for them. Meet The Slowskys. Once you enter the site, you'll notice that Karolyn (aka Mrs. Slowsky) has been writing a blog entry nearly every day since Jan. 25. It's all about doing things slowly -- reading, writing, eating, watching grass grow. It's hysterical, but after a few entries you kinda get the point. There's a loyal bunch of ppl, though, who comment. Beware, these comments don't always make a lot of sense, but some are gems.

The April 1 post was called "We Converted to Comcast." But the first line of the entry was "April Fool's!" An interesting tactic -- to have your spokespeople hate your product.

Anyway, it's a clever online component to a TV campaign. Social media by turtles. Comcast has given up, for the time being, relating to potential customers as people... now they're simply going for humor. Cable companies being funny?! What's next?!

High school behavior

Some people just need to get a life. And by "a life" I mean their own life, not someone else's. And by "some people" I mean one in particular.

I've tried to rise above the petty behavior of one particular visitor to this blog, but I fear I've got to sink to her level (the obvious one) and get explicit about something. It's a side of me I don't like and don't bring out, and for all of you friends and family out there, please stop reading now. Wait for the next entry -- it'll be the real Dana again.

I hardly ever rant and rave on my blog, as plenty of other people in the blogosphere do that and that corner and this blog don't need the clutter. But a certain visitor to this blog has been trying to learn about me by reading it with surprising frequency (something I actually couldn't possibly mind) and then proceeds to take all the content on this blog and deliberately mangle it to make fun of me and act like a high school girl (catty, gossipy, vindictive -- you know the type), when in fact she's a middle-aged woman. I know she's been talking because we are now 2 or 3 degrees of separation away from each other and tend to socialize and be involved with the same people. I've tried to be subtle (I've put maybe 20 messages to her indirectly in this blog, but she fails to see I'm talking to her). However, in true form, this woman does not get subtelty; apparently I have to name her or at least make it so obvious to her that she's not really welcome here anymore so that she knows it's about her and couldn't possibly be about anyone else.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I can see where all of the visitors to my sites come from, location-wise. I also know which pages you hit, how long you stay, what pages you come from, where you go after you visit my sites, etc. I can narrow your location down to a frighteningly specific degree. I am a geek and I use what I know about my traffic to better my site. Unfortunately, I also can see that this certain visitor hits my sites with unnatural frequency.

I'm actually pretty proud of the fact that this blog gets hit by people from Italy, Austria, Germany, Australia, Canada, Guatemala and Spain (and that's only within the last week) and I'm generally an all-inclusive, the-more-the-merrier type of person. Except for people who use the blog to collect information about me and then mock me. Like I said, it's one person in particular. Let me say it straight, because apparently you have to be hit over the head with it, as my previous attempts at communicating this haven't struck:

The one particular middle-aged woman I'm referring to is not welcome here at this blog.

I can take high-tech ways to prevent you from coming, because I'm smart and very geeky like that, but really -- why do you research me so extensively? It's a bit pathetic, actually. Move on. Get your own life and stop living the one that isn't yours anymore. How many hours have you wasted on reading my blog and listening to my podcasts? You're not interested in bunnies, god knows. And this is -- in case you missed this point, too -- a blog about bunnies. You're getting a very narrow corner of my life, one of my many passions, and you're judging me on that tiny corner. Use your online time in other ways, please.

Now, I've wasted enough time on this topic. I have my own life to lead; when are you going to realize you do, too? Please go away, you certain woman. If you need me to name you, I will, of course; I'm trying to not embarrass you in any future Google searches, which could very well hurt your PR business.