Friday, April 18, 2008
A Mysterious Package
Earlier this week, I received a box in the mail addressed to Precious Pet Rabbits. My name was not included. I hadn't ordered anything for Precious Pet Rabbits. In this day and age of poison in pills and bombs in the mail, I was concerned. What could this be?
Andrew was also concerned since I had no idea what was in the package. We carefully opened it, not sure what to expect.
Whatever it was, it was packed in some sort of shredded litter. My mind went down the animal path. Had I offended some animal rights fanatic? Was there an animal part in there? Was there a live animal or bug in the packing? Snake? Roach? Rat?
I took the knife that I had used to open the box with and tentatively stuck it into the litter. "What are you doing?" Andrew snapped. Now I knew he was thinking explosives. Maybe the litter was to keep a bomb stabilized until we opened the box.
Why it was not okay for me to prod, but okay for him to poke around, I'll never know. But after gingerly lifting layers of the litter, he did find a sheet of paper in the bottom of the box and pulled it out.
I read the note, picked up a piece of the litter, and smelled it. Andrew was in a panic. "What are you doing? Did it say to smell it?" I realized that he had forgotten about bombs and was now thinking poison.
It's a shame that we live in a world of malware and computer viruses, warnings on suspicious mail, and a terrorism alert system. I'm sure that twenty years ago, we would have not proceeded with such caution and fear. Our minds would not have gone where they did.
So what was in the box? Litter. It was a sample of a shredded sugar cane litter that a company is offering. The cane is what is leftover after the sugar is processed. It is sanitized at 600 degrees. They claim it holds 3 times its weight in fluid.
I don't really recommend bedding for rabbits. I prefer raising them on the wire. This litter might turn out to be a good idea for your pet customers who want to litter train their rabbits, place a litter in the tray below the rabbit cage, or insist that the rabbit has to have a bed.
I do have some vague recollection that this company contacted me by email quite some time ago. I might have saved myself some stress had I recognized the name on the box.
We had a laugh after we figured out what was going on. But it wasn't as lighthearted as it could have been. We know that sometimes rabbitries are targeted by fanatics. We got out easy this time, but who knows whether some day we will be actual targets. Its a scary thought.
Laurie ¶ 10:26 AM
Andrew was also concerned since I had no idea what was in the package. We carefully opened it, not sure what to expect.
Whatever it was, it was packed in some sort of shredded litter. My mind went down the animal path. Had I offended some animal rights fanatic? Was there an animal part in there? Was there a live animal or bug in the packing? Snake? Roach? Rat?
I took the knife that I had used to open the box with and tentatively stuck it into the litter. "What are you doing?" Andrew snapped. Now I knew he was thinking explosives. Maybe the litter was to keep a bomb stabilized until we opened the box.
Why it was not okay for me to prod, but okay for him to poke around, I'll never know. But after gingerly lifting layers of the litter, he did find a sheet of paper in the bottom of the box and pulled it out.
I read the note, picked up a piece of the litter, and smelled it. Andrew was in a panic. "What are you doing? Did it say to smell it?" I realized that he had forgotten about bombs and was now thinking poison.
It's a shame that we live in a world of malware and computer viruses, warnings on suspicious mail, and a terrorism alert system. I'm sure that twenty years ago, we would have not proceeded with such caution and fear. Our minds would not have gone where they did.
So what was in the box? Litter. It was a sample of a shredded sugar cane litter that a company is offering. The cane is what is leftover after the sugar is processed. It is sanitized at 600 degrees. They claim it holds 3 times its weight in fluid.
I don't really recommend bedding for rabbits. I prefer raising them on the wire. This litter might turn out to be a good idea for your pet customers who want to litter train their rabbits, place a litter in the tray below the rabbit cage, or insist that the rabbit has to have a bed.
I do have some vague recollection that this company contacted me by email quite some time ago. I might have saved myself some stress had I recognized the name on the box.
We had a laugh after we figured out what was going on. But it wasn't as lighthearted as it could have been. We know that sometimes rabbitries are targeted by fanatics. We got out easy this time, but who knows whether some day we will be actual targets. Its a scary thought.
Laurie ¶ 10:26 AM
