Silly Wabbit!

What possesses a mother rabbit to build her den in a city backyard where a golden retriever lives? Like...why not the front yard where the dog doesn't go? We had a lot of yard and garden work to do this long weekend, and ended up creeping around so as not to disturb a momma rabbit and babies in our backyard. We first noticed the rabbit didn't seem to run away from us, then my husband spotted two tiny bunnies. Unfortunately, the dog spotted one too, and went snakey chasing the poor thing through all the groundcover in the gardens, and almost caught it. So all weekend we had to check out the yard and make sure the bunnies were not moving about before letting the dog out. The 'den' is right beside our deck stairs, so my husband and I had the unique privilege of standing just over a yard away watching momma feed her babies which are only 6-7 inches long. After their milk, she would go and chew up some grass for them and bring it back for them (yum!). If we got in her way, she would stop and look at us, we'd move out of the way, and she'd hop by us without fear. Saturday we thought there were two babies. Today I grabbed my camera when I saw mommy gathering grass in her mouth.

I sat on the deck stairs and caught sight of the babies...I counted sets of ears...one, two, three........four...oh my gosh.....five! So tiny and adorable! But where are they all going to live?? And how are we going to keep our dog away from them all? The babies were a little uncomfortable with me so nearby, and although they were all cuddled together, they began to scatter in every direction into the gardens as momma watched. I don't know how she keeps track of them or how she communicates with them - they seemed to be doing their own thing! My neighbour with the vegetable garden next door is really excited about our news. I swear every lawn in the neighbourhood has a rabbit and at this rate of multiplication, there will be nothing left of our gardens. Don't even suggest rabbit stew to me. They're way too cute. For now I will feel privileged to get such a close look at these little critters in my own backyard!