wild rabbit takes a 30 mile roadtrip

Question
Hi Dana, This is going to be a long post. My wife has decided to file for divorce after 17 years. While she and my son were on vacation I had 10 days to find an apartment for me, my elderly freakshow of a cat Emily and the 4 1/2 year old wild cottontail rabbit I've raised in my home almost since birth. I have to give you the background as I know you will appreciate the story. The marriage has been dicey for awhile and the bunny in the home really did contribute to its demise( my missed vacations to care for the snot and trying to police a WILD FREAKING RABBIT along with 5 cats and a family in a small log cabin on a daily basis added up) I thought the bunny adapted incredibly well, my wife didn't. I would do it again. So by my calculations the problem was - rabbit 5%, angry 40 year old wife 94 1/2% and me 1/2%:) I kept my business going during that time and while looking at apartments I was lucky enough to find a place that I could move in within a week and they accepted pets. I'm sure I said " I have a cat and a wild rabbit" to the leasing agent but it may have sounded to her like "I have two cats". I'm self employed and drive around 500 miles/week it was brutal trying to use my minivan for business (which is usually FULL of auction stuff etc..) while to move a few possesions 30+ miles one way @ $4 / gallon gas. The last moving day was set aside for misc. stuff, this computer and the rabbit- crammed FULL. As you can imagine a wild rabbit would not take well to a car ride so I only focused on the daily task before dealing with him/her. SIDE NOTE - bunny has always been a he to me but has never humped anything. 3 -4 times a year he/she will RELENTLESSLY challenge/stalk  me and you suggested that it was a frustrated she - my hateful and evil and soon to be ex-wife was allowed to scratch bunnies belly (trancelike)at any time and mentioned she thought she felt a penis like something - So if this were a male wouldn't there be constant humping of something with a rabbit? Back to three weeks ago today. I had placed a collapsible cage in bunnies room for a couple days and @ 6:00 am Friday she hopped right in. (dumbass!!) I can't stress enough how nervous I was about this - The van was packed and running so she could hear the noise before I put the cage in. I covered most of the cage to lower the sights and sounds that would scare her but left a part of the front open so she could see me while I look back and stupidly say "Hiiiiii!!!!!! It's OK, It's OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! while trying to avoid any possible trigger that might make this rabbit freak out and start jumping at the cage to escape and injure/kill herself. If that were to happen I would have turned around and taken the rabbit back to the cabin and released her - the only outside she knows and MAYBE a small comfort zone. Bunnies that enjoy the company of cats and people might have a tough time in the outside world. (this goofball has no idea what threat fleas, ticks, hawks, coyotes, snow and even RAIN are)  I decided to take country roads at a slower speed vs. the highway but at a certain point shock set in with her. Kind of like my wife the last couple of years there was simply no reaching her. I had 32 miles to go. Ironically enough with about five miles left we were following an animal control van to the apartment.
So we get there and I'm waiting for people to get the hell away so I can get the shock bunnie upstairs ( 2nd floor - me, cat, rabbit, and a home operated business/warehouse) I put the cage in the single bedroom and shut the door to give her some peace.
I wasn't sure if she would make it. When we found her at a couple of weeks old she was in this state - COMPLETELY STILL. At that time we(I) brought her in to die comfortably. The other time I've seen this was when I tried to release her outside and she cowered under out porch until I coaxed her into a cage and brought her inside where she has thrived. So I recognized the shock state.
I moved the rest of my crap into the apartment while going into the bedroom every couple of hours with food, candy and chocolate - I could not reach her. I tried everything.
***** There's alot more to this story Dana. I need to send this part now and I will follow up this weekend. Thanks, Brian


Answer
Dear Brian,

I'm sorry about the collapse of your marriage.  

What a saga!  I'm assuming Bun made the trip fine.  You'd be surprised how well these little guys adjust to being in a strange situation.  Cotties are brilliant.

We just had to bring in all the jackrabbits and both cotties for T.S. Fay, and the cotties were having a great time bopping around and begging  for treats.  Nothing phases them.

If you feel you might have to travel with bun again, try to get a small dose of Valium/diazepam for him/her beforehand.  It can make a stressful trip into a breeze.

Hope all is going well.

Dana