Wabbit Season

Outdoor Fuzzbutts

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Yesterday I still felt like crap for the majority of the day, and even though I had the desire to play something video game wise… I somehow lacked the focus to actually accomplish that.  Instead I laid around the house feeling pitiful for a large chunk of the day watching reruns of Teen Titans Go, Amazing World of Gumball and Steven Universe.  Towards the evening I wound up on the back patio because we had some unexpected visitors.  It seems that a huge cottontail has decided to take up residence in our backyard.  My wife sent me a sequence of texts that ultimately summoned me out into the backyard.  The bunny didn’t seem to give a shit about me opening the bedroom door and walking out onto the patio.  Granted I tried to do both of these activities as quietly as possible but at that point he bunny was maybe three feet away from me.  Generally this is well within the range of “bolt and hide” territory.  I have this feeling that this kiddo has lived around our yard for several years given the sheer size… as an estimate would be at least as long as my hand and forearm outstretched.  What was awesome is that even with us both on the back patio he continued to go about his business foraging.  There was a point where he came within less than a foot of where we were sitting, and that was during a period of time when he encountered another rabbit hopping around the backyard.

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I failed to get a shot of the two of them nosing each other because it happened super briefly, but you can use this shot as scale for the sheer size of the larger bunny.  What was hilarious is that the little guy was more skittish, but actually wound up walking onto the patio rug with us inches away from it while it was dancing around uncertain of the intentions of the other rabbit.  When I went to walk upstairs to write my blog post I happened to look out the stairwell window and I saw this little guy hanging out on the concrete.  Ultimately I think this summer I am going to have to find something to put out for watering the bunnies.  In past summers that have started as hot as this one… I have wound up coming home and having to fish rabbits out of the swimming pool.  That is not really something I want to repeat this summer.  I would love it if they became friendly… I mean I have known for awhile that we have a bunch of rabbits that seem to take up residence in and around our yard, and since we have never done anything against them… I am wondering if some ancestral knowledge of our yard as a safe spot has been handed down.  We have a few places where they can easily pass in and out of our yard between the green belt behind the house and the front yard as well.  I would totally start feeding them if I had a clue what to actually feed.

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What is extra funny about this situation… is that after the little interaction with us I thought they had run off and hid.  However at some point before we went in for the night I walked around the yard and wound up going up on our deck on the far side of the pool.  Sure enough there stretched out on the lawn like he didn’t have a care in the world was the big bunny again.  Just chilling, and even when I started talking it didn’t seem to phase him at all.  I would totally bring stuff out to feed the bunnies, but then again I am kinda afraid to get them used to being fed by humans.  We love bunnies in our yard… but not everyone is as happy to have random wildlife inhabiting their lawn.  So while it would be awesome to have outdoor fuzzbutts to pet and play with while sitting on our patio… I don’t want to end up getting the bunnies harmed by someone with less than friendly intent.  Between the bunnies and the birds though… I am loving our little haven outside.  Sure it is kinda annoying to have to water the flowers every morning and evening…. and sure the birds seem to burn through a container full of seed in a mater of hours.  The end result though is this peaceful place where there is always something interesting to watch while we chill on the patio.  I still have yet to see any sign of the baby Robins, but the tiny Sparrows continue to visit on a regular basis.  We have a pair of Cardinals and Blue Jays as well… and several of what I have been told after the fact are “Turtle” Doves.  I am not sure if these outdoor posts bore the pants off of people as they read them, but yesterday especially I didn’t have a lot else to talk about.

 

 

7 thoughts on “Wabbit Season”

  1. I have a few bunnies that hang out in my yard from time to time, and it’s always neat to see.

    Your flowers, btw, look great there next to the pool. So much color! 🙂

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