Bunnies in the Back Yard

We've had rabbits in our back yard for years. I'd like to think they enjoy our grass more than the neighbors because we don't use any fertilizer or weed killer.

In addition, several years ago, we converted half the back yard lawn to a planting space for native trees and other flowering plants. The idea is that native plants have been dealing with this soil and these insect pests for thousands of years, and are adjusted to the yearly cycles of temperature and precipitation. In short. they don't need anything but a plot of ground and sunshine. (We chose our plants to provide berries for the birds. And, as it turns out, the rabbits as well.)

The lady who sold us the plants told us how large each should grow. And each of our plants has beaten the estimate by at least 30%. That "8-foot bush at maturity" is now over 12 feet tall. The domestic dogwood insists on taking over the back entrance to the yard. The serviceberry bushes are eyeing up the telephone lines to the house. The Joe Pye Weed plants are all taller than I am. And we've taken to calling that whole area either "the forest" when we like it or "the jungle" when it gets a bit scary.

But in any case, the birds and rabbits like it a lot. And that was the basic plan anyway.

So we're used to seeing rabbits small and large prowling around the back yard. They probably also feel a bit safer since the yard is completely fenced in and therefore safe from dogs. And, as the summer goes by, we appreciate seeing the small rabbits become big ones. (If you're never seen a rabbit eat a dandelion flower, starting at the base of the stem and proceeding to the blossom -- then eating the blossom as well, you have missed one of life's great little pleasures.)

But this year, Mother Nature upped the ante on us. A girl rabbit "in the family way" decided that our yard was a perfect place to start a family. She and her tiny brood spend a lot of time sheltered behind the butterfly bushes, but she ventures out to stock up on grass and weeds to feed the kids. I imagine they go on the occasional foray to "the forest," as it provides excellent protection and the occasional blueberry or serviceberry on the ground.

We've seen the kids on occasion -- Deb actually saw one of the little guys before it had hair. But mom is pretty careful about keeping the kids out of sight. We may not have dogs in the yard, but we do get the occasional hawk... And at this point, they're still so small you could place two of them on a single hand.

New life. Unexpected pleasures. Nature fulfilling itself. New wonders.

The challenges in life for tiny bunnies are many and huge. Much bigger in many ways than the challenges that we face ourselves. Perhaps we can draw inspiration and courage -- even from a tiny bunny.