Not to change the subject

I want to explore some of the comments on "Sicko" when I'm rested. For now, lookit, bunny! I nearly tripped over two cottontail rabbits during my morning runs last week. Between the mild spring and all the rain this was probably inevitable:

Luckily for everyone, the kids were asleep when the bunny arrived.

My next-door neighbor brought me this wee bun tonight after her cat carried it in from the backyard. My first reaction was, Awww, baby bunny, followed shortly by, Oh, crap, baby bunny! What me do? I fired off a panicked email to everyone I could think of soliciting tiny-wild-animal advice. Then Hombre and I fought over who got to hold it. Hombre won after a red tick crawled off the little gal onto my arm.

Soon the cuteshock wore off, and my brain kicked in. Because Jinny recently asked me about the baby cottontail she found, I recalled a link at the House Rabbit Society about wild buns. Bottom line, this critter seemed in good health (amazing since she'd been between cat jaws), well fed, and at least a couple of weeks old. She needed her mama, who was probably looking for her for their nightly five-minute nursing session*. She needed to go back to her nest area, which I am almost certain is behind my back fence, near a creek and a stand of tall grass I'd never been in until tonight.

Note the torso/leg ratio here.

Neighbor and I stashed all assorted cats and dogs indoors, and off I went. Did I feel conflicted and awful taking a palm-sized rabbit out into the night where snakes and owls and roaming pets wander? Oddly, no. I figured she needed her littermates and mother more than she needed to be fawned over by me and Hombre. I put her down in the tall grass near where my neighbor and I had seen one of the big cottontails recently. She hopped off as if she had some idea where she was going. Godspeed, tiny rabbit. May you grow large and strong and not trip me when I go running.


*Yep, according to the House Rabbit Society, rabbits nurse their young five minutes daily. As a chronic lactator, I'm awed and a little jealous.