Waiting it Out

On the far side of the park management office the grounds crew has discarded much of last year's run-down and discarded equipment, including old light poles, worn-out goal posts, rolls of chain-link fence and all manner of junk. Slowly but surely they've begun cleaning up the hillside, removing most of the heavier pieces but leaving a few odds and ends which has become the perfect playground for this year's batch of new bunnies. Duncan is obsessed with the spot and there's not a day we don't wander by at least once in the hopes of catching sight of them.

We went most of the Spring without seeing any rabbits at all and when I inquired it was as I feared: someone had given the order stop up and gas the warren. But Duncan was persistent and so every day we checked back to see if any rabbits had survived the assault. It wasn't until very recently that we spotted the first survivor, a big buck, dark in the face with a long, sandy back and a bright white tail. A week later he'd attracted the attention of several does, sleeker and more pointed in the face, and before we knew it baby bunnies started popping up everywhere.

Last night Duncan spotted one, unattended by his mother, who, catching sight of us, quickly darted into the hollow aluminum tubing of an old goal post. Duncan was on it, securing both ends of the tube in rapid succession. Once he was sure the bunny was trapped securely inside he went about the arduous task of attempting to squeeze himself into it.

He pushed and shoved, squeezed his eyes shut, opened them wide, licked the end, scraped his paws inside, grunted and pushed some more and finally, when nothing worked, he simply laid his belly down on the cool grass and pressed his face firmly against the opening. If he couldn't reach it he sure as heck wasn't going to let it get away. Twenty minutes passed before I finally grew tired and hungry and decided it was time to head back home (to a chance encounter with Florence and her Golden, Winston).

Before we left, however, I had to have one look at our little fugitive, so I knelt down at the opposite end and peered inside. The little fellow was as calm as could be. I wouldn't have been surprised to find him playing solitaire and waiting us out.