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In this issue...
- Figueroa Mountain Rescue
- August Hoppy Hour
- The Minions Escape!
- BUNS and GUNS
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Figueroa Mountain Rescue
Last week someone dumped bunnies up Figueroa Mountain, and our volunteers have been hard at work trying to rescue them this past weekend. There is plenty for the bunnies to eat, but no water until our BUNS crew gave some! They managed to save 15, but one holdout remains on the mountain. The last rabbit spotted holed up in another giant hollow fallen oak log, and couldn’t be persuaded to come out with sticks or carrots!
If you want to see the size of the log, along with the heroic rescue crew, check out the attached photograph. Plans for a return (and hopefully final) capture attempt are under consideration.
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August Hoppy Hour
Please note the time change... our August Hoppy Hour starts half an hour later than usual!
Bring your fuzzy friend, August 26 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM and give them an opportunity to socialize with other rabbits! Socialization is a very important part of overall rabbit welfare, and a Hoppy Hour is the perfect opportunity to let your bunny play with others.
Hoppy Hour will take place on the Humane Society Lawn, at 5399 Overpass Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. Admission is $10 per rabbit. All animals must be healthy and rabbits must have been spayed or neutered at least 30 days in advance.
We'll be providing light refreshments for both you and your bunny, so please join us for an afternoon of fun!
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The Minions Escape
Story by volunteer Barb Pies
It was a normal Tuesday morning but then when I walked into the Christmas Bunnies pen, I realized there were only 4 visible Christmas Bunnies of the herd of 12. I checked all hiding places in their special area; tubes, hampers, boxes indoors and out, even behind their large condo structure. Three days prior they had started digging a tunnel below the front entrance (see photo below) to their large, two story hutch but it had been filled in.
The same tunnel had been dug again and we suspected ‘somebody’ was in there. “I hear thumping in there”, Volunteer Cole insisted.
Many of the bunnies had made it into the large basement below the 1st story wood floor. We had secured two buns on the top floor so now that meant there were 10 down below! Volunteer Amy set up a folding Xpen to corral any that came out, but the rabbits were not cooperating. We gently persuaded a few with a broom and Amy quickly closed the double cage doors behind them.
The three of us continued our efforts until we were down to just a few holdouts. Cole had to leave for the day but Ron was enlisted to help. Using the white Coroplast boards from the aviary cages, Ron was stretched out half in/half out of one hay pan opening, blocking escape from his end and encouraging them to exit near Amy.
When the basement was empty as last, the tunnel was barricaded with bricks and the two upstairs individuals were allowed to hop down the carpeted ramps to join the escapees,12 bunnies in all! Ron, Amy, and I staggered over to the sink to clean up (Ron had scraped both shins) and to congratulate each other — Mission Accomplished!
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BUNS and GUNS
This year is the 25th anniversary of BUNS! We're celebrating by sharing stories from our volunteers about their experiences with BUNS. This month's story comes from Jean Silva:
In the early 1990’s, the single kennel attendant at the shelter could barely care for the dogs. So if a new animal wasn’t a dog or a cat, staff sent it to BUNS. The results could be startling. One morning a 3 foot iguana leapt onto and ran up the wall of the aviary. I jumped almost as high. Then there was the turkey; a big bird with a round tail like you used to color in kindergarten during Thanksgiving. Ducks needed a pool, so we formed a daily bucket brigade to empty and refill the children’s wading pool. An so it went: tortoises, turtles, doves, chickens and guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs had their own fan club among the BUNS volunteers. Several of our most faithful volunteers loved guinea pigs. And caring for guinea pigs, (hay, salad, pellets plus exercise time) fit nicely into our normal day. But guinea pigs were occasional guests. When they came, they went into small rabbit hutches.
One day I was met by a very upset volunteer. One of the guinea pigs had his foot stuck in the wire floor. His foot had slipped between the wires and become swollen. There was no way to free him. One of the officers had wire cutters. We cut out a small square of flooring around the leg. And, took the pig, floor and all, out of the cage. Then we could cut the remaining wires off the leg. The guinea pig squealed loudly, but was otherwise un harmed.
Shortly after that incident we bought six real guinea pig cages. Kevin Freegard built a wooden frame to hold the cages. You can see the frame today in Room A. The Zaida family wrote a guinea pig care pamphlet for adopters with a hand drawn guinea pig on the cover. With that BUNS committed to caring for guinea pigs. But, we were Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter - BUNS. Should we also be Guineas Urgently Needing Shelter - GUNS? For a while we talked about a name change, but the concept of BUNS and GUNS did not catch on. So we just stayed BUNS but we added Guinea Pigs to our daily operations.
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