I posted a couple of weeks ago about trying to figure out how to keep Mickey away from our Christmas tree. Unfortunately, we couldn't come up with a good way to keep him away from it, so we ended up blocking his access to the room where the tree was and instead letting him use the hallway for exercise. It worked fairly well for him, although less well for me because that meant I had to sit with him in the hallway or in the kitchen leading into the hallway, because if I didn't, he'd spend his exercise time trying to get at which ever room I was in. (Not that I minded sitting with him, but after a while, my legs would start to get numb, so it was not very pleasant.)
Today, we took the tree down and moved everything back to where it was before. Because his exercise area had been so limited (and because my husband's away on business, so no crabbing about the rabbit being out and underfoot), I decided to give Mickey an extra-long outing.
BIG mistake on my part, for the following reasons:
1. While rearranging the area where the tree had been, I had placed fewer boxes out to block Mickey's access to the areas where all our cords were. I thought I had managed to come up with a placement that used minimal boxes, but still kept him from getting in those areas. I had even used his tunnel in one section instead of boxes because I thought he would be more interested in going in and out of his tunnel than in trying to get behind it.
2. I assumed that because he hadn't been in the dining room/office area in two weeks, he would be so excited to be out that he would spend more time running around and less time trying to get at anything.
Wrong on both counts.
Mickey was definitely thrilled to be back in the room. There was lots of leaping and bunnydancing and general bunny bliss...for all of about ten minutes. Next thing I know, he's trying to get under my husband's desk, which I had clearly not blocked off as thoroughly as I used to. I shooed him out of there, moved some hastily-grabbed small boxes into place--and then spent the next couple of hours trying to keep him from getting past the boxes. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there, because as soon as I'd clap my hands or call out his name, he'd back off, look up at me as if to say, "Aw Mum, you never let me have any fun.", then go right back to it when he thought I wasn't watching. I finally placed his toy bin in front of the boxes, which kept him from squeezing his plump bunny butt in what space there was there, and he lost interest.
Everything seemed to be fine after that for a few hours. He was running back and forth on the floor mats, checking out the gate blocking off the living room, nibbling on some dried papaya I had put out for him to snack on, and coming up to me for pats and attention in between. When I would look up from the computer to check to see where he was, most of the time I would find him flopped at my feet.
Silly me for allowing myself to be lulled into a false sense of security.
I had looked up from the computer one last time and saw him in his litterbox on the far side of the room. Not five minutes later, my son walks in and says:
"Holy s**t! How long has he been back there?!"
He dashes over to the TV table area, which is where the bulk of our electric cords can be found and pulls aside the rabbit tunnel, the large cushions and the plastic footstool that I had used to block off that area. I can hear Mickey scrabbling around back there, but I can't see him at first. When I do, I immediately scoop him up and put him back in his cage while my son starts checking the cords for damage. I told him there was no way Mickey could have done any harm there because he hadn't been back there long enough.
Wrong again. In that brief period, he had managed to snip through every cord he could get at before we caught him.
Damage done:
3 phone cords
1 cell phone charger cord
1 power adapter cord to cordless phone base (which killed not only the base, but all three of the handsets that went with it)
Estimated cost of replacement: $100-$120.
Fortunately, the cords can all be replaced either by tomorrow or within the week, but needless to say, I'm more annoyed with myself than with Mickey. I'm familiar with his habits enough to know when he's hit the point where boredom becomes destruction, but I wasn't paying enough attention to notice. Before he's allowed out again, I'm going to have to do some serious reinforcing of that area (and the area under my husband's desk) to make sure that he cannot get back there again.
It's a good thing my husband isn't home--I'd never hear the end of it.
"Cords? I don't know nuthin' 'bout no cords--where's my lawyer?
I been framed, I tell ys!"
Today, we took the tree down and moved everything back to where it was before. Because his exercise area had been so limited (and because my husband's away on business, so no crabbing about the rabbit being out and underfoot), I decided to give Mickey an extra-long outing.
BIG mistake on my part, for the following reasons:
1. While rearranging the area where the tree had been, I had placed fewer boxes out to block Mickey's access to the areas where all our cords were. I thought I had managed to come up with a placement that used minimal boxes, but still kept him from getting in those areas. I had even used his tunnel in one section instead of boxes because I thought he would be more interested in going in and out of his tunnel than in trying to get behind it.
2. I assumed that because he hadn't been in the dining room/office area in two weeks, he would be so excited to be out that he would spend more time running around and less time trying to get at anything.
Wrong on both counts.
Mickey was definitely thrilled to be back in the room. There was lots of leaping and bunnydancing and general bunny bliss...for all of about ten minutes. Next thing I know, he's trying to get under my husband's desk, which I had clearly not blocked off as thoroughly as I used to. I shooed him out of there, moved some hastily-grabbed small boxes into place--and then spent the next couple of hours trying to keep him from getting past the boxes. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there, because as soon as I'd clap my hands or call out his name, he'd back off, look up at me as if to say, "Aw Mum, you never let me have any fun.", then go right back to it when he thought I wasn't watching. I finally placed his toy bin in front of the boxes, which kept him from squeezing his plump bunny butt in what space there was there, and he lost interest.
Everything seemed to be fine after that for a few hours. He was running back and forth on the floor mats, checking out the gate blocking off the living room, nibbling on some dried papaya I had put out for him to snack on, and coming up to me for pats and attention in between. When I would look up from the computer to check to see where he was, most of the time I would find him flopped at my feet.
Silly me for allowing myself to be lulled into a false sense of security.
I had looked up from the computer one last time and saw him in his litterbox on the far side of the room. Not five minutes later, my son walks in and says:
"Holy s**t! How long has he been back there?!"
He dashes over to the TV table area, which is where the bulk of our electric cords can be found and pulls aside the rabbit tunnel, the large cushions and the plastic footstool that I had used to block off that area. I can hear Mickey scrabbling around back there, but I can't see him at first. When I do, I immediately scoop him up and put him back in his cage while my son starts checking the cords for damage. I told him there was no way Mickey could have done any harm there because he hadn't been back there long enough.
Wrong again. In that brief period, he had managed to snip through every cord he could get at before we caught him.
Damage done:
3 phone cords
1 cell phone charger cord
1 power adapter cord to cordless phone base (which killed not only the base, but all three of the handsets that went with it)
Estimated cost of replacement: $100-$120.
Fortunately, the cords can all be replaced either by tomorrow or within the week, but needless to say, I'm more annoyed with myself than with Mickey. I'm familiar with his habits enough to know when he's hit the point where boredom becomes destruction, but I wasn't paying enough attention to notice. Before he's allowed out again, I'm going to have to do some serious reinforcing of that area (and the area under my husband's desk) to make sure that he cannot get back there again.
It's a good thing my husband isn't home--I'd never hear the end of it.
"Cords? I don't know nuthin' 'bout no cords--where's my lawyer?
I been framed, I tell ys!"