Quarantine Scenes: Bunnies in the Backyard

Bonjour!

As I wrote recently, I’ve spent a lot of time at home over the last four months and had the pleasure of spending extra time with L’Husband and Le Chien. We are adjusting to our new home in Vermont and working from home in our home office spaces.

Despite the uncertainty and stress of the pandemic, we are trying to stay positive and also trying new things. I previously featured pictures of L’Husband learning to bake. This post shares some pictures of the new, furry neighbors who moved into our yard during quarantine.

Bunnies in the Backyard

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” – John Steinbeck

In addition to watching L’Husband learn to bake, another fun thing happened at home: a nest of baby bunnies in our new backyard. We had no idea that a mama rabbit had dug a nest under the outdoor exhaust return from the dryer that blows the warm, moist air (clever girl).

Luckily, our helpful dachshund was on the case and sniffed them out, showing us the nest once the babies were born. I admit I screamed initially when I peeked inside (wearing gardening gloves and using a weed puller to draw back the fluff and grass). Zut alors! The small, hairless bodies looked like mice. (Oh, hell no.)

Mais non, these mice had cute little oblong ears and closed eyes. To prevent the mower from disturbing the nest, I nobly stacked some artfully placed two-by-four boards around the hole and vent. (I’m sure the neighbors were thrilled.)

Within the week, the bunnies’ eyes were open and their bodies had fur, including a cute white star on the forehead. By the following week, they were starting to crowd each other, though stayed hunkered down in their warm bunker. The week after that, some of the buns had ventured out of to nest to chill under the classy two-by-fours blocking the nest from certain destruction by lawnmower.

We really enjoyed checking on the bunnies’ progress and also letting the neighbor kids peek in and see them. Alas, they have all since left the nest and moved on (to the rock wall in a neighbor’s yard). The nest has been disposed of, the two-by-fours removed. While I love animals and nature, I don’t want to encourage further litters – the tender, little bodies are just too tempting for a certain chien.

What new adventures have you had during quarantine?

Merci for reading and please subscribe and share!

À votre santé,

Katie