My Saturday volunteer, Kim, started with a fun job: filling this new guinea pig toy with grass.
It is suspended over their cage from a bird feeder hanger that clamps to the table.
That took about two minutes and then I hauled her out to the rabbit pen. Wiley Wabbit is STILL sneezing, over a month after the vet checked his lungs. I decided it was time to clean the pen and throw away that old dusty rug.
We hauled everything out and Kim swept out the hay and dust bunnies.
For obvious reasons, Dobby was fenced off of the deck. The rabbits were able to come and go, and they high-tailed it for the garden.
The rabbit pen was full of dusty things. Some favorite older boxes had to be thrown out and were replaced with nearly identical boxes, un-chewed and un-dusty.
We threw out a couple Giant House Spiders, too. He’s about 1-1/2″ across, wish I had put a penny down for scale.
Dobby really wanted to help. Help, in this case, means “mess around with the rabbit stuff.” He’s not allowed in their cage anymore. He used to fit, but he’s so darned big, now. And his feet aren’t always clean. And he . . . I’ll just stop here, okay?
It’s a pretty big pen for two bunnies. They get “garden time” every afternoon, when the ducks and Guard Geese are out.
Not yet, Dobby!
I even took down the curtains and washed them.
Then I moved all the food and boxes back in, and hung the clean curtains back up.

The door on the right makes a nifty tunnel, helps shade in summer, and blocks the winter weather, too.
I haven’t hear Wiley Wabbit sneezing since. He’s been here seven years since he was picked up downtown- an urban feral rabbit. He’s very friendly, so no doubt an escaped pet. He had been visiting homes in the neighborhood for several months but no one claimed him.
In other news, the Great Blue Heron is back. Dobby’s swimming pool is deep enough to keep the fish safe. The smart ones that remember to dive, that is.
One more wild visitor: the mole! He pushed up a crazy tunnel in the grass. I’d love to see him in action!

He failed the sobriety test.
Wow! Your animals have it made. Are these all your pets or do you board some of them until they find homes? How many do you actually have, counting Dobby of course.
I rarely board pets, I am a sanctuary. If I don’t have time to take care of them forever, I don’t have time to take care of them short-term, either. I do help people place their pets, and I do take pets in an emergency situation, but I find if I take them temporarily, they somehow end up being permanent. For that reason, I evaluate each animal to determine whether I can really take it on, forever. I have a little over 50 animals here right now, but half of those are doves in a big flight cage. I find it isn’t the number of animals, it is the number of cages that determines the work load.
You are a wonderful human being and such a blessing to the animals. There should be more people like you.