Life and Death in the Backyard

It's been a hard two days for our backyard bunnies. And for this lover of animals. Abby somehow got out of the house yesterday afternoon and headed straight for the bunny nest. I heard her barking, came out to see, and she was standing over a dying bunny, waiting for it to play with her. Sad, so sad. Five bunnies left. I put Abby back in the house, checked on the nest, and found only three left. Two had gone missing, and it wasn't long enough for Abby to eat them. We had some visitors and for 10 minutes we wandered the yard, searching. Finally, both were found and returned to their nest, and our dog was kept on a short leash for the rest of the night.

This morning after returning from the Farmer's Market, we saw our neighbor. She had just found one of the bunnies. I went to the nest and counted... no, there were still five there. So, either this one raised from the dead, or there's another nest in the neighborhood. The neighbor and I finally caught this little tiny one, and decided to return it to our nest, since we didn't know where else it should go, but figured it needed care. I know, it's nature, we should let nature take its course, but at what point do we help out, and at what point are we hindering? I wish I knew so I could act accordingly.

Slightly satisfied that we had a full bunny nest, and that all the little guys were going to receive care, we came inside. You'd think we'd learn, but somehow we left the door open again, Abby got out... I heard squeaking and ran outside to find two dying bunnies this time.. Abby looking at both of them as if they should be playing with her. Again. Down to four.. Ugh. I went to the nest, but ooopss... only one remained! Three had escaped... I found one, and returned it to the nest, but it kept jumping out.. understandably. I wouldn't trust that location anymore either!

After letting it be on its own in my flowers for a few minutes, I decided to pick it up and hold it.. as I was, the other one hopped out of its nest, too... so I sat there, for more than 30 minutes, holding two bunnies, wishing I knew what to do. Again, was I helping or hindering? They both nestled into my arms and hands, sleeping, and I didn't want to disrupt them, but also wanted to return them to the place their mother could find them. What to do?

Then our Japanese student came out and spotted the two missing ones against the side of the garage. He brought them over to me, and now I was sitting in the grass holding four baby bunnies.

I asked Jim to go do some internet research.. we already knew, from our bunny adventures in New Jersey, that mother rabbits do return to their young even if touched by humans. But now with all this trauma? and so many gone? Jim reported that bunnies should be returned to their nest.. that the mother only comes by at night and in the morning briefly.. so even if it appears that she has abandoned them, she probably hasn't.

That's a relief.

So for now, we are back up to four baby bunnies, sleeping in their nest...
one golden retriever, no longer allowed to play in her own backyard...
two remorseful humans who accidentally let their dog out...
and hopefully one adult rabbit, planning on returning to her nest tonight.