No, not the religious holiday. Easter the bunny. And no, not the "Easter Bunny" either. Easter is a yard bunny, who just happens to live in our yard at the Mr. & Mrs. Dizzy homestead.
How did Easter get his name? Well, here's the story:
Back in April, on Easter weekend, Mr. Dizzy and I were busily mowing our 5 acres on that nice Saturday morning. Mr. Dizzy finished up in the big meadow with the large tradtor, which is a major portion of our acreage, and went inside briefly to take a short break. I continued on with the smaller Toro in the back yard.
Suddenly, I saw a smallish rabbit run away from where I was getting ready to mow. That scared me, because I did NOT want to run over a rabbit's nest and kill any babies! So, I immediately stopped mowing and turned off the tractor, went in the house and got Mr. Dizzy, and we started looking for the nest.
We found TWO of them. One I had already mowed over, but there were no rabbits in it, thank goodness! We think that is where the one I saw running must have been staying, and he beat big bunny feet getting out of the way before I went over it. *whew* .... close one.
We kept looking around where I had not mowed yet, and found the second rabbit nest, and inside was this tiny, itty-bitty bunny baby. He was laying there, really still, hiding. I am sure he was scared to death! But the strange part was, he stayed there while we knelt by him, talking softly to him, and even let us softly stroke him with a gloved finger. He did not even attempt to take off.
Well, Mr. Dizzy decided he needed to be moved so nothing happened to him. So, I went down to the basement and found a small box, which the Mr. started filling with fresh cut grass. He then picked up the little bunny, placed it in the grass-filled box, and shut the lid. The box was then placed on the back porch, safely away from the mowing, so I jumped back on the Toro and finished up that part of the yard. We then got the box and turned the baby loose.....and he immediately ran WAYYYYY back to the part of the yard behind the barn - - that Mr. Dizzy had not gotten mowed yet.
*sigh*
We really didn't expect him to go THAT direction and run THAT far. But he did.
SO - - here we go, with the box of grass, down behind the barn to find him. He was just laying there, and let us even pet him again. So Mr. Dizzy got him in the box a second time, and we hurried up to get the mowing finished. Once we were done, we opened the box and let the little guy go. He ran off happily and joined his other bunny friend.
SInce we had rescued him (twice) and it was Easter weekend, we decided to call him Easter.
Fast-forward to present day. The two yard bunnies are still here, and one is still quite a bit smaller than the other, and we believe that one is Easter. And the amazing thing? In the mornings, when Mr. Dizzy leaves the house to get to his truck and go to work, the smaller bunny is there, in the back yard, and just sits there watching him. Mr. Dizzy always makes a point of stopping and just talking to him, and the bunny just sits there, watching and listening to him.
And this happens almost every morning!
This little guy has also stopped and listened to me if I come outside and see him....he doesn't run away scared like the other bunny does. Having us around doesn't seem to bother him at all. I guess he knows we are the "good guys" and he has nothing to fear.
Kinda neat, actually.
No comments:
Post a Comment