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.

What's for supper?

The rabbits sure must be hungry this winter!  Even though we have not had any snow coverage or even any heavy frost for that matter, the rabbits have taken to gnawing tree bark. They are stripping the bark from the Mimosa saplings instead of raiding the mustard and turnip greens in the garden. I find this a bit strange since there is still plenty of greenery for them to munch.  Perhaps there is more "stick to your ribs" nutrition in bark versus the empty calories in a salad.  This is all fine by me as we have far too many Mimosa saplings growing on the hillside.  Plus!  Their abstaining from the garden greens means there will be more for us to enjoy!

Mimosa (Albezia) is one of those ever-present trees here.  These trees will reproduce with great rapidity from seeds, cuttings and roots. I recall hearing years ago how during lean times, farmers would harvest Mimosa bark and saplings to grind as fodder for their farm animals.  It seems that this was sometimes mixed with the sugarcane tops as a nutritious feed for livestock.  Raising sugarcane was quite common on the Coast years ago.  Late fall, saw the folks here making syrup in long outdoor evaporators or cookers. (Another great tale from the family archives!)  The cane was pressed to extract the juice then the long cooking process took place.  The leftover cane roughage and Mimosa bark (and saplings) was put through a grinder to make feed for the livestock.

The rabbits around the hillside are definitely on the right track by munching the Mimosa bark.  It is supposedly quite good for them!  The gnaw marks on the saplings run from a bout an inch up from the ground to about three feet in height.  The younger, more limber trees are stripped even further as they can be bent for easy access.  Sometimes the entire sapling is gnawed off or the stripping can be so extreme that it kills the tree. That is something that I do not have to worry about with the Mimosa trees, however.  I have come to the conclusion that it is virtually impossible to kill these trees!  Michael and I have cut them down with the lawnmower, chopped them out with the ax and dug them out with the shovel only to have them spring back in just a few weeks.  The rabbit damage to the Mimosas can do nothing but help our landscaping in the long run!  Eat, Little Rabbits, eat!  (Just stay clear of my garden greens!)

And then there was one...

For the second time this week, I have had a most interesting, yet disturbing, view as I sat at the kitchen table.  Both times, I had just poured my first cup of coffee.  The sun was just starting to filter a bit of light into the garden area outside the kitchen window making for a pleasant view.  I watched as the hummingbirds darted in and out of the Turk's Cap and the juvenile squirrels chased each other about in the oak tree.  The first day, I saw three rabbits..this morning, there were only two.  One was right in the gravel pathway that leads to the little Frog Pond.  This bunny was munching on the the spent daylilies leaves and was oblivious to anything but a tasty meal.  The other rabbit was in the peach orchard.  I could see this one quite clearly even though it was a good distance away from the kitchen.  That was one huge rabbit!

As I sat there staring out the window, a large Redtailed Hawk swooped down and snatched up the smaller bunny!  This had happened just three days earlier in almost the same spot!  The hawk struggled with the rabbit and dropped it.  The rabbit jumped up and tried to make a run for it but it was a futile effort.  Its escape was thwarted by the hawk as it swooped once again and this time those talons did not lose their grip.  My poor bunny!  I started to rush outside to see if I could help but it all occurred in just a matter of seconds and, well, these old legs do not run anywhere fast!  Watching this unfold just a few feet in front of the open window was pretty amazing.  If I did not like the hawk so much, I would have been traumatized!  This is the same hawk that follows me about the yard occasionally.  It will find some sturdy fence post and eye me up as I pull weeds or water the plants.

The other (larger) rabbit froze when it saw what was happening to the other bunny.  Two of its friends had been abruptly snatched as they ate.  Perhaps the larger rabbit was smarter.  Since it was inside the fence surrounding the peach orchard and down under those heavily leaved trees, maybe the hawk had second thoughts about attacking it.  More likely, the smaller rabbit looked to be an easier prey to carry.  If the larger rabbit was depending on that fence wire for protection, it is out of luck now.  Michael removed the fence today as the posts were all rotting.  The rabbit will now have to be a bit more wary!  Three rabbits in the morning sun..along came the hawk and now there is one.  Bye Bye Bunny.

