In Stories Rabbits Tell, Susan and I talk about the gregarious nature of rabbits. That means that rabbits, like dogs and primates, are social animals who thrive on the companionship of other rabbits, as well as animals from other species. That's what makes it so sad that so many people keep rabbits locked up in solitary cages in the backyard, where they lack any sort of social contact.

In my multi-species household, most of the rabbits live in a large group of about 50, along with three guinea pigs. The cats, birds, and dogs mostly play with their own kind, although everyone has access to everyone else.

We recently adopted a kitten, however, after our eldest cat died, who spends all of her time with the rabbits. Every morning when I go to let the rabbits out of their room to play in their courtyard, Ling Ling, the kitten, will run out with me, standing directly in front of their door, where she grabs at them as they run out for breakfast. She then spends as much of the morning as she can with them, trying to get them to play with her, an effort which is largely unsuccessful.

However, Ling Ling has found in another of my rabbits her soul mate. Whiskers is a Netherland dwarf with a head tilt. Whiskers spends most of the daytime in a large cage, for her safety, but spends every evening in the living room with us, on a big dog bed. As soon as Whiskers comes out, Ling Ling is ready. She pounces on her, over and over, and tries to wrestle with her. Because her mobility is limited, Whiskers can't easily escape or fight back. Over and over, every night, I spray her with a spray bottle to keep her from traumatizing Whiskers.

Yet I am starting to think that maybe the wrestling isn't as one-sided as it seems to me. Last night, after the usual play, Ling Ling went to sleep in the corner of Whiskers' bed. The bunny clumsily made her way over to the kitten and dropped down beside her where she took a nap alongside her friend. After a couple of hours, Ling Ling got her second wind, woke up, and started to wrestle again.