How did Caleb Come and Go

Last quarter of 2019, my sister's secretary in her clinic gave my nephews two baby white bunnies with red eyes. They named the female bunny Misty and the male one Caleb. They look like twins. The only difference is that Misty's legs are a bit yellowish compared to Caleb. Unfortunately, Misty suddenly died before she can ever grow up. We don't know why. Caleb is the only one who survived and grew healthy. They don't let him out of the cage so he won't eat and destroy the plants in our yard. This is why we didn't have the chance to train him to get used to lifting. Being prey animals, rabbits are scared of being lifted. It makes them think that their predators are the ones carrying them. But some domesticated rabbits are used to lifting and cuddling because of owners who do that to them while they are babies. I would have done that to Caleb at an early age if I only knew about it sooner.

Around June this year, an accident happened and it made Caleb bid goodbye. Dad is so bored so he tried to clean Caleb's cage. He tried to lift Caleb perhaps to clear the space he's about to clean, not knowing that Caleb is scared of being lifted. Caleb struggled a lot that he accidentally scratched dad. The next day, dad gave him to our neighbor.

Behavior

Rabbits love eating. Whether they're full or hungry, they always want something to munch. They eat veggies, leaves, fruits or feeds. This applies to Caleb as well. Since we have a lot of plants, we feed him with leaves then we add some feeds for his last meal for the day. He would devour everything I feed him in an instant. He really enjoys it. Later on, you'll see him munching in the air when he just finished his meal. He's also munching the wood and his cage.

This art tribute (2nd photo) I made for him gave me a surprise. I just want to take his picture with his name spelled out of dried leaves and flower. To my surprise, Caleb enjoyed eating it. I didn't know that he eats dried leaves and flower and some glue. I put some glue so the leaves would stick to the wood. I really can't believe he eats that much. He would even enjoy munching even objects that are not edible.

Rabbits don't take a bath like cats do. They clean themselves the same way that cats do. I heard that there's a tendency for them to get sick when you force them to take a bath. Perhaps the water makes them feel cold and they can't take it.

Rabbits are untrusting to both humans and animals since they are used to being a prey. They don't let their guards down. But when they lie flat on their stomach and their feet stretching freely like the one shown in the photo above, it means they are relaxed and they feel safe when you're around. I often see Caleb in this relaxing position and he lets me pet him and squeeze his tummy lightly. Rabbits are usually scared when you do that to them but Caleb likes it since he feels relaxed with my presence because he associates me with food. Still, I wasn't able to carry him. Feeding him didn't take away that fear.

A few months before Caleb left us, it was summer. I was surprised that Caleb jumped on his water and plunged himself like this. Perhaps he can't take the scorching heat of summer so he wants some water to beat the heat. He's been like that until he runs out of water.

Relationships

Cats are one of the predators of rabbits but our most friendly cat, Junior is an exemption. She climbed to Caleb's cage in search of food. Caleb is unexpectedly relaxed with Junior's presence. Junior showed him motherly love. She just groomed him like her own son. Then here goes Caleb sniffing Junior after getting groomed.

Dogs are also predators of rabbits but our Marky is an exemption just like Junior. Marky is extremely friendly to everyone and he enjoys being with Caleb. He loves to play with cats as well as Caleb. Since we can't let Caleb out of the cage, I let Marky and Junior visit him sometimes. Rabbits are social animals and they get bored when they're alone. Knowing about this fact, I let Caleb enjoy the company of Marky and Junior. I feel happy seeing Caleb at ease with our friendly dog and cat.

Fun Editing

Caleb became my subject for editing just like our dogs and cats because he's attractive just like them. I experimented on one of my phone lenses, the fish eye lens. This lens has a circle effect that gives your photo a round shape. I tried it on Caleb and I imagine that a snowball look will suit him so I edited his photo and added some snow, leaves and sparkles using PicsArt app in my phone.

Venturing into the art of photo editing, I practiced other photo editing software using my laptop this time and Caleb has helped me with my practice as well. For this party and Easter edits, I used Photoshop to remove the background. I used Medibang software to edit the background and draw the objects I added. I used MS Word to put texts and egg shapes.

My imagination got wild and I came up with the idea to turn Caleb into a magical unicorn. I felt that it will suit him since he's all white and this close up photo will be the best one for the project. I still used Photoshop to remove the background and change the colors of the flowers on Caleb's head. Those flowers are originally the yellow bells in our yard. I used different brush tools from PicsArt, Medibang, and Gimp for the sparkling colorful clouds and the unicorn horn. Lastly, I used MS word for the rainbow gradient background. This is personally my favorite edit, the most beautiful remembrance Caleb has left me.

Caleb may have been given to our neighbor but I have a feeling he will have a good life there because he will be with a female bunny. I hope he will have a few babies with the female bunny he is with now. I'm sure their babies will be very cute like them. I miss you dearly Caleb. I wish you well and I hope you live a happy life with your fellow bunnies at the neighbor.