Boing, boing, boing, boing...
June 28, 2017 4:01 PM Subscribe
What's with all the bunnies? The timid rabbit occasionally nibbles plants in the garden but usually lives unnoticed on the fringes of our yards. Mowing and raking yards can disturb rabbit nests. Cats and other animals catch and injure small rabbits. Sometimes people see newly independent young rabbits and think that such small creatures can't possibly get along without their mothers.
***squee trigger warning***
at the office
in my garlic
diggers
my yard bunnies
Mothers feeds baby rabbits only twice a day—at dawn and dusk. Baby rabbits found alone in a nest are usually not orphans.
If a nest has been disturbed, put it back together and cover the babies with the grass that originally covered them. To check if the mother is coming to care for them, place several lengths of yarn (small branches work, too) in a grid pattern over the nest. If the grid is disturbed after the next dawn or dusk, the mother is still caring for the youngsters.
Baby rabbits leave the nest when they're 3 weeks old and about the size of a chipmunk. If you find a chipmunk-sized but fully-furred rabbit with eyes open, ears erect, and the ability to hop, they are meant to be on their own. As small and helpless as they may look, they are not an orphan and doesn't need your help.
You can prevent harm to baby rabbits by checking your yard carefully for rabbit nests before you mow. Do this especially if you've let the grass get taller than usual.
at the office
in my garlic
diggers
my yard bunnies
Mothers feeds baby rabbits only twice a day—at dawn and dusk. Baby rabbits found alone in a nest are usually not orphans.
If a nest has been disturbed, put it back together and cover the babies with the grass that originally covered them. To check if the mother is coming to care for them, place several lengths of yarn (small branches work, too) in a grid pattern over the nest. If the grid is disturbed after the next dawn or dusk, the mother is still caring for the youngsters.
Baby rabbits leave the nest when they're 3 weeks old and about the size of a chipmunk. If you find a chipmunk-sized but fully-furred rabbit with eyes open, ears erect, and the ability to hop, they are meant to be on their own. As small and helpless as they may look, they are not an orphan and doesn't need your help.
You can prevent harm to baby rabbits by checking your yard carefully for rabbit nests before you mow. Do this especially if you've let the grass get taller than usual.
Around here it really does seem to be a bumper crop of bunnies this year. But then I don't have a garden.
posted by sammyo at 4:51 PM on June 28, 2017
posted by sammyo at 4:51 PM on June 28, 2017
I had an AskMe about this very thing once. (bonus: pictures of baby bunny)
Man, there are so many rabbits these days. Growing up I'd see maybe one or two a year but now I see several each day. They are everywhere.
I'm cool with all the bunnies. They're cute. They can stay.
posted by bondcliff at 5:06 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Man, there are so many rabbits these days. Growing up I'd see maybe one or two a year but now I see several each day. They are everywhere.
I'm cool with all the bunnies. They're cute. They can stay.
posted by bondcliff at 5:06 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I imagine there's a lack of predators (snakes, hawks?) in places where people have yards. Personally I'd rather have something eating the rabbits than the rabbits eating my garden...
posted by dilaudid at 5:11 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dilaudid at 5:11 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I imagine there's a lack of predators (snakes, hawks?) in places where people have yards.
Nope, plenty of both. At least out here in the 'burbs. Coyotes and fisher cats too. Also an increase in bobcat sightings. I have also seen hawks inside subway stations in the city.
posted by bondcliff at 5:13 PM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nope, plenty of both. At least out here in the 'burbs. Coyotes and fisher cats too. Also an increase in bobcat sightings. I have also seen hawks inside subway stations in the city.
posted by bondcliff at 5:13 PM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure it's only in the last few years that we've had rabbits in southern Ontario. I don't remember ever seeing them when I was growing up, not even in the countryside. Now you see them browsing side by side with the squirrels and starlings
posted by Flashman at 5:18 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Flashman at 5:18 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yep, we got baby bunnies running all up and down the Erie Canal, and one brave little soul who likes to camp out next to the dockmasters hut. They are about a billion times cuter than squirrels. Why is that?
posted by valkane at 5:21 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by valkane at 5:21 PM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I live in the Boston area, and I definitely feel like there's been a surge in the rabbit population in recent years; nice to see a little (unscientific) confirmation. Do we chalk this up to climate change, or is something else at play?
posted by uosuaq at 5:23 PM on June 28, 2017
posted by uosuaq at 5:23 PM on June 28, 2017
Same here, with the turkeys. I'm in the Boston area, I grew up here, and never even knew wild turkeys were a thing. I think I saw my first one when I was in my 30s. Now I see them every year, sometimes entire flocks. We had a couple that would visit our yard every day a couple months back.
