“Exams to the left of me, papers to the write, here I am, stuck in the middle of finals”
-Evan Kelmar
The gray sky loomed over me, as I trudged through the rain, ever deeper into the abyss that is week 10. Yet even here, in the depths of hell, there was a glimmer of hope. It was not summer vacation, nor was it illegal substances, but instead, this ray of sunshine took the form of a bunny named Dr. Nibbles. Now, while we did not actually exchange names, judging by his calm and professional demeanor, I can only assume this was his name. Dr. Nibbles did not just randomly bump into me, but instead was provided to me by a New England Christmas Tree farm that Dartmouth contracted to boost moral. Their job was to supply cute barn animals to distract us busy college students from the worries of the world.
Dr. Nibbles was one of several bunnies who had gathered in the center of their pen. It was relatively cold out, so they huddled close together to keep each other warm. The bunnies were surrounded by ducklings, and the ducklings were following around baby goats and pigs, who roamed around the pen, from human to human. It was a crowd of cuteness, and I couldn’t have gone wrong picking any of these animals to be my companion. I was amazed that none of these animals were afraid of humans, in fact, it seemed the opposite was the case. Small ducklings came and pecked at my shoes to greet me, and when I pet them they did not slink away but instead came closer.
Dr. Nibbles was extremely calm when I picked him up. The first thing I noticed was that I could feel his spine even through his soft and silky fur coat. He snuggled right up in my arms, probably because he was cold now since he was separated from his bunny coalition of warmness. He was a little damp; even though there was a tent above us, the rain would sometimes blow in and sprinkle all the animals. The ducks liked being in the rain; the bunnies did not. Still, throughout the event I did notice some bunnies drinking from puddles, instead of the bowls of water provided for them, which I found odd, but to be fair some of the ducks ended up sitting in the water bowls, obstructing access to the other thirsty barn babies.
Dr. Nibbles nuzzled into the crevasse of my elbow as I held him with one hand, and pet him with the other. I could feel his heart beating very quickly, not necessarily a sign of anxiety, as rodents hearts tend to beat very fast, and bunnies resting heart rate can be as high as 180 BPM, which is about double that of a humans heart rate. He eventually settled down completely, and started to close his eyes. No doubt, he had had a busy a stressful day, as had I. Still, Dr. Nibbles, considering our brief time together, made my stress go down by doing nothing more than letting me hold him. This is just another piece of evidence in the pile of many that shows how nature, especially adorable animals, are important and effective in improving our mental health. I’d recommend that if anyone else is stressed because of school or work, instead of using television or social media to relax during the downtime, should take a stroll outside, or hang out with an animal, even if its just for fifteen minutes. It might surprise you how relaxing warm weather and a furry friend can be.