Look What the Dog Found
Look What the Dog Found
I was sitting in the backyard, taking my time with a beer and cigar, enjoying the nice Spring day, when I noticed the dog rummaging through one of the plant beds. Realizing that he was looking for something, and knowing that cleaning the beds was on my honey-do list, I knew that my "time-out" was over.
So off to the garage I go to gather the necessary tools and lawn bags (yes…recyclable bags) for my afternoon project. Of course there is absolutely no one to help me but the dog (some help!), which really isn’t a bad thing, and I crank up the stereo and begin weeding and cleaning.
I get to the part where the dog was rummaging and begin to clean the dead leaves from under a bush. I pulled out a clump of dead grass and leaves when I started hearing a “squeal” coming from the ground under the bush. I guessed that the dog had found some sort of rodent nest and that is why he was rummaging.
I put on a pair of gloves and started to remove the ground cover over the hole. What I discovered was three baby bunnies all snuggled in their nest. I put the covering back over the hole, but the dog had seen the bunnies and darted towards their nest. I grabbed the squirming little pooch, lost my balance and fell into the pool. Now I had to walk through the freezing water, holding the dog over my head, and yell for my wife to come and help.
Fifteen minutes later the dog and I were dry and it was time to figure out what to do with the bunnies. My wife had noticed a rabbit in the backyard in the evenings but figured it was just eating the early plant growth. Between the fenced in yard because of the pool, and our dog and cat, there is never any wildlife in the back. I guess Momma rabbit had found a safe place for her offspring.
My wife and I felt it better to leave the bunnies where they were so Momma could find them but we had to protect them from our pets. I took the six section dog fence/cage that we have in the house and placed it around the bunnies. I made sure there was enough room for them to get to some plants for food should they be of the walking stage soon.
So now you ask…if there is a cage around the hole, how is Momma going to come and nurture the young ones? Ahah, I though of that. Before I go to bed I make sure the pets are in the house and I go open the cage door so Momma can come and visit. In the morning, I go close the cage door before the pets go outside.
It’s been three days and so far no problems. My wife even put some vegetables in the cage so there is ample food for the bunnies. I cannot have them live in the backyard long term, and it is too soon to relocate the bunnies. I figure I have two weeks before they leave at night on their own by following Momma, or I will have to move them to the nearby woods. Either way, I know I did my part to keep them going.
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It makes me smile to think there are others out there that go to lengths like this for wild bunnies.
Thank you for a heartwarming story of kindness and compassion. Of course, the chuckle elicited from the visual of some guy carrying a wet dog over his head was hearty!
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What a nice person you are! Good luck with the bunnies.
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I got such a vision of the "wet fella & dog"
I had a similar experience in my yard but it was a snake curled up and living next to the baby rabbits. He wasn't poisonous though.
Great post, intersting stories
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