The feeding strategy of a cunning rabbit.

We have two rabbits, now. Mochi is a fluffy, chunky grey rabbit and Sushi is a slender, golden rabbit. Both are baby girls, relatively speaking.

Now, we try to be proportionate when it comes to feeding them, so Mochi is always given more food than Sushi, simply because she is bigger. However, Mochi doesn’t seem to think this is fair enough.

A couple of days ago, Mochi and Sushi were each given a leaf of Romane Lettuce to eat. Mochi’s was, as usual, larger. As was typical, Mochi immediately tucked in, as if ravenous, nibbling as fast as it is possible for a baby grey rabbit to nibble. Before long, Mochi had nibbled her leaf down to a fraction of its former size. Sushi, however, was eating at a much more leisurely pace and was far behind. Mochi stopped, then, in her nibbling and looked across at Sushi’s much fuller lettuce leaf. At once, Mochi moved over and nudged Sushi out of the way, and started nibbling up Sushi’s leaf, too. Sushi stood there, looking non-plussed at her elder and larger “sister”. Mochi didn’t seem to notice or care.

In a moment, Sushi’s leaf was all gone. Then, Mochi returned to what was left of her own leaf, and finished that off too.

It was funny to watch Mochi at work, for this little stratagem turned out not to be a one off action. Indeed, Mochi employed the exact same stratagem three times in a row, one leaf after another.

Given Mochi’s tendency to work out ways to gather all the food to herself, we are taking extra care to make sure Sushi gets her share. It looks like the size difference between Mochi and Sushi is likely to be maintained indefinitely, the way they are going. Indeed, they promise to become a bit like that comedy duo of my childhood: Little and Large.

I have decided to mention the rabbits because our three boys love them. They now spend more time with the rabbits, than probably any other single leisure activity, including the TV and their computer games. They visit them several times a day and are forever playing with them. Even Ainan takes time to be with them, observe them and interact with them. It is warming to see the boys take care of the little rabbits – and refreshing, too. In many a household full of boys, as ours is, there are too few opportunities to see the softer side of the boys expressed. So, it is good to see them caring for the fluffy ones – and to see just how much they are enjoying expressing themselves in this way.