Grace’s immediate response to her new roommate with huge ears was that she wanted to devour him.
Fortunately, their mother is Lydia DesRoche, a Broadway animal trainer who has a reputation for bringing pets of all kinds together in peaceful cohabitation.
DesRoche explains, “It’s always like, ‘Oh my God, this is happening.'”
Grace, who appeared with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane in “It’s Only A Play,” has lived with DesRoche for about three years. She had previously belonged to a client who thought the dog would be happier with Lydia.
Bob is a relatively new addition to the menagerie.
DesRoche felt she’d take care of the bunny while he healed, so she took him to the vet and had him neutered.
DesRoche was quickly taken by Bob’s outgoing, attractive attitude.
“I’m not sure how I ended up with a rabbit,” she explains. “Bob was meant to return to the refuge,” says the narrator.
Grace was probably thinking something similar – at least at first.
Grace, on the other hand, was “at first highly receptive to Bob the rabbit,” according to DesRoche.
Others were quicker to warm up to Bob, such as Petunia the rat, who felt secure enough to swipe some of Bob’s food directly from his lips.
Bob became unintentionally loose in the residence a few weeks after his arrival.
Watching the two very closely, DesRoche was thrilled and surprised to see Grace begin to offer Bob signals she wanted to play.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she says.
DesRoche has a customer named Jake. Because his owner travels frequently, Jake spends enough time in DesRoche’s apartment that she considers him a member of the family.
Jake drew Bob’s attention on his most recent visit. Bob began following Jake about, smelling him, nudging him with his nose, and generally seeming “obsessed,” as DesRoche describes it.
“Oh hello,” she says of Bob’s reaction.
Jake moved from wanting to pounce on Bob to being more or less apathetic, to be intrigued and eager to play.
So now, Grace loves Bob, and Bob more or less only has eyes for Jake. (And vegetables.)
Grace, don’t be concerned. Jake will return home at some point.
0 Comments