We also have coyote and deer, things I never saw growing up. I've had bald eagles flying over the neighborhood too, which was unheard of ten years ago.
posted by bondcliff at 6:07 PM on June 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
We also have coyote and deer, things I never saw growing up. I've had bald eagles flying over the neighborhood too, which was unheard of ten years ago.
posted by bondcliff at 6:07 PM on June 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
They run right out in front of my damn bike. I've hit at least 4 rabbits and had dozens of near misses, and yes, I have bunnyhopped a babay bunny. Fucking menaces.
This reminds me of one of the very first dates I ever went on. I had just been gifted my Uncle's old 535i BMW. I was psyched, first time really going out with another girl. I picked her up, we went to get some ice-cream, then watched a movie.
Things are going well, we're getting along great. It's time for me to drop her off at home. I'm kind of showing off a little bit and we're in an area that is mostly country road and its really quiet and no one is around, so I ask her if she's ok if we speed a bit and test out the "new to me" car. She's game.
So I start to pick up the speed and I'm getting it up to 60 mph (we're on a road where I should be doing 35 mph) and then there's a bump. A pretty large one. So I immediately slow down. And she's all concerned. “Did we just kill something, did we hit something?”
I'm panicking. So I slow down, turn, and turn on the brights. I get closer back to the area where we felt like we had hit something and I see this large messy bump. I pull over and I step out, and it's half-dead and just twitching. I try to tell her to stay in the car, that it's a rabbit and not a dog or a cat (as if that makes it some how better or easier to deal with), but she steps out anyways.
She sees this bloody mess and starts to cry. So I tell her we should get back in the car. And there's the most awkward silence I've ever experienced just sitting in between us. I get back to her place and we park for a bit and we just stare at the darkness while we think about the rabbit I just accidentally murdered.
There was no first kiss, just an awkward goodbye.
posted by Fizz at 6:10 PM on June 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
This reminds me of one of the very first dates I ever went on. I had just been gifted my Uncle's old 535i BMW. I was psyched, first time really going out with another girl. I picked her up, we went to get some ice-cream, then watched a movie.
Things are going well, we're getting along great. It's time for me to drop her off at home. I'm kind of showing off a little bit and we're in an area that is mostly country road and its really quiet and no one is around, so I ask her if she's ok if we speed a bit and test out the "new to me" car. She's game.
So I start to pick up the speed and I'm getting it up to 60 mph (we're on a road where I should be doing 35 mph) and then there's a bump. A pretty large one. So I immediately slow down. And she's all concerned. “Did we just kill something, did we hit something?”
I'm panicking. So I slow down, turn, and turn on the brights. I get closer back to the area where we felt like we had hit something and I see this large messy bump. I pull over and I step out, and it's half-dead and just twitching. I try to tell her to stay in the car, that it's a rabbit and not a dog or a cat (as if that makes it some how better or easier to deal with), but she steps out anyways.
She sees this bloody mess and starts to cry. So I tell her we should get back in the car. And there's the most awkward silence I've ever experienced just sitting in between us. I get back to her place and we park for a bit and we just stare at the darkness while we think about the rabbit I just accidentally murdered.
