Baby Bunny Daja Vu
It was late Sunday afternoon when Doc caught me barking at a bush by the corner of the house. You could tell she was a bit perplexed and a little concerned that I would be barking at a random bush, but she passed it off as puppy brain. What she didn’t realize, was that I was trying to alert her to something new in the yard.
It wasn’t until Monday morning that she finally came outside to investigate what I may be barking at. She figured it was maybe a chipmuck or a field mouse that had dug a hole and was popping in and out, so she was surprised when she saw the baby bunny nest under the bush. As soon as she spotted the bunny hair and vegetation covering the hole she knew. She had gone down this road every year. with her last dog Grover. It made her remeber all the times that Grover found those nests and on occasion would proudly carrying one of the babies softly in his mouth like he was a proud father. Luckily Doc would tell him to drop it and he left it alone unharmed.
Doc told me she was surpsied that the mother rabbit had put her nest in our yard. When I asked her why she said, “because unlike Grover, you chase those rabbits out of the yard every morning and night when they are trying to eat the grass. Rabbits will only have babies in a yard with a dog if they think the dog will keep predators away and not hurt the baby bunnies. But who am I to judge the instincts of a expectant bunny.” she said. I had to admit I was a liitle hurt that Doc thought of me that way, but glad that I proved her wrong. I guess we can all misjudged others sometimes, so I will forgive her this time.
Since the babies in the nest have barely opened their eyes and their ears are still pinned back, they won’t be ready to leave the nest for awhile as Doc thinks they are about 10 days old. I will have to watch out for them until they are weaned and will leave the nest between 3-4 weeks of age. I guess I heve my work cut out for me.
The best surprise was at about 7:30 last night, Doc happened to look out the window to check on the bunnies and mama rabbit was straddeling over the nest feeding her babies. You coud see all of their little heads popping up out of the nest to nurse. “ What a good mama” Doc said. Mother bunnies come twice a day to feed their babies and stay away the rest of the day as not to attract predators. Doc and I have the day shift to make sure they are safe.
Nature is so amazing, and the bunny nest is not the only thing giving birth in our yard. We also saw a pair of cardinals bulding a nest in the bush out back. I guess it’s kind of flattering that nature feels safe in our yard. Spring is such a wonderful time of renewal and rebirth.