The Good Excuse!

Back behind the Little Bayou House, there is one garden that is pretty much devoted to the blackberry vines.  These vines have multiplied quite rapidly and have grown to be rather large.  The fence rows are pretty much covered with the long, draping canes that are, at the moment, covered with berries in all stages of ripeness.  I know that a good many of the berries are eaten by the birds, squirrels and turtles that inhabit the area and I suppose they deserve their share.  I am, however, fully surprised to see a new visitor come to dine upon my berries.

This morning as I was sipping my second cup of coffee, I stared out the window at the blackberries that needed picking.  I was in no hurry to start work so I was hunting for any excuse to sit a spell longer.  Then I spied my excuse!  A rather large swamp rabbit hopped into the garden.  I watched her as she sniffed the air.  She was wary of my scent, I suppose, as I was a mere twenty feet or so from her..only the window screen sat between the two of us.  After a few minutes, she must have decided that I was not a threat because she started munching away on the tender grasses that were starting to come up in the freshly planted soil.  I had just put in another row of squash seeds about three days ago.  Those seeds had not sprouted yet but the weeds were already about an inch high.  The rabbit was actually weeding my garden!  She would eat a few bites then turn to the berry vines and search for the ripest berry within her reach. Snip!  Off went my plump berry!  She would nibble that one before returning to the tender grasses.  I watched as she at about a dozen or more berries!  Yep, that rabbit was reason enough for me to sit a while longer!  Why, I wouldn't want to scare a mama bunny!

A bit later, the swamp rabbit moved down toward the canebrake.  It is there that I think she has a nest of little ones and I am sure she wanted to keep a watchful eye on them.  I wonder if she will bring her little ones to feast upon the berries in the coming weeks.  It would bring great joy to me if I could sit at my table and watch the little family romp around in the garden.  Well...it will bring great joy until they start munching my plants and not the weeds and berries! Son just had to put up a higher fence to keep the deer out of the pea patch and now, I am thinking he will need to fence this area!  It sure is a tough year to raise a garden with all these critters dining on my produce!!  Oh well..at least I had entertainment while drinking my morning coffee!