Last week, I had finished mowing the lawn and was racing the predicted storms to get the trimming done, when I noticed a tuft of what looked like dryer lint lying on the grass. I looked closer and saw that it was rabbit fluff. I heard a tiny squeaking noise and followed it to a nest of tiny critters. I'd knocked open a bunny nest with the string trimmer. They were so tiny that their fur was still black and their little heads still had that sort of generic shape that could just as well have belonged to newborn puppies.
I consulted St. Turtle of Assisi. One of the babies had a cut across its belly, probably from the string trimmer, but the others looked fine so she suggested we should leave them alone so the mother would come back and take care of them.
As of this morning, they're still out there. They seem to be doing all right and are active enough that they keep knocking the fluff out of their hole. When I come out to check on them, they hear me and start climbing all over one another. Their eyes are still closed, but their heads look more like bunny heads now, and their fur has changed to a more recognizable mix of browns and whites.
In the first picture, you can see one of the bunnies' heads, facing to the left, with a little white stripe on top. The second picture shows one of the babies' bunny butt, as it attempts to burrow its way to the bottom of the pile to take its turn getting warm. To give you a sense of how little these guys are, the hole you see is only about four inches across.
I just hope that they don't decide to take up residence in my yard, tearing up the grass and burrowing under the foundation slab like their mother.
9 comments:
Oh, how cute!!! (Until they grow older and become pestilence...)
They are tiny!
I love that "St. Turtle of Assisi."
I bet that's right!
Janie: I was looking around for a way to encourage the bunny (singular) to move on and eat someone else's grass before discovering our own personal nest of bunnies. Most involve spritzing the entryways of their dens with some variety or another of urine. I even read one web site that suggested Eau de Human, but giving that a try would involve some subterfuge. Turtle would be appalled.
Eric: Something else, I think. this, perhaps. I think we're going to be all right, because we're not big party throwers (my fault). And if the little pellet factories--who gets to clean out the nesting hole, I wonder just now--have any inclination toward eating my face, they certainly missed a couple great chances while I was peering at them, these past few days.
I'd be willing to bet if they do burrow around, you'll let them, because you're a softy that way
Beanie: I've never set fire to a field while trying to burn ants with a magnifying glass, if that's what you mean.
Bunnies on Easter... It's a sign! Oh wait. That's groundhogs. Nevermind.
I once tried to rescue a baby bunny from a Pit Bull who had torn its nest apart. We fed it puppy milk out of a bottle. It didn't survive. I didn't have St. Turtle of Assisi to go to for guidance. :(
I think they taste like chicken.
The wild ones won't hurt you but if you disturb their nest enough, mama will relocate them (I used to go to our nearby golf course and catch the wild bunnies as a child)
Foo, I think it's a rite of passage as a kid to burn ants with a magnifying glass. Tried it on a Doberman once. That didn't work out so well. It was then I knew I was destined to write software for a living.
Foo is NOT allowed to disturb the nest or "water the yard." If the bunnies relocate to our neighbor's yard on the East side, he'll be relocating and you'll get a knock on the front door. Our neighbor isn't fond of bunnies, especially since they use his beautiful garden for grazing.
It won't be too long before they are on their own, because they barely fit in the hole. By the way, they are looking very, very, very cute. Little bunny tocks. Tiny bunny ears. Itty bitty wiggling noses.
May God bless and protect all the little critters. Amen.
Tink: When I first found them, they might as well have been groundhogs. Or rats. Or puppies. When they're that little, who can tell? We wouldn't have the first idea how to care for critters as tiny as these are, even with the positive St. Turtle of Assisi juju. Best to just let them be.
Emma: I think they taste like chicken. No, wait! I think I have a hare in my mouth.
rcarlino: You're a code troll too? I thought you were a ballistic engineer or something. Burning a doberman with a magnifying glass sounds like just the sort of thing that would get you a seat in Darwin's waiting room.
St. Turtle: Yes, Dear.
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