tumbler
on the way home from the run there was a bunny in the road - small, obviously wild rabbit with agouti coloring. it looked like he'd been hit by a car, but he was clearly still alive, so we stopped. it was a busy street, and if he was just stunned - anyhow, i picked him up and brought him back to the warm car. he struggled some, but i have a little bit of experience holding bunnies so that they're comfortable, and he was grateful of the warmth if not the confinement.
there were no injuries, no cuts, no broken bones. all of his limbs worked, but he kept twisting around like a corkscrew and didn't seem able to sit up. not being a vet i don't know, but it looked like he had something wrong with his little bunny brain. by the matting of the fur on his left side, it looked like he was laying down on that side a lot—and healthy bunnies don't get that dirty. the way he moved wasn't like normal bunny motion, and one of his eyes didn't operate as well as the other. he wasn't hurt, but he was hurting.
we decided to take him to dr.z at pennyroyal because she shares our love of the small furry ones, but she was closed. instead, we went to the small animal hospital around the corner, to which dr.z has recommended others in the past. we left the bunny there with this understanding: if he was just stunned they'd let him go .. if not, they'd end the little fella's pain much more gracefully than i could've.
my own expectation is that he will have passed on by now. if you believe in bunny heaven, and i like to, he's already back on his feet, remembering how to hop around, and in no more pain. this is for me only a small comfort; it will, however, have to do. i feel like we did what we could, but i wish we could've done more. another ghost bunny to follow me around.
he was loved, if only for the last few minutes of his life. i hope in the clarity of death he knows that. we felt that, since he was loved, and was our friend for even that short time, he deserved a name.
we decided to call him "Tumbler".
see you around, little guy.