Hello,

I am Grijsje and was born end of February 1994 in a garden hutch located in Rehovot, Israel. My father was a beautiful Chinchilla rabbit and my mother a white New-Zealand doe. My father had some character and often escaped the hutch to go and roam in neighbouring garden and find some good food. I must have inherited this from him; I love fresh vegetables from my youngest age.

Life did not start so good for me and, at the age of about 4 weeks, I got sick. I suffered a severe infection of the right eye, and my stomach was not doing so well too, maybe stasis. I was nevertheless very curious about life and food and, beside my mother’s milk, I tried to nibble some hay, pellets and some vegetables. Esther furthermore cared well over me and I eventually recovered and became a healthy rabbit.

Shortly after arriving into the home of Esther, there was a heat wave or „hamzin". Humans define it is 40 degrees, with dry desert air, and become less active. So do we, Sniffy and me !

When we were lying together, Sniffy taught me a lot of things: how to use a litter box, what are tasty vegetables, and talked about her experience as a house-rabbit. She took care of me, licked me a lot on my little nose to reassure me that nothing was wrong. This always made me feel much better.

Sniffy was furthermore my protector and she would not hesitate to bite and attack in order to defend me. Yes, she was very courageous !!! We have had a lot adventures together. So I remember very well the earthquake we had in Israel, in November 1995. Since that day I do not like to be in something that moves.

When we got a bit older, Sniffy and me would often snuggle together for hours. We both like to be together and groom each other’s fur.

I also like very much to visit the garden. There is always something new to discover.

After some exercise to keep fit.., it is nice to be inside the house again and rest with Sniffy. Often, our humans would bring a bowl with fresh fruit

Usually she would climb on my back and both we would doze. During the last months of her life, I cared a lot for Sniffy, grooming her and keeping her mood high. Unfortunately she suffered a stroke and left me, Esther, Arie and Louise. We miss her a lot.

Lately I like to listen very much to piano music and have a special place in the living room to listen to it. When it is finished I will go to eat something or play with Esther.

Since a few weeks, I have a new friend, Stampi, but that is another story....

Getting older was accompanied with some health problems. Stampi was full of patience and Adar, though very young, cared all the time for me. End of December 2002, we went for a vacation to our favorite garden. I was very sick and was hand-fed several times a day. It was a good time, with all my rabbit and human friends.

Grijsje passed away on January 12th,

2002 and has been buried in the

favorite garden, next to Sniffy.