Who needs the Bunny Park when you can have one in your yard?
A local couple from Rynfield Agricultural Holdings has turned its home into a free-range home for 20 rabbits of all shapes and colours, aged between four months to a year old.
The City Times visited the couple’s home and discovered that a section of the property has been refurbished to a fully fledged ‘bunny park’.
Owner Dawn Glendining (66) said her family has been happily coexisting with these floppy-eared creatures, who are somewhat demanding, since 2020.
“It all started in 2017 when we saw a lot of stray bunnies visiting our property. Cats in the area would kill the babies and that’s when we decided to rescue the last three litters. We sterilised the parents and kept the babies caged until they were old enough to be sterilised. We then decided on building our own bunny park after we didn’t know what we will do with the babies.”
They opened their ‘bunny park’ on May 10, 2021, with 14 bunnies, which have been caught in their yard, while eight of the bunnies were donated to them by a bunny-rescue organisation.
“Within 24 hours, we lost two bunnies. One died in a storm and another one succumb to injuries when we took it to the vet for a check-up because it wasn’t well.”
The 66-year-old, who adores these furry pets, said she felt terrible when they died because she was already emotionally attached to them.
“We opted to build the rabbit house in a convenient section in our home, which has trees so that bird predators won’t be able to snatch them.
“Inside the park, we have pallets so that the bunnies can hide under them if they feel unsafe. We dug a deep trench and installed a large fence, which goes deep underground to prevent the bunnies from escaping,” she said.
To prevent other bunnies from coming into the property, Dawn said for the past two years, they’ve had a bunny ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ who live on the property but not inside the rabbit house.
“They secure the property, preventing other stray bunnies from coming to our property. They chase other bunnies away as they are very territorial.”
She said her rabbit house has also become therapeutic to her whenever she wants to relax and unwind.
Names
The 20 bunnies have names like Snow White, Black Beauty, Mopsy, Flopsy, Jumper, Roger Rabbit and more.
“My daughter come up with these silly names.”
Regarding food, Dawn said the rabbits are fed twice a day, early in the morning and afternoon.
“The knowledge that I have acquired so far about bunnies, I got it from bunny fanatics as well as Google.
“For a treat, my bunnies love kale and rolled oats. I have learnt not to give them too many carrots and apples as they shouldn’t have too much sugar,” said Glendining.
The ‘bunny park’ has attracted many people in the area who have shown interest in visiting.
Besides her passion for bunnies, Dawn runs a ‘hound sleeper’ business, selling imported dog beds. The business has existed for 15 years.
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