4-bunny bunch joins an even bigger family

It was almost Easter time — as the candy and toys all turned bunny-shaped — when Maggie McBride’s kids first came to her with a request. The season had them thinking about long ears and cottony tails, and all five were united in a common thought. They wanted to add a bunny or two to the family.

Space, time, and commitment weren’t an issue. The family of animal lovers already had a small farm with goats, chickens, horses, and even a tortoise — many adopted or rescued from other situations. And Maggie was well aware of the fate of many “Easter bunnies,” bought on a whim only to be given up later.  If they were going to bring a bunny home, she wanted to make sure they did it right.

[Chance meetings lead to best bunny buddies]

The family was already familiar with Best Friends Animal Society. It was one of the nonprofit organizations that clients at Maggie’s real estate brokerage could chose to donate to. And they often drove through Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, enjoying the peaceful canyon scenery.

So Maggie decided they’d go there to meet the adoptable bunnies at the Sanctuary’s Bunny House. These wouldn’t be Easter bunnies, but it was exciting all the same.

The right bunch of bunnies

Maggie and her two youngest children, twins Zeke and Zoe, were the family’s in-person representatives for the very important (and very fluffy) mission, while the older kids joined via FaceTime. Top priority? Finding the right match for their family. With active children and a busy farm, it was important that any potential new additions be friendly and outgoing, able to handle activity going on around them.

Caregivers at the Bunny House worked with the family, going from bunny to bunny and introducing each possible match until one bunch finally fit the bill. Siblings Ash, Basil, Cedar, and Denali had plenty of experience being around different people. They’d been the stars of bunny yoga and were well-versed in charming treats from volunteers and visitors on tour. What really sealed the deal, though, was how the bunny siblings and the twins reacted to one another.

[Bunny with a head tilt gets second chance at Best Friends]

When Zeke and Zoe went into the bunnies’ enclosure to meet them, it didn’t take long before they were surrounded by four snuffling noses and a whole bunch of twitching ears. The bunnies were instantly at ease with the two young children, but Maggie was most impressed with their effect on Zeke. “My son Zeke has some sensory disorders and is very loud because of that; he doesn’t know how to turn down his volume,” she explains. “So when he sat down and was so quiet, we were thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing.’”

With the comfort of the bunnies and the quiet care both twins showed them, seeing all of them together felt right. And though they hadn’t planned on leaving with four new family members, at that point there was no way they weren’t. Just like that, the two families became one.

Happy hopping home

From the moment they arrived, Ash, Basil, Cedar, and Denali were a big hit not only with their new family, but with all their family friends and visitors — of whom there were many. “My nieces and my nephews beg to come over and hang out,” says Maggie. “And we invite the preschool classes to come and learn about animals. The kindergarten classes come over and the kids’ best friends.”

There’s never a dull moment in the buns’ new home, and though they mostly stuck close together as they settled in, none of them would turn up their nose at a yummy snack. As long as there are plenty of treats involved, they’re happy to play host to just about anyone.

Zeke, however, remains the bunny whisperer. “They have a little hutch that is covered, and then they have a big open space that you can walk into. And he’ll go in with lettuce or treats or whatever, and he’ll just sit quietly,” Maggie says. “He loves all the animals, but with the rabbits he’s the quietest and calmest. He’s the one that has probably the most patience, and the bunnies will come up and just surround him. It's amazing.”

It's not just human friends the “bunnyshop” quartet are making either. When a bit of rearranging needed to happen on the farm, they temporarily bunked with some fine feathery folks. The family’s flock of chickens didn’t mind sharing their nesting boxes with the buns, and the long-eared lapins quite enjoyed having their own little beds to hunker down in. The chickens and bunnies were so comfortable cozied up together, in fact, that Maggie says it was a little hard to tell where feathers stopped and fur started, especially because they are all pretty much the same color.

Of course, like with any good bunch of siblings, there are bound to be some shenanigans. And when the buns caught sight of a veritable cornucopia of veggies, they couldn’t help themselves. Well, they could — and they did. When they got an opportunity to sneak into Maggie’s garden, they most certainly helped themselves. “We had to replant, and everyone thought that was hilarious because usually I can’t get a garden growing. I don’t have a very green thumb, but this year it was amazing,” Maggie says and then laughs. She doesn’t hold it against them. “They really enjoyed it. They’re very well fed.”

It's been a dream come true for the whole family (well, except perhaps the plants) — for the children, enamored by the fuzzy new friends they’d been wishing for, and for the bunnies, who have a home and a family to call their own. And as Maggie and her husband gear up to build a barn and upgrade the bunny bunks, it’s safe to say Ash, Basil, Cedar, and Denali are more than just a bunch of Easter bunnies. They’re family.