bittybirds: the blog

Duck Herding | Via Neatorama

Valerie snapped this picture of me holding Piper (left) and Petrie (right). Notice the red-eye effect on Petrie!

From Plastic Media | Via Cute Overload

This summer, while Tyler and I were visiting some friends, their young daughter asked, “Do you want a bunny rabbit?” She explained that she was worried about a bunny rabbit she’d been seeing in their yard. It looked like a pet rabbit, not a wild rabbit, and she thought we should catch it. Her parents had seen the bunny, too, and they agreed with her assessment.

At the end of the evening, Ty and I walked out to the car, and what did we see? A sweet little bunny rabbit hopping down the middle of the street. Tyler stealthily followed the bunny and managed to get it moving slowly back towards me and our friends. Finally, it was between me and Tyler. It looked at Ty, looked at me, and decided to try to make a dash past me. But I reached down and gently smooshed the bunny between my hands and the curbing. Our friends came running with a blanket and a box, and set him up in their home to find its owners. We were bunny heroes!

Only thing is, no one in the neighborhood had a missing rabbit. Our friends took him to the vet, who said the bunny was a roughly 2-year-old male. The vet trimmed the bunny’s much-too-long toenails and gave him a clean bill of health. Our friends found the bunny was quite sociable and generally enjoyed human company. They set him up with a palatial cage and found that he readily used the litter box they got for him.

After a good month with no one claiming the bunny, our friends decided it was time to find him a home. Tyler and I had been thinking about getting a bunny a year before, so we decided to adopt the little street bunny.

We named him Sebastian, but sometimes we call him Mr. Bun.

So, we adopted a little bunny in September. I’ve been meaning to join a forum where people discuss house rabbits, and I think this site has promise: http://www.petforums.co.uk . I like that they include forums for discussing small animals and birds, in addition to dogs and cats. There doesn’t seem to be much discussion of birds or bunnies yet, but it has potential. I’ll be watching you, Pet Forums!

Photos from a recent trip to Maple Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast in Maine, where farm animals are kept as pets:

LaserCo sent us this cute video:
Evil Cockatiels Singing In Sync.

Whoa, LaserCo—they are so cute, it’s evil!

I just adopted a turkey via Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project. Every year, Farm Sanctuary in New York rescues turkeys from factory farms. They place some of the turkeys into homes where they live as pets, and give others sanctuary on their farm.

Through the Adopt-A-Turkey Project, Farm Sanctuary has placed turkeys in loving vegetarian homes in over a dozen states from New York to California. People with open hearts and appropriate facilities are eligible to adopt two or more turkeys. (The birds need companionship, so they are not adopted individually.) Turkeys make great companions and can be a wonderful addition to your family.

It is not always possible for people to welcome a turkey into their home, but everybody can sponsor a turkey who lives at Farm Sanctuary. Here, the birds are allowed to live out their lives, and they are given the space and freedom to engage in natural behaviors and enjoy themselves. For a one-time fee of $20, Adopt-A-Turkey sponsors receive a color photo of their turkey, an adoption certificate and turkey biography, plus a one year subscription to Farm Sanctuary’s quarterly newsletter.

What a sweet idea. Adopt your turkey today! [Link]

News from Scotland: 3000 Chickens Escape During Truck Crash

Why did 3000 chickens cross the road? Because the lorry they were in crashed on one of Scotland’s busiest motorways, that’s why.

Thousands of runaway chickens brought traffic to a standstill after a transporter lorry crashed on a busy road near Glasgow.

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