Peter Cottontail and the Easter Bunny
meet up in a rabbit romance?
Music and friendship—two of life’s greatest gifts, wouldn’t you agree? Every Tuesday morning I get together with musician buddies to practice for gigs we do at seniors’ gatherings. Playing banjo, piano, fiddle and guitar, plus singing our hearts out, we have as much fun in these prep sessions as we do at performances. I’m so glad life gave me Dianne Pazaratz and Roy Clapperton, and Trillogy, the name of our trio.
And for me, there’s an add-on: gazing out the great glass wall of Dianne’s music room at the natural wonders taking place in her backyard. While she and Roy face each other, sitting on folding chairs surrounded by musical instruments, I get to be comfy on the couch in between, open my music on the coffee table and face the windows and bird feeders beyond. Cardinals, nuthatches, juncos, jays and mourning doves…species rotate with the seasons, but there’s always something flying in for breakfast or brunch. Even in winter there’s lots of action in the bird bath, which Dianne keeps filled and ice free.
Between the big black locust, the beauty bush way at the back, the pear and apple trees behind the pool, which blossom in turn, there’s action on the ground as well, given all the squirrels, chipmunks and sparrows. Always something to keep an eye on while I’m tapping my tambourine or playing my harmonica.
So I wasn’t really surprised to see cottontails the other week. They’re often out and about, nibbling clover or nosing the chicken wire that keeps them out of Dianne’s tempting garden. The bunnies weren’t placidly hopping across the lawn this time. There were two of them, suddenly on scene and on a mission, dashing about as if the hounds of hell were after them. Was one chasing the other, or vice versa? Far away as they were, over by the shed, they looked identical, but given their frenzied stops, starts and frantic leaps I suspect spring fever was the cause of their chaotic behaviour.
I wanted to interrupt the music and tell my friends about the cottontail excitement, especially when one rabbit came dashing across the grass right past us. But whatever song we were singing went on and on, after which Roy and Dianne were more interested in getting the chords and transitions right than they were in any wildlife drama. So I got back down to business, and when I looked out again the rabbits were gone. Slipping under the wood fence into the neighbours’ yard? Hiding beneath the cedar hedge? Or maybe courtship was over already and the deed was done, with baby bunnies expected mid-May.
Cottontails are menu items for a number of hungry predators, coyotes, foxes and raptors top of the list. So a mother has to rely on her camouflage colouring and calm, sedate behaviour to avoid drawing attention, then on speed when she does have to flee from danger. She digs a slanting hole for a nest, lines it with dried grasses, leaves and her own fur, and covers it over with more of the same when her kittens are born, three-to-six tiny, pink blind bodies. They open their eyes and grow fur in a week, and a week later leave the nest, scatter and hide in vegetation nearby, nursed briefly by Mom each dawn and dusk. I remember sitting at our sunroom window and patiently watching a cottontail mosey about the yard for half an hour, nibbling here and there, before a cute baby bunny dashed out of the calendulas, suckled frantically for less than a minute, then vanished once more. None of the loving, leisurely bonding that cat and canine litters so enjoy! Not to mention humans.
And I’ll never forget the darling baby rabbit I spotted in a neighbour’s garden one spring. When I told her about it, she grimaced, confessing that her beloved pet cat, allowed outside day and night whenever it wants, would likely catch and dispatch it, too, as it had all the bunny’s siblings. When she later complained about the local fox sniffing around, on the hunt for its own pups’ dinner, which might include tasty tabby, I shook my head. Human carnivores have no right to quibble, do they? It’s the way of the world.
Such a great reminder of life just beyond our own front door!
Certainly must be spring. Here it is the birds chasing each other around! The joys of youth!