What do you know about dust bunnies? Or do you think they don’t really exist, like pixies, fairies and the Loch Ness Monster? Dust bunnies are real, I’ve seen them. I’ve swept them up and cleaned up after them.
Downtown Dust Bunnies – Two sets of sisters on a mission to uncover the cause of the recent increase in dust bunnies.
Connie Hwang: Art Museum Dust Collection
From Wikipedia:
Dust bunnies (or dustbunnies), also called dust mice, are small clumps of dust that form under furniture and in corners that are not cleaned regularly. They are made of hair, lint, dead skin, spider web, dust, and sometimes light rubbish and debris, and are held together by static electricity and felt-like entanglement.[citation needed] They can house dust mites or other parasites, and can lower the efficiency of dust filters by clogging. The movement of a single large particle can start the formation of a dust bunny.
Dust bunnies are harmful to electronics, as they can obstruct air flow through heat sinks, severely raising temperatures and shortening the life of electronic components.
Dust bunnies have been used as an analogy for the accretion of cosmic matter in planetoids.
In Jude Deveroux series, dust-bunnies are small, but deadly, little creatures resembling fuzz and was described as looking like “something that rolled out from under the bed.”
The ‘Dust Bunny Facts’ and ‘The Evolution of the Dust Bunny’ (below) come from another site. Not updated in awhile but clever enough to be worth saving. So many clever things have disappeared online.
Dust Bunny Facts
Last updated 06/07/2006Where to find them or ” The Natural Environment”
Dustbunnies have been around for centuries and are an untouched resource of easy-care pets for our busy life styles. They have lived quietly along side us and have already been domesticated.
You probably have one or two which have “adopted” you and you wouldn’t even know it.
The Dustbunny seeks out spaces that receive little traffic, and preferably dark – although some do become curious of the outside world.
Dust bunny Defenses
Dustbunnies have their own paratrooper squads that one must be on the look-out for. However, since the Dustbunnies do not have their own Air force they depend on fan blades to transport them, so invasions usually take plan during warm summer days
There are also small legions of foot soldiers that parade across the floor when the ventilation units are turned on.
When heavy objects are moved they will scurry for cover. This is the best time for capture.
Submitted by Robin and Anna: Did you know that Dustbunnies eat spiders and other things that crawl into there territory. Also, they like to use pencils as excise equipment. It may cost $100 per day to capture them if you live in a big city.
Dustbunny Social Life
Dust Bunnies are very prolific. There is no such thing as ONE Dust Bunny. Left to their own vices, dustbunnies will reproduce at alarming rates.
Dustbunnies like to use stereo-systems as their own personal Singles Clubs. Dancing usually takes place on the older models with a LP turntable, as the laser show of the CD drives have been linked to Fur Cancer in studies conducted at DBU.
Believe it or not DISCO is still their favorite music. If you find any dancing on the head of you needle, please remove gently and place off to the side so they can catch their breath.
There is now a new “Take your Dust Bunny to Work Day”.. If you do this, make sure you only bring back your home Dust Bunnies and not the ones from work. Although, the ones at work may like a nice holiday.
Dustbunny care:Care for dustbunnies is very low maintenance.
Feeding: Dust Bunnies will find their own food. They have a tendency to turn vegetarian – if you do not wish them to eat your houseplants you may wish to gently wipe them off the leaves with a gentle but firm “no”.
Dustbunnies need a quiet, dark place to make a hutch or home, under beds and dressers are the ideal spots. If you wish them to find their own space, don’t be surprised if you catch them crawling the walls and hanging from the chandeliers.
Dust Bunnies prefer small hidden places where no on looks.
When giving you Dust Bunnies a bath, make sure that you have the safety net put on. This way your Dust Bunnies will not get sucked back into the wash or go down the drain. They enjoy congregating in pipes and Router Rooter may hurt them.
Now that the heating season in here, make sure that you have collected your Dustbunnies off of the heaters and registers. Burnt fur does not smell very good and it does spook your Dustbunnies.
When using a dehumidifiers, please pay special attention to the coils. Dustbunnies like to drink from these and may become too wet to move. Gently wipe them off and place in a dryer with cloths. They will collect on the lint screen and then can be released.
Health Care: Unlike many pets, Dustbunnies do not need inoculations or veterinary visits. If your Dustbunny begins to look peaked, build it a nest of laundry lint and in a few days your pet will be looking fine and frisky.
Making your home Dustbunny friendly:
If you are missing an item, check the Dust Bunny hutch. Unlike Raccoons who will actively look for goodies, Dustbunnies will only take what they can get easily especially anything left on the floor near their home.
Natural enemies of the Dust Bunny: Giant sucking machines (i.e. Hoovers, Kirbys, Dust Vacs, etc.) keep them as far away from your Dustbunny if you don’t want to scare them.
Glossary of terms
How to speak Dust Bunny
Underground Railroad: Air ducts
Express Lane: Using the air ducts while furnace or AC is in use
Caribbean Vacation: Dryer lint screen
The Evolution of the Dust Bunny
Dust bunnies are, of course, the harmless little bits of fluff that accumulate under furniture where ever people live. Seldom noticed, though often known about, these rather harmless little creatures exist in many places. There are, of course, those homes in which no self-respecting dust bunny would live. Overuse of cleaning products and or frequent violent cleaning seems to interrupt the breeding of the adorable dust bunny. This should be discouraged whenever people actually live as it would seem to indicate an unhealthy environment for humans or dust bunnies.
However, there are some residential places that rarely have dust bunnies. They go straight from “just cleaned the place” to “hibernating dust bears” with no small cuddly dust bunny stage in-between the two. Hibernating dust bears are fine, until you actually need to clean. Then, of course, you run up against the “do you really want to wake the dust bear” problem. Naturally, I recommend leaving the dust bears alone in their natural Habitat. Who knows what a dust bear will do once woken?
If the dust bear is allowed to complete its hibernation, it will again evolve to the final form. The final form is the dust devil. These are no longer harmless bits of fluff, nor are they sleepy. These are dangerous balls of accumulated flotsam that can threaten a household. Ever wonder if the monster under the bed is real? Well, it is and it is a dust devil. They have a taste for small innocuous children and harmless pets, they leave kindred spirits alone.
There is only one known cure for a household infected with dust devils. Dynamite is guaranteed to remove all traces of the dangerous beasts. Unfortunately, it will also require the rebuilding of all the furniture, if not the house itself, but is absolutely necessary if the house is infected.
The tricky part to all this is to know when the dust bear, harmless sleepy creatures that they are, need to be removed from a house. Timing is critical, you should not disturb dust bears until it is necessary. But wait that critical day and you may well be missing a small child or pet next time you take a head count around the house.
What can you write about dust, how creative can you get with something so simple and yet so legendary?