Friday, November 9, 2007

Rescue 911

We noticed it last Saturday sitting under the pine tree in our backyard (it's trimmed underneath so people can sit under it). I don't like animals in general. They annoy me. But I love rabbits, I think they're adorable. Smarter than dogs, sweeter than cats. So I joined Robin in her, "Aaaw, a bunny!"

We've seen rabbits every now and again so we didn't think too much about it. But the fact that it was a Rex kinda snagged in my head.

When we were back outside a few hours later the rabbit was in the exact same spot. Not normal. We stood there looking at it and the rabbit didn't tremble in fear or bolt. We worried that it was hurt, but it was healthy looking. It had a huge dulap (roll of fat under the chin, cute on rabbits, real gross on humans).

So we started wondering if it is a pet rabbit that was abandoned and made it's home in our backyard. It just sits under that tree all day - the way a rabbit in a hutch sits and doesn't do much. It doesn't seem to understand that it is supposed to have a burrow, which worries us because that tree won't be shelter from the increasing cold.

Well, today I went online to find out how to tell the difference between a wild rabbit and a domestic one. Sometimes it's real obvious. Angora bunnies do not live in the wild. But a rex looks similar to a wild rabbit. Except...not. In my defense, there are experts who have trouble telling the difference. But the truth is...there's no way the rabbit under our tree is wild.


According the websites wild rabbits don't accept domestic rabbits as rabbits and they can't interbreed, so when a domestic rabbit is set loose it's a pretty bad thing for it. It will have trouble finding food and it might do something stupid like make it's home under a pine tree.

So, armed with this information and a paragraph about how to make friends with a rabbit, Robin went out to start our mission to save this bunny from a frozen death.

She has a very promising start of having chucked some apple slices at it. We're hoping if it realizes we're good for treats it will warm to us faster. She also put a box with a towel in it under the tree. If the rabbit gets the hint it will make this it's new (warmer) home. Also, it'll make us easier to catch the poor thing.

So...wish us luck.

7 comments:

Emily said...

That's too cute!

When my brother and I were younger, we had a pet iguana run away from us into the woods behind our house. My mom, brother and I tried to catch the stupid thing, but they're fast. We're pretty sure within a couple days it froze or was eaten.

Melody said...

Yikes. I can't imagine trying to catch an inguana. My sister and I used to try and catch little tree lizards in Miami and those buggers were hard to catch. Of course iguana's tails don't come off when you grab them, so that would be an advantage.

Emily said...

Actually, I have seen some tailless ones.

Beautifully Profound said...

Ha, that's funny. You threw food at it. Surprised it didn't run away. Sure it's actually alive?


Wascally wabbits.

Melody said...

Well...I think it did run away. But it ate the food later.

Robin said it was zipping around our yard later. Probably hyped up on all those apple slices.

The old lady that lives next door come outside to see what we were doing and told us the rabbit could figure out where to live on it's own.

Translation: Go back indoors like normal people.

Beautifully Profound said...

HAHA, yah, but now that you've fed the thing it knows where to come and eat. So you might end up having a pet after all.

Melody said...

True, but I think not even the free food will keep the little bugger around when Robin gets her dog.

 
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