We Found a Bunny

Just a short post today to tell you that we found a bunny in our yard this week! Now in Washington, this would not have been news. We had entire bunny families in our yard at any given time. Here though, I have yet to see a rabbit or a squirrel. I don’t know if it’s because we are just rural enough that the predators keep them in check, or what. I do know there is an eagle’s nest in the trees along the river just up the road, and a mink farm at the other end of the road, and plenty of dogs that are not fenced. So… you know. Predators.

Anyway, when my kids came in and told me that there was a bunny in our front flowerbeds, my first thought was—really? How did this ONE escape? The Bunny Who Lived. Then I saw it. Oh. Yeah, not a wild bunny. Take a look at this guy!

So we didn’t have any kind of a cage for it or anything and put it in the back of my husband’s truck with some food and water overnight, while I posted on Facebook to see if anyone was missing their pet bunny. Crickets. No answer. Well, okay then. Apparently this was a pet that someone got tired of, maybe, and just decided to “set it free” on our street. Lucky, lucky us.

Also, it managed to jump out of the truck and escape overnight, so it turned out we wouldn’t have had the bunny to give back anyway. Except, dear friends, it has adopted our yard—or so it would appear.

We have since seen it nearly every day, and it seems to hang out either under our trailer, or under the deck, or sometimes under the car that’s parked back there. Yesterday I let the chickens out, not really thinking about chicken-bunny relations at all, and boy were those chickens upset! It was funny! I heard them making all kinds of noise and the bunny had the audacity to snack right next to one of their favorite snacking places. They were letting it know, in no uncertain terms, that this was THEIRS, and he better just get out!

Then the plot thickened even more last Sunday. I was talking to our neighbor across the street and he said they had seen TWO bunnies in their yard! And folks, we all know what that means—there will no doubt be a colony before we know it.

My kids are begging to keep it as a pet. So far we have held them off by saying—it’s like a pet already, except one we don’t have to clean up after and buy food for! You get to see it regularly and in the meantime, it just takes care of itself. I don’t know what we’ll do as winter sets in. I mean, wild bunnies survive the winter, but would a tame one? I really don’t want a pet bunny—or 2, or 10. My husband says they’re pretty good eating. Ha! We have not come to that point quite yet.

So…does anyone want a bunny of their very own? I would even help you catch it!