Having been city dwellers most of our lives, Brian and I were astounded to see so much wildlife around us in St Marys. Marmots, mallards, geese, hawks, owls and the odd red fox are just a few examples, but my favourites are the wild rabbits. It may be that they remind me of the times I read to my daughter the tales of Beatrix Potter. While I was in Montreal a few months ago, Brian called me to tell me that the dogs had discovered a nest of 5 wild baby rabbits at the rear of the house. Violet had cornered one and was frantically licking his head as to say "Don't worry, I love puppies". Though we knew that the dogs would not harm them in any way, we still did not allow them access to the back yard. The bunnies settled back into their nest. A few days later, Brian called me again to give me some sad news. Two of the five bunnies had fallen prey to some creatures of the night, leaving a bloody crime scene and two mangled bunny bodies on the stone patio. Several weeks later, a third one was found dead for no apparent reason. All three were buried in our back yard. The nest is no longer occupied. I spotted one of the remaining two a few days ago and was able to take a few shots of it. I also took a few shots of adult wild rabbits regularly seen around our property. Being a food source for pretty much anything that hunts, they have developed excellent "run and hide" behavior - so please forgive the blurry images; I had to take them from afar.
Here is our little Peter Rabbit taken from different angles, keeping a low profile. We hope to see Benjamin Bunny soon.
This is the wild bunny nest. It's basically a hole in the ground lined with rabbit fur. Imagine them all piled up one on top of each other keeping warm.
This one is a juvenile.
This one was quite big with fully grown ears, obviously an adult.
If Beatrix Potter was alive, I think she would be a very good friend of the Dusty Victorian. Here she is at her farm, Hill Top, c. 1907.