As young bunnies Tigger and Shadow had a distressing tendency to regularly disappear and leave incredible damage wherever they had been. We do like to watch favorite programs on our living room TV and found ourselves constantly bouncing up and down to find out what the funny chewing sounds were. That got old since they didn't keep their mischief to commercials. So we tried to think up a fun thing for them to do that would keep them more in our line of vision. As kids we played in sheet tents and forts and so we thought to make a bunny tunnel for Tigger and Shadow.

We picked up some cardboard box forms from a shipping store and folded them in on themselves to create open run through boxes. We found a big four by six foot sea grass rug and put that down over the living room rug. We placed five of the open boxes in a row across the sea grass rug and draped a flat single sheet over the boxes.

There is now such sweetness in supervised bunny play! When they run the Bunny 500 they will go sailing through the tunnel at top speed. At other times, the tunnel is their sanctuary to chew some cardboard, or just flop down to take a nap. They like to go burrowing under the edges of the sheet to enter and exit the tunnel from the sides. They take flying leaps over the tunnel. At other times they become architects and change the flow of the tunnel by rearranging the alignment of the boxes. Sometimes we lift an edge of the sheet up and down and play Peek-a-Bunny with them. At times when we peek into the tunnel, we find Tigger and Shadow sharing some snuggle time and the look they give us is clear, "We want to be alone, thank you very much!"

They are now six years old and slowing down a little so we started to throw another sheet over the back and sides of their cage at night to protect them from drafts. We were taking it off in the morning until one day we left it on and they started burrowing under the sheet and using it as another tunnel area. Now this is another favorite play and nap time spot. They will go into the back corners and actually make a little sheet pocket for themselves where they pull the sheet under and around themselves and tuck themselves into the corner. They do such a good job of pulling the sheet around themselves, it is hard to see they are hidden there.

We love that we can now see so much more of their play and that it so easy to maintain. The sheets get popped in the washer on a regular basis and boxes and sheets are inexpensive to replace if they become too chewed. Since we floored the tunnel with a seagrass rug, we don't have to worry if they want to chew the flooring either. What a magical bunny playground can be created with a sheet and some boxes!

~ Rebecca Pullin