Adam and Max

I rarely get visitors out here and days pass quite quietly albeit busily. That was why I assumed that Sunday would be as uneventful as it usually is and was sitting at the computer replying to emails at 8.30 am. However that was tempting fate and a brown station wagon pulled into my driveway while I was trying to shut the back door so my small fat Sheltie Mishka didn't run out to bark at whoever was arriving. It turned out to be my friends Marg and John who had driven out to drop off Max and Adam, two angora rabbits they had been caring for on my behalf while I waited to come out of quarantine after the RCD hit here. These two boys had been bought aged six weeks from a pet shop by a lady who was obviously an animal lover. Unfortunately the shop had not bothered to tell the woman how much care these animals needed and as they grew, and so did their coats, she discovered they didn't like being brushed and would scratch her. As she is a diabetic these scratches became infected and she ended up having frequent trips to the doctor to get antibiotics. So it was as they reached six months she put an advert in the paper to ask for someone to take them on. John rang me and I went along to see them and realised the woman was terribly upset at having to give up her pets but that she couldn't manage. She was even prepared to put them to sleep rather than leave them in a bad way.

The rabbits are quite small with broken brown markings on their faces and bodies. They both have brown eyes and one has floppy ears. This means there has been some cross-breeding in the background so I have a very good idea which breeder was responsible for them. I had taken on several of her rabbits in the past when people couldn't manage them and she had promised that she wouldn't sell her rabbits to pet shops (especially at such a young age) after she saw one come in to be clipped at the only rabbit show we held here in Hawkes Bay. Obviously she broke her word and was continuing with her outcrossing. Fortunately she's moved out of the district now so others will have to cope with the copius litters she produces for the "pet market". One thing I know- angoras do not make good pets except for spinners and those prepared to clip or pluck them.

So Max and Adam are currently in a quarantine hutch on the front lawn for a month before moving into the rabbitry. I don't know which one is Max and which one is Adam but as I am tempted to change their names to something more "rabbity" it makes no odds. Unfortunately they've discovered hormones much to the horror of my cats who seem severely traumatized at such uninhibited behaviour!