Monday Mario

I thought I'd try to write down some of my favorite Mario moments.  One of the chart-toppers I wrote about a while back.  Check it out here.

One of my first photos of Mario (I used to stick him in the tub before I fully trusted him to run around the apartment while I was busy cleaning his cage)

Here is another great Mario moment which requires some back story:  

When I first got Mario he wasn't neutered.  I adopted him from a shelter that wasn't very adept at rabbit adoptions.  There wasn't even an adoption fee.  He was a "free" rabbit (Side-story:  Mario ended up being the most expensive "free" rabbit ever.  I paid $50 in train tickets to go to Connecticut to get him, gave the shelter a $45 donation since they brought him to the train station for me and also gave me a cat carrier to transport him home in versus a cardboard box, $80 well-bunny exam, $160 neuter surgery, $100 fee to do blood work to check if the anesthesia was okay for him.  That's right, the "free" bunny was $435 -- which is why I strongly advocate adopting from an organization that does all this for you pre-adoption.  Usually the fee ends up being about $75.)  I got him neutered after only a few weeks together because he was very, err....Amorous.

Truth be known, Mario was in love with me.  I actually sort of miss those days because the guy couldn't get enough of me.  Someone had to distract him when I wanted to leave the room because he wouldn't stand for it otherwise. He'd follow me around like a puppy and lie between my feet when I did the dishes (Not that Mario won't do this now, but it's sort of like he grew self-will and can decide when he wants to or not).  He HAD to be by me all the time.  But of course there was a lot of unwanted humping, nipping, displaying of body parts better left hidden, and urine spraying.  So I knew we had to do it sooner than later.

Another key reason to neuter Mario was that I wanted to get him a companion.  I mean, the guy could barely stand to let me me out of his sight. I felt so bad leaving him during the day.  To make a long story (which I shall tell one day) short, I adopted a spayed female (learned my lesson and adopted from a private rescue group) to be his friend.  Chloe deserves her own post one day so I won't say much about her today.

The rabbit rescuer I got Chloe from advocated introducing them ASAP even though Mario was only about 1.5 weeks post-surgery when I got her.  If you've ever tried to bond two rabbits, it is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of patience and time.  But the rescuer thought that since Mario still had some hormones circulating it would make him more interested in her (and since she was already spayed there was no chance of having any Mario juniors).

So I would put them in the bath tub (neutral territory) together for about 30 seconds to start off.  Then I'd separate them.  Easy peasy (ha!).  Anyhow, during the early introductions when Mario still wanted to populate the world with little moustached bunnies, he was very excited to have Chloe in the tub with him.  He wanted her in R-rated ways (this faded and turned to aggression when the hormones disappeared).

One night after their short date, I took Chloe out of the tub first and put her back in her cage.  Then I got Mario out of the tub.  Instead of putting him in his cage, I put him down in the middle of the apartment to give him some play time for the night.  Mario must have thought that provocative Chloe was still in the tub.  As soon as I set him down he made a racing bee-line back to the bathroom.  I heard a loud BAM.  A second later a slightly dazed Mario came walking out of the bathroom.  I wish I had a picture of the look on his face.

I  lifted this from the video I shot of my NYC studio before I started packing it up to move across country

My tub had a sliding glass door.  I had closed it after taking Mario out.  He had thought Chloe was still inside and that the door was open and tried to jump into the tub when the door was closed!  

Men do stupid things.

Chloe & Mario c. 2005