A Precious Gift

Our yard is often filled with wildlife. Although I have yet to see a deer in our yard, we have seen many a rabbit, squirrel, fox, groundhog, chipmonk, hawk, songbird, starling, raven and occasional coyote. The deer are around as well, I've just never seen one in the yard.

It's not uncommon to witness new additions to these wildlife families either. We see baby squirrels playing all round the house each year, as well as many, many baby rabbits. We can sit and watch them play for hours...me and the cat in the window. Night-y dreams of one day encountering those fast little fur-balls face to face, but alas, he was front declawed (for a face and eye touching fettish) and will not experience the outdoors unless it's in a cat carrier or he sneaks past me (only to be caught within seconds but that's a story for another blog).

Now Pearl, on the other hand, is an inside-outside cat. Unfortunately, she usually gives me the opportunity to see these young (and sometimes adult) critters first hand - as an offering from the huntress on the porch. :-/ Instincts win - even when the food bowl is full. Her hunting ability has caused me to cradle more infant wildlife as they take their last breath (or me trying to give them another breath) than I care to list. She apparently has a job and does it well.

Until last night, I hadn't interacted with a healthy baby bunny. This one was adorable! We watched it playing around our spruce tree as the mother wondered about - anywhere from 3-25 feet away. Of course, I grabbed the camera and started looking for a shot. There wasn't one from inside the house, so I quietly opened the patio door and went outside. The mother saw me and didn't seem to mind. I took some shots that were still just too far away so I decided to try and get a little closer so that I could zoom in on the little buggar. I started slowly walking towards the area I last saw him/her in and as the mother went under the tree, I spotted him playing in the grass, looking right at me.

I started to take a picture and the little guy either wanted to pose for the camera, or just got tuckered out. He actually let me pet the top of his head and didn't mind at all. He was absolutely adorable. I took a couple of shots that were blurry, but one did come out pretty well. Once he got back up to play, he went in under the tree and it was too dark to capture him again.

I sent the baby and mother reiki and some protection (Pearl!) and hope to see them and get more shots again soon.