Playing ‘Statues’ is what bunnies do best.

…stay under the porch!  Specifically, the proliferation of bunny rabbits.  They seem to be increasing at geometrical proportions!  It began (as such things always do) with two smallish (I thought) gray and white rabbits.  They seemed to like the lawn — probably after the clover, which was fine with me.  “Just stay away from my flowers!” I told them.  In no uncertain terms.  But, as one might surmise — especially if one is a Watership Down aficianado (as I am), rabbits are not inclined to let any rules or regulations made by the tall two-legged folk interfere with their voracious appetites.  This fact can be corroborated by the antics of Peter in Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Our South Porch

But before I get too far along here, let me describe my front porch.  It is gray-painted wood and extends along the south side of my house from the gate on Territory Road to my Pump Room/Garden Shed.  It is 33 feet long (more-or-less) and 7 feet wide and sits six inches off the ground supported by a concrete foundation.  All along its length, there are areas leading under the porch that are accessible to very short people like fairies and elves and bunnies.  I think the fairies and elves have been in residence since my mother’s childhood (at least) but the bunnies have moved in only within the last month or so.  And, if you have been paying attention, you know that they have been busy.

“It’s been ten minutes and she STILL hasn’t seen me!”

Depending on the type of rabbit — European Rabbit, Eastern Cottontail, Swamp Rabbit, Desert Cottontail, Common Tapeti, New England Cottontail, Brush Rabbit or Mexican Cottontail (and, so far, they aren’t sharing their lineage) — the typical gestation period for rabbits is 31 to 33 days.  So I’m thinking that at least one of those gray and white rabbits arrived already “in a family way” (as they say).

At first, there seemed to be two large gray and white bunnies and two small brown and white youngsters.  Since then, I’ve seldom seen the large bunrabs (presumably Mama and Papa) but I’ve seen as many as six little ones — four quite small and two teeny-tiny.  Fortunately, I had already asked the Garden Girls to work on transforming the beds in this part of the garden (now known as the “Bunny Badlands”) to an English Country Garden sort of look.  We are proceeding with that plan by getting plants that rabbits don’t much care for.  (Although they did a bit of research, the Garden Gurus were pretty much on top of it from the get-go; rabbits have been proliferating on the North End of the Peninsula for some years — though this past year is the first that we’ve noticed them in Oysterville.)  If you haven’t been so “lucky” and would like a few bunnies, please feel free to come on a Bunny Hunt.  The benches in the churchyard seem to be a good vantage point from which to spot the nearby bunny activity…  Perhaps it will be a chance to do your praying and preying at the same time…