It has been ages....

   As saddening as it is, the old place is not what it used to be when we first built the Little Bayou House.  Then, the whole area was wooded with very few houses and those were the homes of family.  Now that lovely thing called progress has seen the wooded areas clear-cut and new houses built.  We do not know but a handful of our new neighbors on either side.  The Little Bayou House sits on one of the only pieces of ground that is still in its natural state.  The yard was cleared enough to plant gardens and fruit trees but the remaining property was left untouched.  The creek, marshes, boggy areas, and woods are all still intact and shall remain that way, if I have any say about it.

  With that clear-cutting came an influx of critters.  The poor animals had no place to go once their homes were literally smashed.  No one cared about the little ones that may have been in nests or dens.  More than once, babes were separated from their parents or just run over by tractors.  It broke my heart to hear their cries but there was nothing I could do but whisper a feeble prayer.  Without homes, the critters scrambled to the only area that offered refuge...our place.  Now, we are overrun with any and all critters.  This, in itself, has created problems.  Many went hungry and many fell to the over abundance of new predators.  Coyotes, bobcats, fox and raccoons all were in search of any food they could find.  The first three found easy prey in the numerous rabbits that had, at one time, led a peaceful life here.  Soon the rabbits were ravaged to the point of non-existence.  It has been ages since a rabbit has been seen on this entire hillside.

  I missed seeing the bunnies in the yard and even the gardens where they would nibble the cabbages.  I took it as a "sign of the times" and, even though I mourned the loss of bunnies, I dealt with it.  With that in mind, you can only imagine my elation in finding a single baby bunny this morning.  As I came off the pier, a slight movement caught my eye.  I was caught off-guard by the sight of the wee rabbit.  My heart flipflopped with joy!  If there is one baby, there has to be an adult pair!  Perhaps our bunnies are making a return!  

  It was not long, however, before the realization set in about the baby bunny's survival chances.  As I sat watching the tiny tot, I had a good talk with it about staying out of harm's way.  (Yes, I do talk with my bayou critter friends.)  I know the rabbit had no idea what the crazy woman was saying but it would occasionally look at me, cock its little head and look wistfully at me.  Oh, please...please let this bunny live.  I miss our rabbits so very much.  Stay safe, Little One, stay safe.

I'm a grownup now!

  Early this spring, Mark and I would often see a tiny baby bunny near the pier.  More oft than not, the little thing would just hunker down and be still when we neared.   Occasionally, it would ease into the marsh through a nice thatched tunnel.  We decided that Mama Bunny must have made her nest under the first few pier boards.  Here, there was just enough room for a bunny to squirm in and be protected from the coyotes and fox. They would have been hard-pressed to dig up that nest. 

Sweet baby rabbit that grew up in a nest under the pier.

  Each time we saw the little tyke, we would always comment that we sure hope nothing would catch it.  That little bunny was just too cute...and sweet.  It seems, though, that our worries were for naught as now our little friend is quite grown.  It still hangs around the edge of the pier and eyes us curiously as we pass.   

Our friend, Rabbit, that still hangs around the pier.

  This evening when I let Ms. Ez out for her last run, the bunny sat near the board path.  It never moved even when the old dog ran lickety-split past it several times.  Most rabbits would hightail it if a large dog came running straight for it but not this one.  Ms. Ez would tear across the yard and veer off to the side just at the last moment.  Had she not, the rabbit would have been trampled.  It seemed to be sort of a game between the two of them.  Ms. Ez seeing how close she could get to the rabbit before turning and the rabbit seeing just how much of this terror-on-four-paws it could tolerate.  Ms. Ez had no intention of hurting the bunny.  She has never chased them even though dozens call the yard home.  (Now, let her spy a squirrel and it is a different story!)  I guess Ms. Ez sees the bunny as family and, obviously, the bunny feels the same.  This is just another Bayou Friend we see on our hikes.

 

Scurry away, Little Rabbit!

   Ms. Ez, the old Bayou Dog, doesn't run or frolic near as much as she used to in the past.  As she ages, she is content to tag along behind me as I take my hikes.  Whereas we used to play fetch for hours on end, she now tires easily after about ten tosses.  Of course, when she chases the ball, it is at a breakneck speed both downhill and back uphill. After less than a dozen throws, she is exhausted and must head back inside to her bed.   She and I have resorted to leisurely hiking the hillside.  I have noticed that she even ignores the squirrels a good bit of the time.  This is something that she used to love doing but now, it is more of a chore.  I think the critters all realize this as they scamper to the nearest tree just to humor the old dog.  So goes the afternoon hike.

  One of the critters that we usually encounter as we make our way down the hill to the pier, is a tiny rabbit.  This little bunny was born early in the spring and is now fully on its own.  I guess our daily hikes have become so mundane to the rabbit that it has come to expect our visits.  It does not race away any longer and rarely even makes the effort to move off to the marsh.  Yesterday, I started tossing the ball to Ms. Ez.  She did her best to race down the hill to capture the bouncing ball before it reached the marsh.  Just out of curiosity, I kept tossing the ball nearer and nearer to the bunny.  Before long, Ms. Ez was practically stumbling over the rabbit during her chase.  Not once did the bunny hurry away.  It just kept munching grass.

  This lack of fear worries me a bit.  If the little rabbit has grown this accustomed to the big, lumbering dog, what about the coyotes or fox? Would the little bunny have sense enough to scamper to the safety of the marsh or would it just stand there assuming that the predator is just another Bayou Dog?  Oh, Ms. Ez, what have we done? Bunny, Bunny! Wise up!  Scamper away to the security that the thick marsh offers you! Do not become dinner for the coyote!

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.