Ladies and gentleman, children of all ages, come one, come all to see the impossibly cute, hot-tempered, death-defying, fuzzy lop that occupies my living room.

He sits perched atop the couch, his head is cocked. His ears twitch as you approach. Then, he’s off like a prom dress, flying around the perimeter of the living room so fast you don’t see him until he’s once again perched on his resting place. It’s the fabulous Mr. Peanut!

(and he expects you to clap for him once he’s finished maneuvering his trick).

Rabbit in the Dryer

I rescue rabbits. I do this out of indentured servitude to my poor, dear, earless (earless because I cut them off) bunny Booboo.

Most of these rabbits have come from bad situations...they’ve been neglected, abused, unfed. Others have had an ordinary, but mind-numbing life stuck in tiny outdoor cage.

When I first encounter a rabbit that is in need of my rescuing, I can immediately recognize if this bun still has ‘life’ left in him.

That’s my hidden talent. I am a connoisseur of bunny personalities. And I nurture them and guide them to their full potential.

For instance, my current bunny, Mr. Peanut, is at this very moment walking on two legs to receive a banana chip. He also dose an olympic-quality triple, half-twist, dead-out, back-whip, arabian tuck. =)

Sure, I train my rabbits to do ordinary tasks like use a litter pan (seriously, they will ONLY go in the carefully hidden pan), eat/drink out of a bowl, and stay off the furniture. But we get bored of those easy-to-learn tricks.

One of my buns, Sir Flops a Lot, was brilliant. I knew he was destined for bunny trick greatness when I visited some abandoned bunnies and he spent the entire time tossing his ball up against the wall trying to get my attention. I picked him up and he melted like butter into my arms giving me the full treatment of “PLEASE take me out of here!”. I did. And he was never so sweet again.

However, Sir Flops a Lot trained well. Before long I had him impressing my guests by opening his food drawer in the fridge, pulling out his greens, and serving himself. He also did Backflips for Bananas! (he probably would go Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs too, but I don’t encourage complex carb consumption).

Flopsy would also watch me and try to emulate. For instance, after seeing me climb a step ladder to reach a shelf, he pulled all the cushions off the couch, stacked them in front of a hard to reach plant, then climbed to the top to eat that herbage delight.

I suppose I should train my bunnies for Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks but we haven’t mastered the ‘perform on-demand’ trick. Besides, Mr. Peanut is a Leno fan.