There was no first kiss, just an awkward goodbye.
posted by Fizz at 6:10 PM on June 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:14 PM on June 28, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:14 PM on June 28, 2017 [16 favorites]
Clearing out the lettuce bed a couple of weeks ago and uncovered a bunny nursery. Covered it back up and employed the yarn mechanism to ensure momma was still around. All was well, although my bean planting was delayed by a few weeks. Amazed to learn that mom only nurses for about 5 mins a day. By the 3rd week, there was already a 2nd nest in construction 1 bed over, which I assume was batch #2 as a doe will have up to 5 litters a season. Those things breed like, er, rabbits, amirite?
posted by memewit at 6:21 PM on June 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by memewit at 6:21 PM on June 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
Bunny populations don't seem to have much problem keeping up with predators. We have tons of coyotes, hawks, foxes, eagles, etc. around here, and we still have cottontails to spare. They're ideal prey animals, so a big part of their survival as a species depends on producing a steady supply of babies.
A couple of my neighbors got rid of ground foliage and trimmed their conifers up so they don't brush the ground, so we're hosting most of the bunnies on our specific block right now under our spruce and junipers. If anything, there might be fewer of them around here than in previous years.
One weird change I have noticed is that they don't seem as afraid of humans as they used to be. Our yard bunnies just come right up to you to say hey. (Maybe because I sometimes share bananas and stuff with them?)
posted by ernielundquist at 6:42 PM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
A couple of my neighbors got rid of ground foliage and trimmed their conifers up so they don't brush the ground, so we're hosting most of the bunnies on our specific block right now under our spruce and junipers. If anything, there might be fewer of them around here than in previous years.
One weird change I have noticed is that they don't seem as afraid of humans as they used to be. Our yard bunnies just come right up to you to say hey. (Maybe because I sometimes share bananas and stuff with them?)
posted by ernielundquist at 6:42 PM on June 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I also grew up in the Boston area, and still live there. Here are things I see a lot now, that I never saw then:
Geese
Turkeys
Hawks
Possums
Occasional coyotes and foxes. Swans in season.
Things I used to see, that seem to be completely gone:
Pheasants
Fireflies
Garter snakes
Everything that used to live in the waters of Walden Pond, except for the fish they stock it with.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:51 PM on June 28, 2017 [8 favorites]
Geese
Turkeys
Hawks
Possums
Occasional coyotes and foxes. Swans in season.
Things I used to see, that seem to be completely gone:
Pheasants
Fireflies
Garter snakes
Everything that used to live in the waters of Walden Pond, except for the fish they stock it with.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:51 PM on June 28, 2017 [8 favorites]
They are about a billion times cuter than squirrels. Why is that?
They put all their skill points into fluffiness.
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:53 PM on June 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
They put all their skill points into fluffiness.
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:53 PM on June 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
Baby bunnies are cute but they should not be pulled out of nests and frightened for our amusement. They should be filmed from a non terrifying distance.
Times it is ethically okay to film lil buns:
When they are frolicking on lawns in twilight.
When they are sunning in the last rays of the day.
When they are dozing in your petunias.
When they have come out of their fluffy nests on their own.
posted by Hypatia at 7:22 PM on June 28, 2017 [18 favorites]
Times it is ethically okay to film lil buns:
When they are frolicking on lawns in twilight.
When they are sunning in the last rays of the day.
When they are dozing in your petunias.
When they have come out of their fluffy nests on their own.
posted by Hypatia at 7:22 PM on June 28, 2017 [18 favorites]
Here in Tucson I've got a rabbit warren going under my cactus patch. They're adorable, and I leave them alone, but damn if they're not hell on my yard. I planted a whole bunch of native seeds this spring in a dirt area, and I think they got 90% of the ones that weren't fenced in. They eat any plants they can reach, including desert willows, which I didn't think anything could eat. They strip the bark off of trees.
The coyotes have apparently discovered the rabbits, because they've also taken an interest in my garbage lately. Easily dealt with after the first time, but it's interesting to know that I've got regular nocturnal visitors of the carnivore variety these days. And there were a bunch of hawks around this spring, so this is nice for them too.
But now there are chipmunks attempting to colonize my dryer vent. And it's 108 degrees outside, so I'm blocking that off while worrying that they and the rabbits and the squirrels might need more water than they're getting from my rigged-up irrigation system...
