My reason for not cutting the grass!

Along side the pier, there are a lot of tall reeds, Scrub Alders and ferns. I usually mow a lot of these down just so the snakes, snapping turtles and perhaps even alligators don't take up residence near the walkway. For the past few weeks though, I have let this area grow sort of "wild and wooly". This lapse in mowing is not a sign of laziness on my part, it is simply that there is one tiny critter that uses this area as protection from the many predators that roam the Bayou. Earlier this Spring, I noticed one very "fat" rabbit near the pier..then she disappeared for a while. I worried that the Red-tailed Hawk had made supper of her. She was nowhere to be found. After about a week, the large bunny reappeared but looked a whole lot slimmer! Ahhh..babies! That rabbit was now a mama and she had a nest somewhere near. That realization is what caused an abrupt halt to the mowing around the pier! Admittedly, it is getting quite shabby looking with the weeds towering above my head, but I wanted to give the baby bunnies ample time to leave the nest before cutting again. I would have hated to run over top of them.

Now, the tiny tot is out and about! Baby bunnies have to be the cutest of all critters! This little one started eating the new grass shoots when it was no bigger than a teacup! It would venture out of the reeds and eye up the surroundings before diving in for a big supper! I make the hike to the end of the pier several times during the day and each time I would stop to say "Hi" to my bunny. At first, it was a tad bit shy and would scamper off either into the tall grass or under the edge of the pier. When it would try to hide in the grasses, its ears would be a telltale sign of its hiding place. The sun would shine on those ears and they would literally glow! My worries have shifted from Mama Rabbit to Baby Bunny. Those ears, as helpful as they might be for hearing prowling predators, might be like a beacon to the Hawk.

Now, more oft than not, the little bunny will keep right on munching. I do not want to make it too tame as that would put it in danger but it is nice to be able to watch it as it hops about the yard. I have seen the Mama Rabbit a couple of times recently and well..she looks rather plump again. This little fellow is entirely on its own whether it wants to be or not! Actually, rabbits are pretty resilient critters. Contrary to what most people believe, the mother does not cuddle with her babies. Just a few days after the little ones are born, she will stay away from the nest all day. She will reenter once or twice during the night to nurse the babies and then leaves. This is so that her scent will not lure some predator such as a fox to the nest. It seems strange that the little ones survive on only one or two meals a day but they do extremely well. After about three weeks..they will start to leave the nest to explore. At four weeks, they will be weaned and can fully survive on their own. Their mother is now nowhere to be seen..her job is done. My little bunny is about six weeks old and is growing like a bad weed! Soon it will be difficult to distinguish it from all of the other rabbits in the marsh.