Fire drills for bunnies

Last night we had had a dreadful thunder storm across the UK and shorter version tonight. Not too far from me, a house was struck by lighting and the roof caved in.

I was chatting with a bunny owner I know, who tell me she keeps a pop-up run in the boot of her car for just such emergencies, she has multiple plans in place for fires, floods and acts of God.

I have no idea what I'd do, I certainly don't have any actual plans in place. But maybe I should, as my friend pointed out, last winter was the worst flooding in living memory but few of the people who lost their homes had ever thought it would happen to them.

So who has plans for evacuating their buns in an emergency?

I don't have any plans, where I live never gets flood but if I had to leave in an yemergency I always know where my cat Gizmo would be hiding and I have all the pet carriers in the same place, easily accessible and ready to go.

My Buns are upstairs in the office at night and I have their carrier on standby downstairs + a couple of cardboard boxes are always available upstairs if the worst happened, as we are on high ground the flood thing isn't an issue for me, so have the car (Estate car with a dog guard fitted) and their outside run and hidy hutch available should I need temporary shelter.

I have plans for fire and flooding.

They are outside so for a fire I will just leave them there - they are probably safer out there rather than me bringing them through the house and them inhaling all the smoke.

For flooding, they have access to both hutch and run 24/7 and the garden is on a slight slope, so I trust they will choose the higher ground. The hutch is raised a couple of inches and they also have a storage box in the hutch, a stool in the run and a trixie shelter in the run. So for them to drown, assuming they're clever enough to seek those higher places, the water would have to be about 6 inches high. If they're smart enough to sit on top of the trixie shelter, it would have to be a foot high. With no rivers nearby, that's unlikely to happen without me getting some warning, so I'd know before it got to a dangerous level and just bring my soggy bunnies inside. They'd have to be free-range inside until I bought a pen/crate, but that's doable.

I've thought about this since Jane posted about her neighbours kitchen being on fire!

A fire in my flat is unlikely - I'm extremely cautious - I can't vouch for others in the building though. Both carriers are in with the rabbits, and the doors are near by too. Getting Marble into hers is easy enough now that she can't hide under the bed, Maizie and Daisy is another story but I think I have them sussed, and in a panic I wouldn't be as relaxed as normal!

I live in Somerset so flooding is always a possibility, but it doesn't seem to affect Taunton so much - especially near town where I am. I'm in a 1st floor flat so I'd have a bit of time - again I'd put them in their carriers, and then come out with a plan to get out :lol: I'd probably get out as soon as outside started flooding, and go back to Wales :lol::lol:

We've often thought about fire plans over the years. It's a real worry when you have lots of pets though - when we had house bunnies we used to think we'd have to open the door and just let them out, and attempt to catch them afterwards, and busy ourselves trying to get the other pets out of cages (or to take whole cages, if small enough).

With the guinea pigs, we've always had a carrier next to them, just in case of an emergency situation.

I have more carriers than I actually need per bunny or pair and a carrier is kept in each bunny room/run/pen so that I can literally grab them and pack them in at speed. I know that sounds a bit rough but in an emergency, scruffing might be the quickest option. However animals do tend to panic in the event of a fire. Rabbits have been known to stamp and run at top speed in fear and frustration which will make them harder to catch for evacuation. Depending on where the fire is, I would put them all in the car and drive away or if the front is blocked by fire, we would go into the back garden and maybe climb the neighbours fence to get out on the main road. Flooding is one we have had practice at after being flooded in 2012. As we live in a bungalow, it is a case of grab the bunnies, get them in carriers and put the carriers up high or leave the house entirely.

I think it is something that people definitely need to think about for themselves and their pets. A fire can be started by anything, the most recent bizarre cause being a crystal doorknob that reflected the rays of the sun and started a fire. Anything metal or with an ability to reflect could potentially cause a fire as can phone and pad chargers or anything left plugged in. It happens all too easily. And on that note everyone should have at least one fire alarm. I think a carbon monoxie detector is a really good one to have too as that is a silent killer of humans and animals.

I don't have any specific plans but there's a carrier always ready in his room and boxes in the house.

If I didn't have time I'd grab him and he'd have to sit in the car. We only live around the corner from the vets too so I'm sure they'd put him up in an emergency.

I don't have specific plans either.
They're in the garden which is separated from the house by a little alley and a stone wall, so a house fire is unlikely to affect them. If someone decided to set fire to their shed I doubt we would know in time to be able to do anything.
Their shed is raised quite a bit off the ground so unlikely to flood even if the garden did. A couple of years ago we had quite a bad flood with the sea coming over the wall but we're on a slope so it never reached us.

The mice are more of an issue. I always worry about what I'd do in a fire

We have plans in place in case of fire for our budgie, hamster and bunnies. Sadly I'm afraid we would have to leave the fish (2 goldfish and 12 tropical, in different tanks obviously) behind and hope that the fire could be put out before they perished.

I have plans in case of fire.

I don't know if a flood would be possible.. we've had feet of rain and our yard never flooded. I am near the river but I have a retention pond in my yard and a couple of neighbors do too plus there's a bunch of other ones nearby. Their purpose is to prevent flooding.

The outdoor pets are brought indoors during hurricanes. We've never had to evacuate during a hurricane and hopefully never will. The northeast FL coast isn't quite as bad as the southern FL coast when it comes to hurricanes.

Yup I have plans! Have a Holdall with rope attached kept in my waredrobe so if god forbid there was a fire in the bunnies go and I can lower them from the window or carry them out

I only have N&T, no other pets, so the emergency scenarios are relatively easy. I keep their carrier in their shed because it's handy for vets trips, they use it to play in, and in case of emergency so it's always handy. Floods aren't an issue in my part of town so the biggest issue would be fire. They're outdoor bunnies so if the house ever went up I'd grab them from out the back garden once I was out the house. We live in a cul de sac and if the house was on fire we'd have every neighbour outside, and someone would be able to lend me an axe or something to get in to the garden! If someone didn't, I'd just drive my car into the fence The other thing is the fire would take a little while to jump from the house to the shed which is around 5-6 metres away from the house, so I'd have time. My car keys are by my bed so I'd grab them and I could get them to safety very quickly. Any of my neighbours would take them in temporarily, plus I have my brother and dad 15 mins drive away. My dad also has their old dog crate, puppy panels and indoor cage so I could get them quickly too. I actually worry about it quite a lot!

This is one thing I do think about a lot, having a young boy, 2 bunnies, 3 snail tanks and 3 fish tanks I think it would be impossible to get all of them out so obviously I would have to prioritise and get Jack out then get the bunnies out then if there is time I would get the snails then the fish.
Emmiiee think that is a brilliant idea! Or even attaching rope to their carrier would work in an emergency, then just could lower them out and then get out with Jack and then grab the box and run!