The rabbits of our neighborhood have been especially active these past few months, decimating any and all greenery that may have persisted into the winter (including two prized fountain bamboo plants that are usually left alone), but they’re so cute I can’t bring myself to be too mad at them. A few days before Easter, I was looking out the front window at the bunny pictured above, when I called Andy to see. He stood next to me and said there were two – and indeed there were. I didn’t notice the second one hidden in the shadow of the Thuja hedge until he pointed it out. Two bunnies simply enjoying a spring day that deigned to allow the sun to shine.
In our backyard, there may be more rabbits to come. While clearing out the garden, I raked away an unnaturally-organized pile of debris – smaller pieces of lawn grass and little whorls of dried foliage arranged in a little mound – when I noticed that the mound was moving up and down. Immediately realizing that I had disturbed some sort of animal nest, I hastened to put back what I had removed. Even if it were a pile of mice, I didn’t have the heart to expose it to the harsh weather we were still having. I left that part of the garden alone, then retreated indoors to tell Andy what I’d seen.
I thought it might have been a squirrel’s nest, or some mice, but Andy said he thought squirrels had their nests in the trees. A few hours later we saw one of the bunnies sitting right over the mound, standing guard or nursing, and I realized it was a little rabbit den. Not exactly convenient, but for the moment they can stay, at least until they’re big enough to shoo away.
