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Our first breeding doe was a Flemish cross (maybe) named Pearl. When she came to us, she was just a few months old, and she was all white with black eyes. Bunny-Wan Kenobi was absolutely smitten with her.
She wasn't unfriendly, but she was a bit skittish. Bunny-Wan Kenobi wasn't having any of that. He sat on her side of the divided hutch for hours upon hours, her door open, leaning halfway into her cage, petting her, playing with her hay, talking to her, taking pictures of her, videos of her, etc.
With all this attention, Pearl just had no choice but to friendly up.
She became such a loving doe, just a real sweetie. She was a good mother, too. She slowly developed some softly-colored spots -- turned out they were "smut", in which only the tips of the fur are colored.
A year or so ago, I got really sick, and couldn't help tend to the bunnies. My mom would go out with the kids to see to them. My mom has lost her central vision to macular degeneration, and has only her peripheral vision. The kids didn't recognize the symptoms.
One morning, as I was getting better, ILoveBunnies ran in, crying that Pearl was dead.
I went out to the rabbitry, and found numerous, numerous bunny berries dangling from the floor. She had died of wool block, and I was the only one who would have seen it. Needless to say, the kids know a lot more now. I felt terrible that I had never thought to share the symptoms with them. Turned out her food and drink had been nearly untouched while I was sick, as well.
We buried her near the back corner of the yard, one of the higher points, under a crepe myrtle tree. Bunny-Wan Kenobi laid little flowers of one sort or another that he found in the yard nearly every day until the day we moved this past September.
I tried in vain before we moved to find a rabbit figurine for him that could sit under a tree outside and be the beneficiary of his flowers, if he wished to continue that. I continued looking after the move, but could never find the right bunny. I didn't think I was being really picky, but apparently I was. I wanted something that was pretty close to being realistic. And I wanted it to be white.
Finally, Christmas shopping for the kids with my beloved Shay, I spied some cement animals. I started looking for bunnies, and I found a couple. They were the same, except one was small and one was large, but they weren't white. Then I saw some unpainted castings! Maybe I could paint one in the few days we had left before Christmas.
Here it is when I had just started giving it a coat of grey:
Two coats of grey completed. I initially was going to have the light grey in the recesses, and drybrush white over the surface, to give the fur more definition. Turned out too much of it was in the recesses, and it would have been just a light grey bunny:
I repainted it white, and drybrushed light brownish-grey spots onto it, about where Pearl's spots had been. I used a page I had printed of pictures of Pearl to guide me. I carefully lined light pink around the eyes, and just where her nostril openings were, and inside her ears. Her eyes I painted super-dark brown with black pupils, the way they appeared in one of the pictures. You can't really tell they aren't black, but I like to think it adds a little life to the eyes. I also lined the nose and mouth in lightly-applied black, to add definition.
Here's the page of pictures I used:
Bunny-Wan Kenobi wasn't interested in putting her under a tree. She's in his room:
And here is a picture of Pearl, not long after we had built the rabbitry at my uncle's house:
The results on Christmas morning? We all watched with anticipation as he lifted the bunny out of the gift bag.
"It looks like Pearl!"
Perfect.
She wasn't unfriendly, but she was a bit skittish. Bunny-Wan Kenobi wasn't having any of that. He sat on her side of the divided hutch for hours upon hours, her door open, leaning halfway into her cage, petting her, playing with her hay, talking to her, taking pictures of her, videos of her, etc.
With all this attention, Pearl just had no choice but to friendly up.
She became such a loving doe, just a real sweetie. She was a good mother, too. She slowly developed some softly-colored spots -- turned out they were "smut", in which only the tips of the fur are colored.
A year or so ago, I got really sick, and couldn't help tend to the bunnies. My mom would go out with the kids to see to them. My mom has lost her central vision to macular degeneration, and has only her peripheral vision. The kids didn't recognize the symptoms.
One morning, as I was getting better, ILoveBunnies ran in, crying that Pearl was dead.
I went out to the rabbitry, and found numerous, numerous bunny berries dangling from the floor. She had died of wool block, and I was the only one who would have seen it. Needless to say, the kids know a lot more now. I felt terrible that I had never thought to share the symptoms with them. Turned out her food and drink had been nearly untouched while I was sick, as well.
We buried her near the back corner of the yard, one of the higher points, under a crepe myrtle tree. Bunny-Wan Kenobi laid little flowers of one sort or another that he found in the yard nearly every day until the day we moved this past September.
I tried in vain before we moved to find a rabbit figurine for him that could sit under a tree outside and be the beneficiary of his flowers, if he wished to continue that. I continued looking after the move, but could never find the right bunny. I didn't think I was being really picky, but apparently I was. I wanted something that was pretty close to being realistic. And I wanted it to be white.
Finally, Christmas shopping for the kids with my beloved Shay, I spied some cement animals. I started looking for bunnies, and I found a couple. They were the same, except one was small and one was large, but they weren't white. Then I saw some unpainted castings! Maybe I could paint one in the few days we had left before Christmas.
Here it is when I had just started giving it a coat of grey:
Two coats of grey completed. I initially was going to have the light grey in the recesses, and drybrush white over the surface, to give the fur more definition. Turned out too much of it was in the recesses, and it would have been just a light grey bunny:
I repainted it white, and drybrushed light brownish-grey spots onto it, about where Pearl's spots had been. I used a page I had printed of pictures of Pearl to guide me. I carefully lined light pink around the eyes, and just where her nostril openings were, and inside her ears. Her eyes I painted super-dark brown with black pupils, the way they appeared in one of the pictures. You can't really tell they aren't black, but I like to think it adds a little life to the eyes. I also lined the nose and mouth in lightly-applied black, to add definition.
Here's the page of pictures I used:
Bunny-Wan Kenobi wasn't interested in putting her under a tree. She's in his room:
And here is a picture of Pearl, not long after we had built the rabbitry at my uncle's house:
The results on Christmas morning? We all watched with anticipation as he lifted the bunny out of the gift bag.
"It looks like Pearl!"
Perfect.