I'm starting to suspect that I don't have the ruthlessness it takes to be a desert homeowner. At some point there will be a critical mass of rabbits and rodents and they'll take over my house and I'll have to move. I know I should probably do something to prevent that, but I'm paralyzed by flashbacks to Watership Down and the faint subconscious hope that if I'm nice enough to them they'll start helping me get dressed in the morning.
posted by MrVisible at 7:45 PM on June 28, 2017 [20 favorites]
The coyotes have apparently discovered the rabbits, because they've also taken an interest in my garbage lately. Easily dealt with after the first time, but it's interesting to know that I've got regular nocturnal visitors of the carnivore variety these days. And there were a bunch of hawks around this spring, so this is nice for them too.
But now there are chipmunks attempting to colonize my dryer vent. And it's 108 degrees outside, so I'm blocking that off while worrying that they and the rabbits and the squirrels might need more water than they're getting from my rigged-up irrigation system...
I'm starting to suspect that I don't have the ruthlessness it takes to be a desert homeowner. At some point there will be a critical mass of rabbits and rodents and they'll take over my house and I'll have to move. I know I should probably do something to prevent that, but I'm paralyzed by flashbacks to Watership Down and the faint subconscious hope that if I'm nice enough to them they'll start helping me get dressed in the morning.
posted by MrVisible at 7:45 PM on June 28, 2017 [20 favorites]
Another Bostonian checking in. I remember when turkeys were so rare that a turkey that somehow wound up on the grounds of the Volpe Transportation Center in Kendall Square in Cambridge became a local celebrity - Mr. Gobbles.
Now, there turkeys everywhere, enough deer to warrant Deer Crossing signs in Hyde Park and West Roxbury (on Enneking Parkway at Washington and on Truman Parkway just off Neponset Valley Parkway) and bald eagles have been spotted in Dorchester (along the Neponset) and Jamaica Plain (atop the willow tree on the little island in Jamaica Pond). And here in Roslindale we've got opossums, raccoons, skunks and fat, waddling groundhogs. Not quite as many rabbits as in the Back Bay, but that might be because the coyotes and fisher cats are depressing their numbers.
posted by adamg at 8:02 PM on June 28, 2017
Now, there turkeys everywhere, enough deer to warrant Deer Crossing signs in Hyde Park and West Roxbury (on Enneking Parkway at Washington and on Truman Parkway just off Neponset Valley Parkway) and bald eagles have been spotted in Dorchester (along the Neponset) and Jamaica Plain (atop the willow tree on the little island in Jamaica Pond). And here in Roslindale we've got opossums, raccoons, skunks and fat, waddling groundhogs. Not quite as many rabbits as in the Back Bay, but that might be because the coyotes and fisher cats are depressing their numbers.
posted by adamg at 8:02 PM on June 28, 2017
As an Australian, these films both horrify and fascinate me.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:55 PM on June 28, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:55 PM on June 28, 2017 [7 favorites]
"I imagine there's a lack of predators (snakes, hawks?) in places where people have yards. "
Yeah, no, tons of hawks. Also foxes. Every now and then we have to distract our kids from the hawk eviscerating a baby bunny when we're all hanging out in the backyard. There's just many, many more baby bunnies. We have two or three nesting pairs of hawks/falcons hunting our neighborhood (kestrel, Cooper's, and red-tailed), plus their assorted juveniles each year, but we have two or three bunny nests at all times in our own personal yard, times a few hundred houses in the neighborhood. There's just a shit-ton of bunnies no matter how many the hawks eat.
(Local cats and dogs also go after bunnies.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:14 PM on June 28, 2017
Yeah, no, tons of hawks. Also foxes. Every now and then we have to distract our kids from the hawk eviscerating a baby bunny when we're all hanging out in the backyard. There's just many, many more baby bunnies. We have two or three nesting pairs of hawks/falcons hunting our neighborhood (kestrel, Cooper's, and red-tailed), plus their assorted juveniles each year, but we have two or three bunny nests at all times in our own personal yard, times a few hundred houses in the neighborhood. There's just a shit-ton of bunnies no matter how many the hawks eat.
(Local cats and dogs also go after bunnies.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:14 PM on June 28, 2017
Are these not hares? Rabbits nest in burrows. Or is this a tomato/tomato thing?
