A tale of two rabbits!

A tale of two rabbits. Yes, it appears we’ve been running a rabbit hotel. I’m flattered the rabbits love our garden. But honestly, this is not good.

Well, last week I shared with you the story of a cute rabbit that we spotted in and around our backyard. If you missed it, you can read about it here. And then on Sunday, I added a PS to that day’s post as follows:

PS – The rabbit is back! He might actually be a she. And he – or she – built a cute little nest in one of our front garden beds, hidden by some marigolds and our mugo pine shrub. I think I’m happy about this. I think my husband is not. To be continued . . .

Well, little did I know the story would get even cuter, at least for me!

Monday morning, as I was on the phone and walking around the house while talking, I wandered into the dining room to see if I could see the rabbit. Well, much to my surprise – and delight – there were two rabbits! My guess – and imagination – is that after the daddy rabbit felt like he found a suitable home, he then went and brought “the Mrs.” over to move in so they could have their babies. I was so excited! I was only able to snap these pictures – pardon the window screens blocking a clear view – as I didn’t want to disturb them.

I tried to zoom in on them. Think of this shot like one of those grainy celebrity paparazzi shots!

My husband came downstairs, and of course when I showed him the rabbits, he wasn’t pleased. I suggested they made our front garden bed look even prettier, almost like having live garden statues hopping around the pretty flowers. No luck. My husband was adamant that the rabbits must go.

Another paparazzi shot! They saw me, and the rabbit on the right hopped into their hole.

How protective this guy was of his lady friend!

Like I said last week, the little girl in me wanted to let them stay there. The adult in me knew they needed to find another home. The little girl in me wanted to just sit there and watch them for hours. The adult in me knew my husband wanted them gone. So after some child-like pleading on my part, which did absolutely nothing at all to help the rabbits keep their home, I agreed to investigate the hole. I took two very long plant stakes, and in a super-slow and gentle manner, slowly parted the marigolds and the mugo pine branches. I saw a well-built nest of grass clippings done as a nice roof, and the hole was very deep. But there were no babies in there yet. So we covered up the hole, and I stayed around to watch if they came back at all. (No doubt they were probably back at their salad bar our vegetable garden having breakfast during this time.)

Super impressed with how neat and tidy their home was. I think they would have been excellent tenants!

During the very short time I watched them through the dining room window, I adored how one would hop in and out of the hole, while the other was standing guard. Then they both hopped among the marigolds a bit:  honestly the cuteness factor was Off. The. Charts.

Oh – and my husband assures me that if we had a huge property, he wouldn’t have any problem with the rabbits. And I understand. Our development has quite a few rabbits, not surprising as we have wooded areas around us. But what is surprising is that these little guys (and gals) don’t seem to be afraid of us humans. Of course, that just endears them to me all the more. (Which isn’t a good thing, if your husband is not a fan of the rabbits.)

I’m secretly looking forward to seeing some baby rabbits hopping around soon!

~Laura