Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow?

So it turns out that either Mama Bunny managed to wrangle all of her baby bunnies and coax them to come back or the bunnies have better instincts than I gave them credit for and made their way back to the nest. Last night, Alan was looking out the kitchen window and said he saw bunnies—plural. I didn't believe him because I only saw one, but I'd been looking at the nest and they were in a tall grassy patch by the nest. Now that I know they're all survivors, I'm ready for them to leave.

Also, what does it tell you about Marti that the bunny decided that our yard was the safest place to raise her family? I guess this face just isn't terrifying enough.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama Rabbit

So I was out doing yard work last week. And since we don't have a weed eater yet, I went around raking some of the long grass around our porch so that I could run it over with the mower. Yes, I am mowing the lawn. Pregnant. I am woman, hear me roar.

When I was raking near our porch, I stopped when I saw a nest of some sort. When I leaned down and saw the nest move, I ran the other direction. I figured it was something cute and tiny, but I wasn't willing to take the risk on the chance that it was a pile of snakes.

So yesterday, Alan came upstairs, hands cupped, proclaiming that he'd discovered what was in the nest. In his hands was the cutest baby bunny ever. He'd been watering some grass seed when about four bunnies went scampering out of their cozy nest. We headed back outside to put the bunny back in its nest. And to gather the scattered bunnies and put them back in their home. Because what if they weren't ready for freedom? What if they couldn't fend for themselves? I couldn't have the deaths of four baby bunnies on my conscience. Plus, what if Mama Bunny (who we'd seen hop into our yard awhile back although we didn't know she was a mommy at the time) came home to no baby bunnies? The day after Mother's Day? Too sad for me to contemplate.

So with one bunny back in the nest, we went looking for more runaway bunnies. One, having the survival instincts of a Marti, was tucked right behind the tire of our car. Two others were huddled by the house behind a bush. We wrangled two of those three, but one wily wittle wabbit ran for the hills. It took going into a neighbor's yard, but Alan managed to return him to the nest as well. Feeling like we'd done our duty, we left them to survive in the wild. When we checked the nest later though, we didn't see any bunnies. We were left to hope that the little ones had learned enough to fend for themselves in the big, bad world.

Tonight, I was at the kitchen sink and who do I see when I look out the window? Mama Bunny (pictured). Sitting just feet away from her empty nest. As she sat there munching on grass, I felt so bad. But then! She jumped away and I saw a little baby bunny that had been sitting next to her! Sweet relief! I was so glad that she didn't have a completely bunny-less nest. I do think it is the only bunny that hasn't jumped the coop, but at least she's got one bunny left to show for her month-long gestation period.


I have a feeling I'll need to be reminded about my sympathy for the "poor rabbits" when there are 20 of them making a feast of my garden.