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:21 AM on June 29, 2017
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:21 AM on June 29, 2017
S.W. Denver suburb. Night bunnies in abundance waiting to dart in front of your car when you drive by.
posted by tgyg at 12:55 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by tgyg at 12:55 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
The reason the doe's nest (they're called stops) is away from the main warren is that the other females will kill the kits if they get half a chance. (Bunnies aren't just cute like everyone supposes).
We kept giants, and one year a wild rabbit nested under the corner of their run. The only way our female could express her sheer disgust at this was to carefully back up into the corner of the run, wiggle her bum a couple of times to make sure she was in position, and piss on the babies.
Which she continued to do several times a day for about three weeks.
The next year she actually managed to break out and go after them, but luckily she was getting pretty old by then and couldn't keep up with the young'uns (who, to make matters worse, seemed fascinated by her - I have photos of wild kits standing around outside the fence staring up at this really, really unhappy giant rabbit who can't do anything about them).
posted by Leon at 1:17 AM on June 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
We kept giants, and one year a wild rabbit nested under the corner of their run. The only way our female could express her sheer disgust at this was to carefully back up into the corner of the run, wiggle her bum a couple of times to make sure she was in position, and piss on the babies.
Which she continued to do several times a day for about three weeks.
The next year she actually managed to break out and go after them, but luckily she was getting pretty old by then and couldn't keep up with the young'uns (who, to make matters worse, seemed fascinated by her - I have photos of wild kits standing around outside the fence staring up at this really, really unhappy giant rabbit who can't do anything about them).
posted by Leon at 1:17 AM on June 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Well, releasing coyotes into Boston would solve this problem, and if you don't think this is a problem yet - just wait til next winter when they all die from overpopulation and disease. A population unchecked leads to the same problem the north shore was facing a few years ago with deer: destruction and disease followed by death.
Also, from personal experience - bunnies aren't the best parents... the mommy bunny in our back yard put her nest at the TOP of a 3' stone wall in our herb garden... within reach of our dog, cat, and several of the birds of prey in the area. The bunnies in the front yard were way smarter than that...
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:45 AM on June 29, 2017
Also, from personal experience - bunnies aren't the best parents... the mommy bunny in our back yard put her nest at the TOP of a 3' stone wall in our herb garden... within reach of our dog, cat, and several of the birds of prey in the area. The bunnies in the front yard were way smarter than that...
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:45 AM on June 29, 2017
I live in Somerville (suburb of Boston) and my street is encrusted with rabbits. It's definitely a new thing in the last few years. Interestingly, Somerville (and I think all of Boston) had a massive rat problem a few years ago, leading to changes in trash disposal laws. I keep looking for a connection between the reduction of the rat population and the increase of the rabbit population, but since they don't eat the same things, they are probably not related. Unless the rats were eating the rabbits, which would have been entirely possible based on their relative sizes.
posted by pangolin party at 4:56 AM on June 29, 2017
posted by pangolin party at 4:56 AM on June 29, 2017
Add to my list of things I never saw around here as a kid, that occasionaly show up now: moose and bear. Birds in general seem more diverse (except for the pheasants). I think the birds are because DDT was banned. When I was a kid, Silent Spring was new.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:08 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:08 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
As the keeper of a very large vegetable garden, I consider rabbits to be an enemy - a very tasty enemy. Ever tried braised rabbit?
posted by bwvol at 5:49 AM on June 29, 2017
posted by bwvol at 5:49 AM on June 29, 2017
I'm pretty sure it's only in the last few years that we've had rabbits in southern Ontario.
I grew up in Brampton and used to see rabbits in the parkland along Fletcher's Creek more than 30 years ago. Maybe there's been a population explosion since then.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:25 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I grew up in Brampton and used to see rabbits in the parkland along Fletcher's Creek more than 30 years ago. Maybe there's been a population explosion since then.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 6:25 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm out in Melrose, a suburb of Massachusetts. We have hit Peak Bunny. I can't walk down my own front path without accidentally kicking one, because they don't get out of the way.
You may think I am exaggerating, but there are so many bunnies in our yard at this point that some of them are now eyeing more attractive real estate. I came down to breakfast a few weeks ago, and found this little guy making himself cozy. The real question I had for him, as we slid him out the back door, was not how he got in - but how he managed to survive the night in a house with three cats and a Jack Russell.
