Lucky is in the Doghouse

So, I have two faithful readers and I may have already told them about the bunnies that live in Munier’s back yard. They live under the shed and feed upon the lush herbs the previous owners planted next to the shed. These bunnies have lived there for years and they regularly hop around the yard and sun themselves in patches of clover.

Saturday afternoon Munier and I were standing in the backyard, he was watering the plants and grass and I was chatting with him. Suddenly I heard a faint but urgent “peep peep peep” and looked over. There was Lucky, next to the shed with “something” in his mouth. “Oh my god he’s got a baby bird and its still alive!!!” I thought. Actually I may have blurted it out loud. So I pointed at him said “LUCKY DROP IT!!” and started for him. He took off like a rocket and I chased him. Dammit, we left the door open! He ran in the house with whatever “It” was in his mouth, with me hot at his heels yelling “LUCKY DROP IT! DROP IT!!” He took off up the stairs, and when he reached the top he stopped. He calmly looked back at me, then tilted his head back and GULP, whatever it was, was gone! He swallowed it WHOLE! Lucky is a very small dog, so it had to have hurt going down.

I went back outside and reported what happened to Munier, who said “you know it was a bunny.” I said “No it wasn’t. It was a bird probably. How do YOU know? You didn’t even see it!!” And then we got into a big ole “Yes it was/No it wasn’t” fight, and all along I KNEW it was probably a little bunny, but I wanted to be in denial about it. I was pissed that Munier wasn’t allowing me that.

So later Munier goes back inside and I don’t remember what I was still doing outside but I look over at Lucky and damn if he didn’t have something else over by the shed! I yelled “LUCKY NO!!” and this time he did drop it and ran away. I went over to whatever it was to inspect the carnage, and there on the grass was a teeny tiny little baby bunny about the size of an egg. He was kind of slowly wriggling his tiny arms and legs around the way babies do, and his little eyes weren’t even open yet. I didn’t know what to do. I looked to the area where I thought Lucky had pulled him out from under the herb box, but there was no hole there like I thought. So I didn’t know where he had got it from. And there was a little wound on him! I didn’t know how badly he was hurt and he was too young to walk yet, so I made the decision to pick him up. I carried him over to the door and called in to Munier to come look and help me. By now it was well after dark and we discussed what we should do and went back over to the shed with a flashlight to see if we could find where he came from. Finally, among the herbs, I found a little nest. That is where Lucky was finding the babies! We made the decision to just put him back in his nest and check on him again in the morning, but we were worried that his mother would reject him now that he had dog and human smell on him.

This was all very disturbing for us, and Munier wouldn’t even talk to Lucky for like a day and a half.

I’m happy to report that I checked on the bunny early Sunday morning and the nest had been re-covered over so it was apparent that the momma did come back and take care of her baby. I couldn’t see him though, so there was a little lingering doubt. It ate away at me all day so finally in the afternoon I took a twig and move the cover off the nest just enough to see the baby. And there he was safe and sound and wriggling around like always. Later that evening though, when I let Lucky out to pee, an adult bunny (the momma?) was in the yard and I didn’t see it. Lucky of course chased it, but it got safely away behind the shed. So I will check on the baby again this afternoon when I get home from work to make sure he is still being cared for by his momma.