Drama in our front yard

As much as I love my beloved dog, Pono, there are times when I wish he wasn't such a DOG. Case in point: this morning he dug up a rabbit's nest that he discovered in our front yard. There were three baby rabbits in the nest. He got one in his mouth, but when it squeaked, it startled him and he dropped it. I managed to swoop in and grab his collar. I had thought he was digging to find a ground squirrel. So when I had him around the collar and saw that a tiny bunny was hopping away, I was so surprised! I didn't really know what to do, at first, because the little rabbit hopped right to our front door. So there was no way to get in the house without going past the bunny. I knew I couldn't hold onto Pono within such a close range of the rabbit, so I dragged him over to my car and put him in the car while I figured out what to do. These rabbits have fur, their eyes are open, and they are (obviously) locomoting. And let me tell you, I have never seen anything so cute in my entire life!



Well, Pono had destroyed their nest, so there was no way I could hope they would hop back into the nest. I decided to leave with the dog, and I hoped that while I was gone, the mother would come back and rescue her babies. They all were hiding in various corners of the yard, so I figured it was somewhat sheltered from predators. (Except Pono.) Well, two hours later and the bunny by the front door was now in the threshold of the door. I couldn't leave him (her?) there, so I called a whole bunch of people to get an expert opinion. I was told that if I wore a rubber glove, I could move that bunny over near its siblings. So I did that. When I set bunny #1 down next to bunny #2, they both started hopping around, and then they parted ways. Bunny #2 settled back in to the hole it was in before, and bunny #1 went into a corner and tried to disappear into the side of a wall. (I know exactly how bunny felt. When I am terrified, I want to disappear into a wall, as well.)

I have talked to some animal rescue people. We all agree that the best thing to do is to wait and see if the mother bunny will come and get her babies. We think there is a good chance she will come when it gets dark. So, I am going to wait and see. I have my drawing class in one hour. If the bunnies are still out there when I get back from drawing, I am going to go out and get them and put them in a warm place for the night. It has been freezing at night, so they would not survive otherwise.

I will keep you all posted, of course!!!

So much for blogging about my upcoming show. It opens Saturday night, and I am excited, but somehow the bunnies have overshadowed the art exhibition.