Xavier First Bunny Release
Greetings to all.
Xavier got a new toy this morning, a water table. He played with it most of the afternoon, spending most of the day outside. Mom went about much yard work, while Xavier busied himself with the water table.
By the end of the afternoon, Xavier grew tired of the water table, Instead, he discovered a small rabbit (our yard is infested with these critters) and chased it up and down a fence line. While Xavier tormented a young bunny (definitely of mid May vintage), I pulled weeds from a flower bed along the house.
I looked down into the window well, and there were four small bunnies, all about four inches long; one easily fit into the palm of my hand. None had been out of the burrow very long. The window well proved too deep for these to escape on their own. How long they had been there is hard to guess, but likely a couple of days.
They were easy enough to collect. We put them into a small cardboard box, then packed up the family and drove down to the greenbelt area half a mile away.
This is one of those times I wish I had listened to myself and brought a camera. Neither Rebecca nor I even brought a cell phone along. Very disappointing not to have pictures, but still a great experience.
Xavier stayed close, curious about the box Dad carried. When we tilted the box up, the bunnies all scratched and pressed to stay inside the box. The scratching noises piqued Xavier's attention all the more.
And then, one bunny slid from the box into the grass. Xavier's eyes went wide and he "ooo'd". The bunny did not run off, but froze right where it slid into the grass. Xavier came around and squatted down next to it. He studied it, inching closer. Then, he reached down and gently petted it on its head with the tip of his finger. The bunny did not move. Xavier moved to stroking its head with his whole palm.
Eventually, the movement within the box by the remaining three refocused Xavier's attention to the box. Even more excited, now that he knew what the box held, he helped Dad set the rest of the baby rabbits free. Two ran, but the third hunkered down like the first, letting Xavier pet it too.
Now, when in the back yard, Xavier sees a rabbit, he tries to chase it down, hoping to pet it.