Monkey Grass and Bunny Rabbits!

Monkey Grass is a nice little edging that one can put around flower gardens in lieu of some brick or wood border.  The plant stays pretty much in place and is an evergreen.  The low-growing border plant is heat and drought tolerant which pretty much makes it a favorite down here in the Deep South.  We need plants that can stand up to our heat.  Most folks around here plant the Liriope type simply because we are partial to the purple flowers that bloom throughout the summertime. Monkey Grass is a lot like most of us during the hot summer..these plants (and we) are shade lovers!

It is a good thing that the Monkey Grass is drought tolerant as we seem to be lacking in rainfall.  I spent the afternoon dragging a water hose around the yard trying to save at least some of my plants.  When I reached the shady garden spot where the Liriope is planted, I began to ponder if Michael had inadvertently cut it when he was mowing.  The leaves to my Monkey Grass were no where to be seen!  Strangely enough, the flowers still proudly stood as if in defiance of whatever had trimmed the leaves.  Only the usually thick mat of leaves was missing!  To find any leaves whatsoever, I had to look far into the midst of the garden.  None were in the borders!

I am supposing that the batch of bunnies that has invaded the yard is to blame.  I had no idea that rabbits would eat Monkey Grass.  This is exactly why we fenced in most of the gardens!  Perhaps since they cannot get to the herbs and vegetables, they are turning to other food sources.  This causes me a bit of worry as I noticed three rabbits under Michael's car this morning.  After reading of the damage they can do to the wires in automobiles, I do believe we might just have to fence his vehicle!

Besieged by Bunnies!

Ok..let me clarify right from the start..I do like rabbits.  I have no problem with a few bouncing around the yard and have even allowed Mama Bunny to eat my Boysenberries.  But..enough is enough!  Last year, I counted around twenty rabbits around the hillside.  Again..no problem.  I can live and let live.  I figure that the critters of the Bayou have just as much right to be here as I do.  Still, when these same critters start multiplying like..well, like rabbits, I might have to say there are a few too many.  This evening, I discovered that by being nice to the rabbits, they have rewarded me by eating my pesky Fennel plants!  Yes!  These ravenous rabbits are eating my Fennel!  It never occurred to me that the rabbits would eat herbs so I placed a few in gardens outside the fenced garden.  Things were going well, until I noticed a few branches were snipped.  Now, the poor plant has had a "hare cut"!

Not only are the bunnies eating the herbs, my flowers are being nibbled to the ground. Madonna Lilies must be especially tasty since every leaf is chomped right down to the stalk.  I pondered this fact as I had always heard that lilies are poisonous.  If this is true, why is that hungry hare eating it?  I researched the Madonna Lily and found that contrary to what I was told as a child, the lily is not poisonous!  In fact, it is quite edible.  Hmmm?  Do I trust reference books or do I believe hand-me-down information.  Perhaps, I should just leave the Madonna Lily to the rabbits.

I took to counting the rabbits on the hillside and after thirty-one, I figured it was a losing battle. There were three under Mark's truck!  I gave up trying to do a Rabbit Census.  After all, I could only count the ones that were brave (or stupid) enough to come out in the open yard.  Those staying in the marsh or woods must make up far more than the ones I could see.  Now a question..since I have a "diurnal" Great Horned Owl and its friend the Cooper's Hawk, why do I have so many bunnies?  Are those two spoiled rotten and can only feast upon my feeder-fattened doves?  Not that I wish harm to the bunnies but...I do not need this many!!!

