Mother rabbits are notoriously inattentive. They feed their babies once or twice every 24 hours, so you may never see them. That’s why people that find nests often worry that the babies have been orphaned. The mother is usually in the vicinity but out of sight. Until now.
This mother rabbit deserves a parenting award. I was not happy when she dug a nest on top of my new tulip bulbs just as they were about to bloom, but I had to admire her tenacity.
Whenever I looked out the window–day or night–she was either sitting right next to the nest or no more than 10 feet away.
I witnessed her stare down the neighbor’s cat and high-kick a gang of crows. She was soaked by rain, buffeted by high winds and even hailed upon, but she never left the immediate vicinity of that nest.
Most of the time the nest was covered, but one day when it was 87 degrees she left the top open so the little guys could get some air. I peeked in to see them all squished together in a pile. They’re adorable when they’re not mowing down my rose bushes. I meant to snap a photo that afternoon but got distracted. When I thought of it the next morning I found an empty nest.
The mother is still hanging around my front yard, so I assume the babies are nearby and that they weren’t snatched by the crows or a cat. Unfortunately that means the little devils are about to begin sampling everything in my garden.
Lucky for them, it’s hard to get angry with something this cute:
