Although it was quite cold and rainy, Samantha and her dog, Tonks, decided not to break the tradition and got ready for a walk in the local park.
Just as they got out of the car and left the parking lot, they saw a gray, fluffy creature at the entrance. Already from a distance, they could see that the little one was shaking from the cold and bad weather.
Samantha had a guess as to which animal it was, but she wasn’t one-hundred percent sure until they got a little closer.
Fluffy Head Was So Lost
Samantha and her doggo slowly approached the little creature. As soon as they were within a reasonable distance, everything became clearer to her.
“When I first saw her, I knew she wasn’t a wild rabbit immediately, but I thought she might be a small groundhog,” Samantha told The Dodo. “She didn’t have the right silhouette or behavior/movement of a wild rabbit. When I got closer to her, I saw the floppy ears, plus the fact that she didn’t run away or look wary of us at all, [which] made it clear to me.”
It was a little scared bunny, whom they later named Fig Newton, and it was all pointing to the fact that she had been abandoned in the park. Samantha knew that the bunny didn’t belong there and that she had to do something quickly to help her.
She immediately went into action – she moved Tonks to a reasonable distance and settled her in, and then started her mission.
Her Friend Had To Step In
Although everything indicated that Fig wanted help, the rescue mission was anything but easy.
“She let me get about 10 feet away before she would take a few hops away to preserve the distance,” Samantha said. “I moved more slowly and managed to get within arm’s reach, but when I reached toward her, she ran into the woods. I couldn’t see her anymore and was dismayed and thought I might have screwed up, so I called Rachael, my friend who has rabbits of her own. I was walking away from the bunny up the path toward Tonks when I noticed that she had hopped back out of the woods and had started following me up the path. It was clear she very much wanted to be helped and to not be left alone out there. So I slowly moved back and closed the gap again.”
While waiting for her friend to appear, Samantha did everything to gain the trust of this cute little bunny. Even though the ground was wet from the heavy rain that had fallen that day, Samantha decided to sit down near Fig.
It turned out to be a great decision because the bunny slowly began to hop toward her rescuer. Being calm and in a lower position seemed to make Fig feel more comfortable.
Now, Samantha was sure that this mission would be successful and she was just waiting for her friend, Rachael, to show up, which soon happened. When Rachael came, this “rabbit expert” knew that she couldn’t come with empty hands, so she brought some treats with her.
Fig was in the rabbit carrier in no time.
“Once she was in the carrier, we gave her some rabbit grain pellets and some fresh rabbit-friendly greens, and she seemed pretty relaxed and content,” Samantha happily concluded.
They Fell In Love With Each Other
Right after rescuing her, Samantha took Fig to the vet. There, she found out that the bunny was a little dirty and matted, underweight, and had overgrown nails, but everything else seemed to be okay.
The original plan was for Samantha to take Fig home with her for temporary fostering where her friend, Rachael, would help her learn all about rabbit care. After that, she thought of taking her to a rescue and finding her a forever home.
Everything went according to plan except for the last part. Namely, Samantha and Fig fell in love with each other during the time they spent together, so Samantha decided that her home would be Fig’s home forever.
“Rachael helped me learn a lot about rabbit care in a short period of time, and I realized I could provide her the care she needed,” Samantha said.
From a trembling rabbit left alone in the rain, Fig blossomed into a fluffy ball that radiated delight of finally being where she belonged.
It was a happy ending in the full sense of those words.