Our New Tenants! (pictures)

I kept seeing a cottontail out in the yard...munch munch munch. Looked quite fat for a cottontail, but....food is plentiful.



Then we found out WHY she was so fat...Mike mowed the back yard yesterday and found this:



The nest hole is quite deep, and goes sideways into the slight hill. There are 6, I think. Fat little buggers, with hair just starting to come in..certainly they fur out differently than the European types.


The doe selected a very secure site, for all that it's out in the middle of our backyard. Yard is fenced, and we've never had a cat or coon get in that didn't regret it immediately. So they don't even try anymore. Sadie (English Setter) who uses the back yard is now quite nicely trained to just sit and watch rabbits, so that won't be a problem. (well..she sort of points at them for me when they get out of the colony...helpful little soul). She went with me this afternoon to check on the rabbits (we had a TON of rain today) and looked in, then just walked away.

Cool! In no time, they'll be skittering around the yard, munching this and that. Momma bun chose wisely, choosing a site in the middle of the area. Predators tend to work the perimeters.

wow - what a sight



I hope they pay their rent on time

Rent. oh. They're working off the rent. Mowing the lawn, you know.

And fertilizing it. "Weed 'n' Feed"

MaggieJ":20tl96xn said:

And fertilizing it. "Weed 'n' Feed"

Click to expand...

:rotfl:

At least I dont' have to worry about them eating the garden. I don't HAVE a garden here at the house.

Neato! What a cute little bunch!

Mike finding it while mowing the yard reminds me of the time the lawn care company was mowing the dry retention pond behind our apartment, and this bird kept diving at the guy. He just thought "crazy bird!" and kept on mowing. Finally, the bird landed right in front of him and dared him to mow her down. He stopped and started looking around. Sure enough, he found a nest of four killdeer eggs in the middle of the 8'x8' patch of grass he had left. So he stopped mowing, and that patch remained unmowed for the remainder of the summer, while four little pom-poms with stick legs ran around. :lol:

MaggieJ":25udw8el said:

"Weed 'n' Feed"

Click to expand...

:laugh2:

Miss M":2ijnrn5v said:

Neato! What a cute little bunch!

Mike finding it while mowing the yard reminds me of the time the lawn care company was mowing the dry retention pond behind our apartment, and this bird kept diving at the guy. He just thought "crazy bird!" and kept on mowing. Finally, the bird landed right in front of him and dared him to mow her down. He stopped and started looking around. Sure enough, he found a nest of four killdeer eggs in the middle of the 8'x8' patch of grass he had left. So he stopped mowing, and that patch remained unmowed for the remainder of the summer, while four little pom-poms with stick legs ran around. :lol:

MaggieJ":2ijnrn5v said:

"Weed 'n' Feed"

Click to expand...

:laugh2:

Click to expand...

What a cool story! GOOD momma bird!

Very cool! The way they are furring out is quite the site.

WELL! After 4" of rain yesterday, the kits are still there, safe and dry (mostly dry), under a bunch of mown grass, and under the little tub thing. It's one of those things you can stack on your kitchen counter to store potatoes, or onions or something in.

I was afraid that momma rabbit would see that and freak out and not go in. But wonder of wonders, there's evidence that she actually dug down a little on the front so she could get in better, and then covered the nest back up again with more grass!

They're growing really fast, which I suppose is necessary for wild cottontails.

Glad they're doing well! I love watching young bunnies playing on the lawn on a summer evening. (So does Marilla... but she has a predatory eye, so we keep her on a short leash when they are out.)

Oh, I do hope you keep the pics coming! I've never seen baby cottontails. Maybe when they start playing in the yard, you could post some videos? Pleeeeeeease?

ehhe. I'll see if they stick around long enough to be photographed.<br /><br />__________ Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:14 pm __________<br /><br />Okie dokie. Just for Miss M
Video of the little buggers in the nesthole. (they're still fat and starting to get that distinctive browny/grey fur now) It's short, 'cuz I didn't want to keep the hole open long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x363_c49pX8

And for those who don't want to waste the bandwidth (or are on dialup ) here's a static shot of the little buggers.View attachment kitssmall.jpg

Lively little guys, aren't they?

:mbounce: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Ann!

Oh, they're just so cute, and boy, that one popple is all over the place already!

Aww they are so cute. We have a momma bunny that comes up in the up in the yard every night. You can get really close to her without her running off. She had babies, and made the mistake of bringing them into our yard. Sadly my cat got all of them. We didn't know they were out there till the dumb cat decided to bring a live one up to out campfire one night. My neighbor lady said it sounded like she wanted us to roast one up for her.

chinbunny1":1kh38tqu said:

Aww they are so cute. We have a momma bunny that comes up in the up in the yard every night. You can get really close to her without her running off. She had babies, and made the mistake of bringing them into our yard. Sadly my cat got all of them. We didn't know they were out there till the dumb cat decided to bring a live one up to out campfire one night. My neighbor lady said it sounded like she wanted us to roast one up for her.

Click to expand...

Aww... poor things...

Can't say I blame the cat, though... guess that was easier than catching a mouse.