Squirrel Eggs

Yep, you read that right.."squirrel eggs"! Or "Cocoa Puffs"! Yep, you read that right, too! Now you might ask just what are "squirrel eggs" and just what do they have in common with a cereal named "Cocoa Puffs"? Answering the second question first, most likely nothing except if you had been in my family back some twenty five years or so ago and had been at my parent's home. At that particular time most of their grandchildren were always playing in their yard and in the surrounding woods. Two of the (then) little granddaughters were out playing when they happened upon a small mound of interesting objects! The youngest of these granddaughters immediately proclaimed "Cocoa Puffs"! that being her favorite cereal. She was a bit perplexed as to why there was a mound of cereal in the edge of the yard but still was totally convinced of the veracity of her discovery. The other granddaughter, being a few years older and much wiser, admonished her for the glaring mistake. "No, no! Those are not "Cocoa Puffs"! Don't eat them!" she warned her younger cousin. "Those are squirrel eggs! We must let them hatch!" This story has been a source of much teasing for these two cousins even now that they are grown with children of their own. The "Cocoa Puffs" and the "squirrel eggs" that they had found were none other than rabbit droppings! For any who per chance do not know, rabbit droppings do bear a strong resemblance to the cereal. The younger cousin was not much more than about five years old so the mistake would be easy to understand. I must admit though, the squirrel egg thing might be a stretch. Hopefully, the older cousin was merely trying to protect the younger and made up the story of squirrel eggs so the other did not eat her find! Yeah..that is it! It is all explained satisfactorily..until the next family gathering when the story will once again resurface much to the embarrassment of these two. Now, you might wonder just what prompted the post about something as disgusting as rabbit poop! Other than the delightful tale, when I was out walking this morning I found a nice pile of poop on the first step of the pier. This is not exactly news worthy at all except I am beginning to wonder just what this rabbit has against me. Every morning, I find a pile of poop on the pier.. every morning I sweep it off. I have a feeling that this bunny is sitting in the edge of the marsh
snickering at me as I perform this nasty duty. Or perhaps the bunny is just appreciative that the maid comes to clean the outhouse everyday! And my, oh, my this rabbit has been busy or maybe there is a bunch of bunnies! After I cleaned off the pier, I noticed piles everywhere!

Rabbits Everywhere!

Rabbits, cottontails, bunnies..whatever you want to call them..I have them! I do not raise rabbits, these are the wild sort. It is a cute little brown bunny when there is just one..cuter when there are two..ok..maybe still cute when there are three or four but enough is enough! They are taking over the yard and eating every plant in sight. This evening, I counted seventeen rabbits in my yard! Seventeen!!! They were in the gardens and on the lawn. They came out of the marsh near the bayou and from under the bamboo. Rabbits were running in the lane and peering out from under the azalea bushes. There was even one in the compost! (How and why it got in there is a mystery.) I have never seen so many bunnies! We had lost nearly all of the wild rabbits during Katrina so I was elated to find a nest of babies this spring. There were four teeny, tiny brown babies with great big eyes staring at me when I tried to move a pile of limbs. I carefully replaced the limb and backed away. I thought "This is great! Now we will have a few (key word.."few") rabbits in the yard." I do not have a "few"...they have multiplied.. immensely! We have cottontails, the smaller marsh rabbits and the very large swamp rabbits. Many people will tell you that they are one and the same but if you look at the pictures you can see several differences in them. It is not that I am against having wildlife roam in my yard, but when every green leaf looks like dinner to them, I tend to get a bit annoyed. Something has to be done! I am not sure just how I am to control this bunny population explosion. Shooting them would be one option but unless I am starving I find it hard to shoot something that looks like the Easter Bunny. Live trapping might be easier but just what in the world would I do with seventeen critters after they are trapped?? Ezzy, the dog, tries to keep them out of the yard but if she sees a squirrel, the rabbits are forgotten. For a while, there were a lot of fox denning in the woods by the creek and they were the masters at rabbit hunting. They have moved across the street and have not come to dine in the yard. I suppose if they get hungry enough they will come here to hunt and my extensive herd of bunnies might be significantly thinned. But in the meantime, more garden fences are on the "to-do" list.