Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Saturday, May 2. 2009

News Flash!

The pup just ate two baby bunnies (Cottontail rabbits). One baby ran away. He found their nest while we were doing outdoor clean-up. The pup was helping, of course.


It's always been my philosophy that too much outdoor clean-up is bad for the wild critters, and we love our wild critters. The early Mother's Day present to the Mrs. was the work of 4 yard guys for 4 days, plus however-many truckloads of black mulch, plus a couple of dumpsters. Three loads of mulch did the job, barely, but the garden beds look spiffy for the moment. But, sadly, with fewer bunnies.



 

Posted by Bird Dog in Gardens, Plants, etc. at 13:33 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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It's always been my philosophy that too much outdoor clean-up is bad for the wild critters,

Indeed. Last spring I found a mass of sticks and litter by my cottonwood. Picked it up, threw into the rubish pile: I sure didn't want to drive ove that mess with the lawn mower.

Didn't see the rabbit burrow under it. But my g. shepherd knew all about it.
#1 Brian Dunbar (Link) on 2009-05-02 14:13 (Reply)
The fewer rabbits, the better. Rabbits eat dill and other items planted in the garden. I am teaching my cats to be accustomed to being outdoors (actually, teaching my husband that it's OK for the cats to be outdoors) so that they will become rabbit hunters.
#2 class factotum (Link) on 2009-05-02 14:38 (Reply)
Cottontails are cute until one notices the large growing bare spot in the lawn nearest the back deck, where they do their browse-n-hide thing.

It's a shame that many exurban folks aren't legally allowed to help keep populations of edible exurban critters in balance with their environments.
#3 commander clopfelter (Link) on 2009-05-02 14:59 (Reply)
Rabbits are a bane in suburban Omaha. They eat flowers as they come up and chew the bark off of young trees in the Winter. My sister's cat is an expert at killing baby bunnies. Then he breaks open the skull, eats the brains and leaves the carcass, but they never run out of baby bunnies. Mother Nature always produces an over abundance of young in the Spring, 'knowing' that many of the young will be consumed in the food chain. Had your pup done that in Dad's yard, he would have drawn praise and a pat on the head, and possibly a Scooby-snack as reward.
#4 feeblemind on 2009-05-02 15:22 (Reply)
My cat catches them, and torments them before killing. At least this sometimes gives us a chance to intervene, and get royally scratched taking rabbit out of cat's jaws. We are charitable as only the babies are dumb enough to venture far into our yard (grownups don't bother with our veggies because of mutt shepherd-huskie)
#5 retriever (Link) on 2009-05-02 16:10 (Reply)
Just yesterday my Dobie disturbed a nest enough to scatter the bunnies. Once scattered, they won't return to the nest, a great strategy for escaping cat or wolf - you only have to run faster than the other bunnies, not faster than the cat or wolf - but not so great for being fed the next night.

Leave the bunnies nest alone http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhhardin/3494974392/sizes/o/

"I don't see any bunnies" defense http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhhardin/3494974392/sizes/o/

"No bunnies around here" defense http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhhardin/3494974634/sizes/o/

I used to rescue them from pets. They remain ungrateful and wild, which is to say no matter how long you've been hand feeding them, their first and only thought is escape.

Unlike baby birds, which recognize you personally after a couple of weeks, and return even after they're in the wild weeks later.

Anyway if you're a rabbit, building a nest in the yard of a pet dog is a sure loser. Nothing is more obvious to a dog than a bunny nest. They find it (``Whoa! what's that'') in about five seconds.
#6 Ron Hardin (Link) on 2009-05-03 04:44 (Reply)
'Nature red in tooth and claw,' all right. but bunnies can be incredibly destructive of our gardens, and now that we have an increased interest in vegetable gardens as well as flower gardens, it's good-bye bunnies, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Marianne
#7 Marianne Matthews on 2009-05-03 13:51 (Reply)
They were here first, and they have an important function - to be protein for the fox and the hawk.
#7.1 Bird Dog on 2009-05-04 08:18 (Reply)
In fact if a caring homeowner takes a basket of bunnies to rehap services to care for, they feed them to hawks.
#7.1.1 Ron Hardin (Link) on 2009-05-04 13:28 (Reply)

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