08/11/2026
Honestly, I really don’t want to write this post.
Somehow sharing about it makes it more real, which makes it hurt even more, and sometimes it feels like our hearts can’t handle anymore grief.
Recently, on one of the hottest days of summer, we lost one of our first and favorite bunnies in our rabbitry. Just typing those words brings the tears.
Over the course of running our rabbitry, we have had to say goodbye to many peanuts, stillborn babies, and a singleton. But never one of our adult rabbits. We’ve never had to bury one we’ve spent years loving, cuddling, caring for, & coming nose to nose with… until now.
Our sweet 10 year-old co-owner Charley was doing her evening care routine when she found Harrison P. Bear unresponsive. We suspect heat stroke as the weather was particularly hot that day.
We try to ensure comfort measures especially on hot days, such as having multiple fans for airflow in the barn, cold porcelain tiles for buns to lay on, frozen water bottles, etc. But the truth is, rabbits are susceptible to heat stoke and we lost one of our best. 💔😭
Harrison was a true dwarf, so tiny and cute, and hands-down the sweetest bunny in our entire rabbitry… never rejecting a cuddle and always happy to come to the door to put his face against ours. I had just held him the day prior. 🥺
The most recent litter he sired was with our beautiful BEW Vegas Bliss, and now we are especially grateful for our decision to keep his son, Patrick B. Jackpot, who looks SO much like his dad and will forever remind us of him.
We still can’t believe that this is real, it hurts like no other loss we have had to endure so far in our endeavor of raising rabbits.
As anyone with a homestead or farm or animals knows that raising animals also means eventually saying goodbye to those animals. But the ache in your heart at seeing their empty space is evidence that it was still all worth it… because for whatever time you had together, that ache means that you loved that little critter, and there’s nothing more we could want.
Harry Bear, we’ll remember you with affection forever. ❤️💔
