Sad news from the home front as we lost our rabbit Peanut the other day. She had stopped eating after breakfast on Thursday, and when she didn’t present herself well on Friday morning we took her to the vet and found out she had a stomach blockage and kidney and possible heart problems. She got the best of care but ended up passing away sometime on Friday night or early Saturday morning. She was only 5 1/2 years old – young for a bunny – and her passing leaves quite a void in our household.

Peanut came to us courtesy of a former co-worker who had seen her in his back yard roaming free for a couple of days. Given the time of year (June), she was probably an “Easter bunny” who had either escaped from her owners or had been let loose when she moved beyond the novelty stage (as, unfortunately, so many rabbit owners do, thinking that store-bought rabbits can survive in the wild, which they can’t). Anyways, the next time she came around to feast on Dan’s lawn he was able to corner and catch her (something I still find incredible to believe, because she could really scoot!). We then met at a local strip mall parking lot where he handed her over in a little cardboard box – a fitting start, since cardboard boxes would be her choice of sanctuary throughout her life. From that point on, Peanut was a force to be reckoned with.

Of all the rabbits we have had over the years Peanut was the prettiest. She was part lion-head, so her prettiest feature were the long strands of white and light-brown hair that came off of her facial area. And if you were lucky enough to catch a rare glimpse of her tail, she had a single lone spot of black fur there. As pretty as she was, though, she was a beast. Not mean to humans – we she barely tolerated as her food source – but to other female rabbits whom she hated with a passion. Whether it was Marble Jr., Little Half-Pint, Butterscotch, or, most recently, Marlie, Peanut reserved all her vitriol for rabbits of the female persuasion. In that way her behavior was almost pathological.

But Peanut had her suitors over time. For the short period of time their time with us intersected, The Big Nipper loved Peanut and would pursue her making soft, gentle grunting sounds. When my sister-in-law’s rabbits The Beastie Boys stayed with us for awhile some years back, we allowed them some time with Peanut and she didn’t mind their attention at all. But it was after The Big Nipper’s passing when we got our rabbit Cosmo that Peanut found the love of her life. From virtually the very get-go, Peanut and Cosmo were inseparable, and Cosmo is missing his mate mightily right now. Cosmo was quite the demanding bunny mate, expecting Peanut to groom him repeatedly at night even though you could tell Peanut thought he was being quite the a pain in the ass. Still, she put up with it and gave Cosmo all the attention he wanted until she would have enough and head for the litter box.

Peanut loved her Mr. Coffee box as her own little place of shelter, and even Cosmo knew that when she went there that she was not to be disturbed. The box originally had a cardboard floor and a left side, but Peanut customized the box to her specifications over time by, well, eating them. Peanut really never got the hang of being petted, and it was only in the last year or so that she would permit us to pet her a few times before she said “Enough!” and would bolt for her box or head under the office desk for sanctuary.

Peanut was a great rabbit and will be missed.