Look At The Tiny Nibbler!

I can’t believe how tiny this baby bunny is!

And I can’t believe that I said it was OK for my neighbor, Dan, to put Little Baby Rabbit in my yard… because it’s not like we don’t have enough rabbits. In just one patch of our (rather small) front yard last night we had four adult rabbits happily chomping on clover.

How could I say no? He’s adorable. And he needed sanctuary. Who could resist? I mean – just take a look. See that heart-shaped leaf in the upper left hand side of the image? It’s a cloverleaf violet. Now, think about how big a cloverleaf violet’s leaf is. Not very big. So, compare the size of the cloverleaf violet to the size of the bunny, and you’ll get an idea of just how teeny tiny Little Baby Rabbit is! (update: major brain fart in original post – kept thinking violet and writing cloverleaf. At 94F, it’s obviously way too hot for a brain that’s accustomed to -10F to function reliably.)

I know, I know. Baby Bunny is going to grow up fat and sassy from eating my flowers. But it needed a new home, as this little cutie had been discovered by Rudy. A very fast-acting Dan literally pulled it from within Rudy’s jaws. Poor Rudy! You could see him going, “Wadda ya mean, drop it! Dad! I’m a dog! I’m supposed to catch rabbits, right? No way am I gonna drop it. Right? Right? Oh. Wrong. Dang.”

The bunny was fine when Dan got it, which is amazing because this is one little bunny and Rudy is one big dog. After it got over its fright, it was hopping around with nary a problem and… yes… inspecting the yummy flowers. So when Dan asked, what were my options? Give BB a home or… um, well, what options? I mean, just look at those tiny bitty ears! Is there anything cuter than a bitty bunny and its little bitty ears?

*sigh*

I’m a softie. I admit it. Next thing you know, I’ll be planting carrots. For them.

Here’s Lookin’ At You, Kid

So, it’s been ten weeks since I developed a nasty respiratory infection… broke my ribs coughing… rebroke my ribs coughing… and more.

I’m better. Finally. Not back to status quo, but close enough.

Took this shot of James while I was feeling pretty punk. He didn’t even budge from his spot when I came up close enough to literally put the camera down near his nose and snap this shot.

I’m quite certain he’d decided that my worst-than-usual wheeze and nasty cough, added on top of my usual version of “walking” (Imagine a plump very lame duck waddling about while using crutches… got that image in your mind? Yeah. That’s what it looks like when I ‘walk.’ Except sillier.) meant I didn’t have enough breath to catch him even if he hopped away in slow motion.

Veeeeeeeery sloooooooow motion.

He was so right.

So, here’s how it went. James eyeballed me. I eyeballed him. I snapped his portrait. He swiveled an ear back and forth, making sure I knew that he was a very alert bunny even if he didn’t think I was any particular danger. After a long conversation covering how no, I wasn’t going to remove the fencing from those tasty-looking perennials and yes, I had noticed that the rugosas were growing up quite heartily in spite of having been gnawed to the ground but that didn’t make me any happier about having had them chewed to bits, we went our separate ways.

We’ve got a new visitor, one that I doubt I’ll get a shot of for you to see, Oh Best Beloved. She’s a singularly self-possessed raccoon, and quite large. She trots from behind our house around to the front, and then patters down our driveway and across the street to check out the pickin’s at the river. I’m very respectful of the raccoons, having seen an old male take on a huge farm dog I knew well (a rottweiler/shepherd mix) — and win. Raccoons are as cute as they come, but if it ever comes to a street fight? I’ll take a raccoon on my side, hands down, thank-you-very-much.

Got lots of new flower photos and more stuff to share over the next weeks.

It’s sure nice to be able to breathe again!

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet!

Wow – look at that bunny GO! I was outside enjoying the first real spring day on Monday whilst James was hopping about hither and yon, looking for anything yummy. And then…

BOOM!!!!! He went blasting past me at full speed because a dog came barreling through the neighbor’s yard right on the other side of our fence. Just look at those big ol’ hind feet – he is really hauling! I can’t believe I even got this shot. I had set the camera to its highest speed to try and catch a shot of the chippie running about, so when James startled and took off I focused on where I thought he would roar through and clicked the shutter just as he did!

James was quite safe, by the way — from the dog at least. The dog had no way to get into the yard, and never even saw James.

But James was very wise to run for cover, even if he was safe this time. We’ve had an enormous juvenile bald eagle hanging around — I saw it both yesterday and today. It even landed in the trees the next bock down, across the street.

Between our harsh winters, great horned owls, feral cats, bald eagles, loose dogs and the occasional coyote, a wild bunny’s life — even when he lives in our yard — isn’t easy.

Bunny Snooze

Guess who decided to take a snooze just beyond our fence line one cold winter day?

Yup – it’s James.

Although he’s soaking up the rays, James isn’t really out in the open. He’s carefully chosen his snoozing place, finding a spot in between our chain link fence on one side and the neighbor’s shed on the other. Overhead is a large maple tree. So (not surprisingly – he’s a very clevery bunny) James is reasonably protected from getting picked off by an airborne predator (as in one of our many bald eagles).

Note the carefully positioned ear, btw – a bunny’s equivalent of sleeping with one eye open!

And Now We Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Sorry, Oh Best Beloved, for the span of silence. Sometimes things go even more south than usual – without warning, of course.

*sigh*

Hopefully, things will improve back to status quo. Rest assured that there are lots more flower photos to come, along with bunny updates.

And speaking of bunnies…

This shot of James, son of Stewart, was taken last fall as James was just entering his “tweens.” He’s currently thriving, in spite of an extremely bunny-unfriendly snow depth here, and numerous eagles and hawks daily patrolling our yard.

James, Stewart, Petunia, Big Sis, Juan and all the rest of the bunnies send their best long-eared whiskery wishes to our friend Kris, who is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Kris, when that hip heals, James wants the first dance. He can’t wait to see you bink!