In The Dead Of A Wisconsin Winter

Lordy, I just plain hate winter.  I am not a winter person; there is nothing fun about being outside, especially when your nose freezes shut or your finger tips drop off from lack of blood.  I especially love it when you smack your frozen finger on a cage door or between the ceramic crock you are trying to de-ice, and the bucket.

I just showed some of my Polish last weekend – only a few, and it was their first show.  Of course they acted up on the show table and wouldn’t pose well – they practically screamed out evidence that their owner hates winter and doesn’t like practicing posing rabbits when it is zero out.   They are right, I’m out there to do my chores twice a day and that takes a fairly long time already – posing rabbits is not on my list when the weather is as cold as its been!

And I don’t even have it that bad!  My building is insulated – in fact, I’ve only had frozen water cups in some of the bottom cages this winter. 

My tales of winter misery and misfortune pale in comparison to my friends’.

Imagine working out in an unheated building for several hours when it is below zero – chipping out frozen water cups two and three times a day, feeding, cleaning cages and trimming nails.  The worst part is that you need your finger dexterity for so much of the work, but of course the gloves don’t allow for it.

Throughout it all, the rabbits laugh at you for being so wimpy!  They are full of vinegar in this weather – their thick fur coats are excellent insulators.  Even so, night has got to be brutally cold and we have all been stuffing cages with hay, straw and boxes to give our beloved bunnies some warmth.

In light of all the pre-speculation about this winter’s weather, I had decided to wait and see what Mother Nature would bring us before deciding to breed any rabbits for winter litters.  I am glad I didn’t breed any, but this also means I don’t have any show juniors for Polish Nationals this coming April.

Almost time for chores again….

Oh, be sure to visit my friend’s new website, we are adding cool things almost daily – Reilly’s Rabbits of Wisconsin.