Getting braver and braver each day.
The bunnies are getting less skittish each day. Of course, they play Statues each time anyone comes through the gate, but they just wait patiently now; they don’t immediately dash under the porch. However, today the Garden Girls came with a dozen or more “rabbit-proof” plants which they will be installing in the South Garden (Bunrab Territory) on Friday. That’s all well and good, but along with the plants they brought the news that as they approached the gate, they saw a black cat run under the porch.
Threatening the bunrabs?
“Probably the end of your bunnies,” they said. I do know there are several smaller, orange and white bunnies who hide out under there. I think they are younger and not quite as brave as their older relatives. “But,” the Garden Girls informed me, “all of them are probably toast.” And they proceeded to tell me (rather graphically) about a neighbor’s bunnies and their unsuccessful stand against a single cat. Sigh.
“If I don’t move, she’ll never see me…”
I think it comes under the heading, “Be careful what you wish for.” I did, indeed, hope that the bunnies would move on — hence the investment in plants that they don’t like to eat. But I really wasn’t hoping that my neighbor’s semi-feral cat would “take care of the situation.” In fact I didn’t really give that a thought. I was just feeling quite secure about our yard being coyote-proof. In all the years we had chickens, we never lost one to a coyote, though we heard them howling in the meadow just on the other side of the fence. But cats? Not in my wildest dreams.
A quadruple-decker nest was a “first” for me. I wonder if it will be refurbished this year.
On another wildlife front — the swallow scouts are back in full force. Two have been perching periodically just outside my kitchen window, eyeing that quadruple-decker nest still intact from last year. I wonder if they will decide it is usable as is with just a bit of refurbishing . There is absolutely NO room to build a fifth layer to the nest condo… so, we will see. It feels like nature’s little half-acre here. But I do wish Mother Nature wasn’t quite so ruthless!
We had a dead bunny in the yard. I threw it into the lane. An eagle, chased by 5 crows, picked it up for lunches 20 minutes. Nice disposal system.
So far, through 15+ years of chickens and now these plump little bunnies, the eagles that keep watch in the trees on Merchant Street have never made a foray into our yard. Nyel thought it was because the pickin’s are so good in the meadow and on the tideflats that they don’t bother with whatever is here. But I think I’d rather have the Bird Disposal Unit than the Cat Patrol dealing with these bunnies. They are cute and I tell them all the time to head for Carol and Tucker’s where they’ll be fed (not food!) but they are poor listeners. We’ll see what this cat does… (I just hope I don’t have to call in the fumigators…
Sydney
Oh dear. You may not need your bunny proof plants soon. Sometimes life is too complex. Hoping bunnies will get the memo and hop elsewhere. Or that the cat is a rare vegetarian. 🙏
Thanks for the positive thoughts! I think this entire “episode” somehow fits under Be Careful What You Wish For!
Sydney
Sydney, what a read. Refreshing, and jolting at the same time.
It’s time to put these Oysterville Daybook stories into a book. This one, like the others are treasurers.