Not chickens this time though . .
Sunday afternoon I was out watering. My routine is to go turn the soaker hoses on in the garden, turn on. the two faucets in front and let them start running on the fruit trees. I’ll move those when I think the trees have had enough water and as soon as I get a spare hose, I’ll water the flowers (weeds) in front of the house. I had been out watering for about an hour and when I started watering the flowers, a little critter scurried across the ground and hid under a plant.
It’s a little bitty rabbit and he thinks he’s hidden so well! I ran around back . . no, don’t ask if I really ran. I walked around back and yelled for Vince to come see the baby rabbit. He came and we wondered where the mom was because he’s a little guy.
As I was walking around looking for where he might have come from, I saw a little bit of fur on the ground and there was a little hole in the ground with another baby rabbit!
Vince went and got some a glove because he didn’t know if the little guy would bite him. He caught him! I cheered him on! Go Vince! Catch him! Don’t let him get away! Good job, Vince!
Thumper! Is that a cute little guy or what? I wanted to keep him and let him be a pet. The baby chickens and the baby rabbit could grow up together . . and live happily ever after. Vince said No! He does not want to be responsible for anything else . . not another critter and not another human . . nothing else he said.
So, Vince deposited him back in the hole with his brother or sister and he was so happy. He scurried right down next to the other one.
In the meantime, I totally forgot about the water hose I had flung out of the way when I went to run get Vince.
A small part of my yard must be happy.
We watched off and on during the evening to be sure mama rabbit came back and she did. In fact, she took them both out for a little exercise. We didn’t see them come back but the babies are there again this morning so I guess everything is fine.
SarahB says
Oh my, they are the cutest thing ever! We tried raising bunnies but had no success. However, at the last house we did have a couple nests of the cotton tails like your’s and we loved watching them when they were tiny like that. Watch your garden, though, because those babies can get into very small cracks and decimate some greens! So, lets see, deer, cattle, chickens, bunnies… it’s a regular nature preserve! Isn’t that just awesome! What a reward for your patience last year….
freda1951Freda Hendersom says
Judy, once Lynn was mowing the yard and 4 little rabbits was running amok in our yard. They went in 4 different directions. We had to catch them, put them in a basket, then finish the mowing. We found their bed, put them back and Mama moved them that night. Guess she didn’t like us taking care of her babies. lol
Ranch Wife says
What a sweet little baby! We raise a few when the lids were young. DH rescued one that was an orphan and DD brought one home that had been swept away in a rain storm and was covered in ants. We picked the ants off with tweezers, dried the little fella and kept him full. We had him for a couple of years. Happy that the little family in intact.
Diana in RR TX says
We get rabbit nests under the hedge in front of the house just about every year. Since it is in the front, outside the fence they are safe from our dogs. I had a big thumper when I was little and we also had smokey the cat. She would try and sneak up on Thumper. Thumper would let her get close enough then let go with those hind feet and smokey would go flying! It was funny to watch.
dezertsuz says
They are certainly cute. You are SUCH a mother.
Sally H says
Those bunnies are older, and more self sufficient than you think. The fact that they are venturing out from the nest means they are almost ready to be on their own. Yeah, I know they still look small, but such is the way of rabbits. Mom is mostly likely already pregnant with the next litter. You won’t see Mom in the nest — she only feeds them two or three times a day, the better to keep them hidden. Vince picking them up is unlikely to do him damage, but just might kill them from the stress.
ps. North American wild rabbits and domestic rabbits (which were bred from European wild rabbit stock) are not in any way related, and cannot interbreed. They don’t even get the same diseases.
Donna Keating says
I love baby animals. Especially wild animals because we live in town and so seldom see them.
Julie says
They may look cute, but once they are grown you will be sorry you let them go. They will be in your veg patch eating your young plants before you can turn around. And once they are older, they will be much harder to catch and stop. Much as I love animals, wild rabbits are a nuisance when you are trying to grow your own food. Get a cat, that’ll sort them out for you!
from “Don’t be Fooled by a Cute Face” of Chester, UK
JudyL says
I don’t feel that way at all. We moved to the country where the rabbits lived first. We fenced our garden with 12′ fencing to keep the deer out. The bottom 4 feet is metal chicken wire to keep the rabbits out and the top 8′ is plastic landscape fencing. For 4 years in Missouri and for a bit over a year here, the fencing kept the deer and rabbits out of our garden.
I do not like cats and won’t ever have an inside or an outside cat.
Jennifer says
Oh, how fun! Hope Speck doesn’t find them though!
Lee says
Don’t those little bundles of soft cuteness melt your heart. Wild bunnies to become pets very well – or so I’ve heard – so Vince made an excellent choice to let them remain wild – I’d be wanting to snuggle, cuddle, and just let them be all cutesy 😉
Lee says
That was supposed to say….wild bunnies don’t become…