27 August, 2010

More Bunnies!?

I thought our experience with bunny nests in the yard was over for the summer. But no. Seems another mama bunny decided to dig her nest in a flowerbed in the front yard. Doesn't look like she dug up any spring bulbs, though. Unfortunately the front yard doesn't leave her any protection from dogs, kids, and other critters, like the one in the backyard had. When I took Maggie out for a late night walk, last night, she kept trying to drag me to the flowerbed. After pulling her away three time Maggie gave up.

I didn't know there was a nest there; Joanne and Ted discovered it later when walking Maggie. Silly dog managed to get to the nest and pull two babies out! One ran away but the other was injured and couldn't run. The injured bunny was left by the cherry tree but was gone in the morning. I didn't see him anywhere. Looks like something else had gotten to it earlier. We do have skunks, possum, raccoons, etc. all around us.

The little guy that ran away may have headed to the backyard. Maggie and I heard rustling behind the trellis but didn't see anything. As far as we know there are two more left in the nest. I peeked and saw little fur covered toes. Hopefully they will survive and be on their way in a couple of weeks or sooner as they are a good size already. This explains why I've been seeing rabbits, in the front yard, the past few weeks, late at night.

Box Mom

2 comments:

Joanne said...

Yeah, it was sad. I'm not sure how badly Maggie hurt the bunny, but it did have blood on its neck. I put on gloves and picked it up, and it was obviously in shock; its equilibrium was off and it was doing that lopsided head thing injured bunnies do.

I'm so not a country girl or a hunter; I couldn't dispatch of it quickly like my grandfather would have. Instead, I put it underneath the cherry tree, six feet or so from the nest. An hour later, it was gone. There is a large cat in the neighborhood who had killed baby bunnies before, so I'm sure that's what got it.

Joanne said...

And then there were none...

Between fast-traveling cars and our own dog, there are no bunnies left from this litter.