One morning I went outside and discovered that a wild rabbit had taken up residence under the bushes in our front yard. And I thought, "Eeeee a bunny!" and gawked at it and made Boyfriend come gawk at it and it really made my day.
Today, I saw a teeny-tiny little baby wild rabbit grazing on the grass. And I thought, "Oh shit."
Not because I don't like rabbits. I love rabbits. But because if there's a reproducing pair of rabbits living on the apartment complex's property, in a year there'll be twelve, fifteen, twenty of them, and how long can they go on before the complex starts trapping and killing them?
I'm going to clip the local wildlife rescue number to my rent check this upcoming month. I hope -- I hope -- that the complex will take the hint and have the bunnies resettled now rather than killed later.
In other news, I've seen the blue heron twice more! It's such a pretty bird. If terrified of humans.
And all the geese that are in the 'adolescent' stage of their lives (starting to develop their final plumage but still furred with down) have lost all sense entirely. Baby geese will stay way the hell away from me. Adult geese will give me a wide berth but flash me condescending looks that say "I could kill you, if I felt like it. But I don't. You're not worth my time."
Adolescent geese hiss and charge me. I, of course, being forty thousand times their size, just stand my ground and give them the "I will give you such a smacking" look, and they eventually veer off and try to pretend they weren't attacking me. (For the record, I have never hit a goose, and I hope I never will. I have, however, picked up a pigeon that was standing on my foot. Don't worry. I put it back down.)
And, you know, having thirty geese all lower their heads and stalk directly at you is kind of an unnerving experience.
Replies: add your comment: currently 9 comments
Back in my old neighborhood (in the southeastern part of the Phoenix area), there is a large rookery of great blue herons based in several old eucalyptus trees on an old farm property.
The artificial lakes in the area are an incredibly easy place to find not just great blue herons, but also egrets, green-backed herons, bitterns (yeah, I know O_O), and night-herons. And I tell you, the herons in the Phoenix area are hardly skittish - I've found myself within two feet of a hunting heron without so much as a flinch.
What were interesting were the black-bellied whistling-ducks, which had the unique tendency of being able to perch on just about anything, up to, and including, the ten-foot-tall chain-link fence around the tennis courts in the neighborhood next to mine. Realizing that the twittering, flapping mass in the trees is a flock of ducks is surreal indeed.
Whoops, yet another rambling mass of geekery from me. ^_^
Posted by Carlos @ 06/18/2002 08:00 PM EST
I see rabbits grazing in my yard all the time, and they build nests, too. They are actually often rather visible. I remember once, my dad showed me a peek at a nest when the parents were away, and w saw these TINY baby rabbits inside the nest. =^_^= But we obviously decided to leave them alone.
Rabbits in yards around here really don't stick around. They make nests, and it's hard to tell if they even USE them or not, so I don't consider them a problem.
That's kewl you saw the herons again. =^_^=
Posted by Wolf @ 06/19/2002 02:15 AM EST
Fucklings....
You know, that would be /such/ a great slang term for pre-adolescent humans.
Posted by Nezumi @ 06/19/2002 08:43 AM EST
Hey, Nezumi, best laugh of the day.
Posted by Father Moon @ 06/19/2002 02:53 PM EST
Har har! So I'm not the only one who thinks geese have these condescending look in their eyes.
This is odd. In my area, I saw this one adolescent goose in fall that was still mostly down, and had some visible plummage around the tail... O_o; Late puberty!
And just what the hell are mallards doing in my area during this time of the year? I thought they were seasonal winter birds!
Posted by Keiiii @ 06/19/2002 03:18 PM EST
DON'T smack the geese. Even young geese. They bite HARD. Geese are notorious for grabbing a hunk of loose skin, twisting it, and then they PULL.
Posted by G. S. @ 06/19/2002 11:53 PM EST
Geese can break your legs. Geese WILL break your legs.
Posted by Red Draco @ 06/20/2002 12:40 AM EST
Geese are evil. They're vicious. And they crap. LOTS.
Not little bitty bird turds. Big honking suckers.
They're also better watchdogs than, well, dogs.
But they crap more.
Tangent ... I still think Geese Howard is a stupid name after all these years. ^_^
Gawd, Nezumi, that was hilarious.
Posted by Carlos @ 06/20/2002 07:29 PM EST
"Resettle?" That's dinner you're talking about!
Posted by Tim! @ 06/27/2002 01:10 AM EST