(Also I saw a bald eagle while out for a walk this spring and I was so astonished and it was so enormous that at first my brain tried to convince me it was some oddly painted drone.)
posted by instead of three wishes at 6:41 AM on June 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
You may think I am exaggerating, but there are so many bunnies in our yard at this point that some of them are now eyeing more attractive real estate. I came down to breakfast a few weeks ago, and found this little guy making himself cozy. The real question I had for him, as we slid him out the back door, was not how he got in - but how he managed to survive the night in a house with three cats and a Jack Russell.
(Also I saw a bald eagle while out for a walk this spring and I was so astonished and it was so enormous that at first my brain tried to convince me it was some oddly painted drone.)
posted by instead of three wishes at 6:41 AM on June 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Leon: I have photos of wild kits standing around outside the fence staring up at this really, really unhappy giant rabbit who can't do anything about them
You cannot simply leave us with that statement and no pics.
posted by maudlin at 7:00 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
You cannot simply leave us with that statement and no pics.
posted by maudlin at 7:00 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
We had a rabbit starting to make a nest in our back yard yesterday - and it spent a better part of the evening snuggled into our clover patch, looking quite content. I'll have to be careful how I mow that part of our (small, fenced) yard. On the other hand, we do have a neighborhood feral (or at least shy outdoor) cat who likes to nap under our lilacs, and she's done a number on the house sparrows, so who knows whether the bunny nest will last!
On my way into work I saw a wee bunny hopping along the road, hiding in a construction spot where the water pipes are being worked on. I stopped and looked at it for a bit. Way smaller than you'd expect it to be to be on its own, but wee bunny was unconcerned and seemed to be quite capable of being out on its own, thank you very much.
posted by caution live frogs at 7:14 AM on June 29, 2017
On my way into work I saw a wee bunny hopping along the road, hiding in a construction spot where the water pipes are being worked on. I stopped and looked at it for a bit. Way smaller than you'd expect it to be to be on its own, but wee bunny was unconcerned and seemed to be quite capable of being out on its own, thank you very much.
posted by caution live frogs at 7:14 AM on June 29, 2017
I'm in Northern Virginia. There are always at least five or six bunnies in our yard, and we saw scores of bunnies during our walk last night, seemingly at least one in every yard. There does seem to be a population boom, which my 9 year old daughter attributes to a decrease in predators. The kids love them; they think they're adorable.
I think they are somewhat terrifying, especially in groups. I came back from an errand one late night and found a group of 10-15 in a nearby yard, their red eyes glowing menacingly from the car headlights. I did not stick around, and hurried into the house.
posted by ElleElle at 7:17 AM on June 29, 2017
I think they are somewhat terrifying, especially in groups. I came back from an errand one late night and found a group of 10-15 in a nearby yard, their red eyes glowing menacingly from the car headlights. I did not stick around, and hurried into the house.
posted by ElleElle at 7:17 AM on June 29, 2017
"(Also I saw a bald eagle while out for a walk this spring and I was so astonished and it was so enormous that at first my brain tried to convince me it was some oddly painted drone.)"
Right??? First time I saw one soaring, I thought it was a small two-seater airplane up high and then I was like HOLY SHIT, IT'S A BALD EAGLE!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:30 AM on June 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Right??? First time I saw one soaring, I thought it was a small two-seater airplane up high and then I was like HOLY SHIT, IT'S A BALD EAGLE!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:30 AM on June 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
On the flipside, if you'd rather not have rabbits in your yard for whatever reason*, you can humanely kill baby bunnies or other adorable little animals like field mice with their little white tum-tums by scooping them into a bucket and gassing them with car exhaust. Takes a couple of seconds of exposure.
*Like, in our case they're gonna get killed soon enough anyway by the dogs and we want to encourage Mama Bunny to go somewhere else before the dogs go after her and maybe she injures them while fighting for her life
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:51 AM on June 29, 2017
*Like, in our case they're gonna get killed soon enough anyway by the dogs and we want to encourage Mama Bunny to go somewhere else before the dogs go after her and maybe she injures them while fighting for her life
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:51 AM on June 29, 2017
you can humanely kill baby bunnies
No, you can't.
posted by bondcliff at 8:06 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
No, you can't.
posted by bondcliff at 8:06 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
If you'd rather, "you can kill baby bunnies more humanely than your dogs will..."
