Uh...where's the bunny?

Halston is current living in my front foyer. Yeah, not ideal, but for the moment, that's where he is. He has a large playpen connected to a portable doggy cage. Again, not ideal, but it is what it is. At least he is safely contained and has room to run, toys, and a litter box.

Whenever you pass his cage, he grabs the bars with his teeth and rattles the door. "Play with me!" He's extremely social.

So, this morning, I came downstairs with the intention of letting Halston out for a little extended run time outside his cage before I went to work. Silence greeted me.

I was sleepy, so I rubbed my eyes and looked again. The cage door was closed. But there was no bunny inside. The playpen was empty. "Uh, where's the bunny?"

There's a doggy door at one end of the hallway and a cobbled-together barrier at the top of the stairs. Both stood open. Great, I thought, a big house and a free-ranging bunny of questionable litter box habits who doesn't know his name yet! I started roaming the house looking for an orange and black bunny. Oh, yeah, and he discovered the joys of jumping up on furniture, so I wasn't just looking on the floor and under furniture, but also on furniture. Angelbunny once eluded me for hours by hopping up on a dining room chair, hidden by the tablecloth.

I was getting quite distraught when I found myself at Belle's doggy door. "Where's the bunny, Belle?" Belle just looked at me.

Halston picked that moment to run up to me and nudge me for petting. Oh, and suddenly, he gave me the full bunny trust treatment for the first time. When a friendly bunny lets you pet him but doesn't know you very well, he'll go into the "presentation" position, head lowered, haunches beneath him, but his body will still be tense, ready to run if things go south. As he starts to know you and trust you, he'll slowly relax and lie down flatter and flatter. So far, Halston was willing to be petted, but he wasn't flattening out, he was still wary.

So I started to pet him and he melted down like a pat of butter, even stuck his legs out to the side. Little manipulative monster! It was a move guaranteed to melt a bunny-lover's heart. I petted him for a while and then herded him back into his pen.

And just as I was closing the doggy door, he was out again!

An examination revealed he had chewed through the zipties that fastened his cage to the playpen.

Houdini bunny!

I put a series of new zipties in place and put him back in his cage.

Immediately the bar rattling began. "Let me out, you coppers!"

I am sure that once I left to go to work, sharp little teeth immediately began working on the new zipties. Gosh, I hope I replaced the barrier at the top of the stairs...