Pesky Rabbits!

For some reason, this spring has seen a increased amount of rabbit activity. We first noticed parts of the front lawn torn up where they have are trying to start new burrows, and I managed to snap the shot above on my camera phone while mowing the grass! Well, this morning I looked out of the front windows to see a strange clump of grass in an odd place. By looking through the binoculars I was able to identify a fluffy gray clump of grass and fur, those damn rabbits! On closer inspection, sure enough it was the start of a new burrow, only about 6 inches deep, with a big clump of dry grass and rabbit fur stuffed in the top, ready for nesting, no doubt. I found a nice big rock and shoved it over the hole while cursing the damn rabbits.

The problems continue. This evening I got home and started a work-out session on the Elliptical trainer that sits in front of a glass sliding door at the back of the house. Well, 24 minutes through my session, I'm looking out the window and guess what I see? A pesky rabbit hops across in front of the window from left to right! I sigh and continue my workout. A couple of minutes later I see the rabbit again, this time it's hopping the other direction, from right to left. I'm surprised and after another minute or so of deliberation, I hit the pause button and open the door. I step outside in the direction the rabbit went, guess what I see? There's a rabbit hopping straight towards me. He sees me and stops. I do the same. Then he turns and starts hopping away. I give chase towards the woods, and then around the yard. I'm almost within reach, and then it diverts into the woods. Argg.

I'm out of breath walking back towards the house, and guess what I see?! You guessed it. There's a rabbit hopping across the driveway past the garage doors. This time I don't chase, just keep walking and it casually hops past the flower bed, across the grass, and into the woods. Next I go and check the burrow from the morning, and sure enough, there's been fresh digging around the rock. I see another rabbit near the end of the driveway, but it's too far away to chase, so I go back inside and finish my work-out.

With the work-out complete, I step out the sliding glass door again and start walking toward the flower bed, and guess what I see? A rabbit hops out of the flowerbed and onto the grass in front of me! And then, not one, but two more rabbits jump out beside the first. Arrgg! I stare at them as they stare at me, and I'm wondering what I might do next. I don't have time to formulate a plan. One by one, they cross to the other end of the flower bed and head back toward the woods, again.

I think we might have a rabbit problem.