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:19 AM on June 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:19 AM on June 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Shut up. Baby bunnies live forever and nothing bad ever happens to them.
posted by bondcliff at 8:32 AM on June 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 8:32 AM on June 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Well, releasing coyotes into Boston would solve this problem ...
We already have 'em! Every so often, the Arnold Arboretum posts signs warning about the coyotes, although now they're mostly engaged in a sign war with the clueless dog owners who let their canines loose to kill the waterfowl that try to enjoy the pond there and take bites out of the goats the Arboretum brought in to eat weeds (somebody recently spray painted NO H8 on an Arboretum sign asking people, for the love of God, to please leash their pets).
posted by adamg at 9:36 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
We already have 'em! Every so often, the Arnold Arboretum posts signs warning about the coyotes, although now they're mostly engaged in a sign war with the clueless dog owners who let their canines loose to kill the waterfowl that try to enjoy the pond there and take bites out of the goats the Arboretum brought in to eat weeds (somebody recently spray painted NO H8 on an Arboretum sign asking people, for the love of God, to please leash their pets).
posted by adamg at 9:36 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I see your important point and want to note for the record that you are 1000\% correct. See also: ducklings.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:36 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:36 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of my indoor/outdoor cats (I know, I know) has taken a liking to baby bunnies. Three times in the last year he's brought one inside. The first two were alive, and I was able to scoop them up and release them back outside. The last one wasn't so lucky. It seems to be a toy for him, more than prey. He just brings them in and sets them down to watch them frolic, then he wanders off to take a nap on the couch. We've had a few discussions about yes, baby bunnies are hella cute, but it's not nice to take them from their mommas. He hasn't done it in awhile, so maybe he's listening (I know, I know).
posted by jhope71 at 9:38 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jhope71 at 9:38 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Our local bunny seems to have lost its fear of humans.
posted by happyroach at 10:01 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 10:01 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Well, releasing coyotes into Boston would solve this problem ...
LISA: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?posted by Fizz at 11:13 AM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
SKINNER: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
LISA: But aren't the snakes even worse?
SKINNER: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
LISA: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
you can humanely kill baby bunnies
No, I don't think I can.
If you'd rather, "you can kill baby bunnies more humanely than your dogs will..."
They aren't that good at it, the cats on the other hand...
One of my indoor/outdoor cats (I know, I know) has taken a liking to baby bunnies.
Ours like to whip them around and make them scream. Cats are fucked up.
One of my big fears for years has been mowing, especially the fields where I can't really see everything, and that I'm going to run over a nest of bunnies or even a dear. Because I'm pretty sure the minute you chop up baby bunnies with a mower you go straight to hell.
posted by bongo_x at 12:43 PM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
No, I don't think I can.
If you'd rather, "you can kill baby bunnies more humanely than your dogs will..."
They aren't that good at it, the cats on the other hand...
One of my indoor/outdoor cats (I know, I know) has taken a liking to baby bunnies.
Ours like to whip them around and make them scream. Cats are fucked up.
One of my big fears for years has been mowing, especially the fields where I can't really see everything, and that I'm going to run over a nest of bunnies or even a dear. Because I'm pretty sure the minute you chop up baby bunnies with a mower you go straight to hell.
posted by bongo_x at 12:43 PM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised they're that well hidden, and that those dudes just kept reaching in there and manhandling the babies. And didn't get bit.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:04 PM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:04 PM on June 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
We had a nest in our yard and for weeks only let our dogs out on leash. They suddenly died just at the point where one would have thought they were ready to leave the nest. It was a gruesome reminder of the fragility of life. We had really become attached. We have no idea why they so suddenly died. They seemed healthy and we checked on them every day from a distance.
posted by xammerboy at 5:28 AM on June 30, 2017
posted by xammerboy at 5:28 AM on June 30, 2017
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posted by GuyZero at 4:07 PM on June 28, 2017 [4 favorites]