Bunny Tracks

Although it is necessarily small, I like our back yard. In the summer, the hibiscus and Rose of Sharon are big enough to provide some shade, and the roses are large, colourful, and smell wonderful. The raspberries in season add some nice colour, as do the morning glory, and various other assorted flowers. In the winter, we put out the bird feeder and watch all the different kinds of birds find sustenance. And then there is the group of mourning doves who sit napping atop the fence between our house and the neighbour’s.

This winter the squirrels have been more abundant and more active. Their nest is near the top of a neighbouring tree, and they jump off the tree to the fence which runs behind the eight units in our building block. First they chase each other one direction, then one of them turns around and they chase each other all back the other direction. I can identify four of them, but I’m sure there are more. They stop once in a while to eat from what has fallen to the ground from the feeder. We’ve managed to arrange it so they can’t reach the feeder directly, or there would be nothing for the birds!

A couple of summers ago, we discovered a small rabbit was visiting and eating the bottom leaves of the rose bush. It wasn’t long before he discovered our bean plants and ate all of them! And the tops off about 1/3 of our carrots. I can’t remember what I did but eventually he tired of my harassment and left us alone. This winter, he decided our back yard was a great place to live. The hubby shovels the back stairs and a walkway to the feeder, but the rest of the snow is left where God puts it. So bunny’s tracks are becoming more well-worn as the winter progresses. Every morning, there are more “pellets” in one particular spot. We don’t see him much during the day, but early in the morning, sometimes we see him digging in the snow to get what has dropped from the bird feeder. These times become “awww” moments.

The rabbits in our area are mostly cottontail. We have some jack rabbits, but I don’t think there are too many other species here. We’ve seen cottontails in our neighbourhood, and a couple of kilometres away, I have seen jackrabbits bounding across the field. We noticed, however, that this one is a dwarf species. We had a Netherland dwarf rabbit as a pet and in researching the breed, discovered the “dwarf” species can be identified by their short ears. Our back yard bunny has the colouring of a cottontail, except for the white on the underside of the tail, but he has short ears. I guess maybe he was a family pet and escaped and they never found him. I have no way to tell them he is doing well in our back yard.

Sometimes, we notice there are no birds around the feeder. Especially in the middle of a nice day, it catches our attention. Then we start searching the area for the local hawk. We have seen remnants of his activities in the past, and it makes us sad that the world operates by killing and eating. And it would seem the eating is good in our area too. We first “met” him when he was barely out of the nest, and now he is full-grown and BIG! We just hope he never gets “our” bunny.

Until next time, enjoy the beauty of nature, which God has given us…