Puzzle of the Month - August 2008

An innocent soul becomes a flower

My little cottontail baby,

not even 14 days were you allowed on this earth, but already you had touched our hearts. Your eyes were not even fully open when you experienced the cruelty of man. A monster of a child had kicked you like a soccer ball and left you with a crushed pelvis and internal injuries. Still you drank and snuggled in our hands and gave us a glimmer of hope - but then your suffering was over when on the third day you saw the brightness of the Rainbow Bridge.

This is for you:

Don't stand at my grave and cry for me
I am not there.
I am the 1000 winds that blow
I am the sparkling brilliance of the snow.
I am the sun over meadows and fields.
I am the dewdrops in the early morn'.
I am the flower that has just been born.
I am the glittering stars in the moonlit sky
I am free as the birds and my spirit will fly.
When you'll awake in the daybreak's peace
I am the life eclipsing the night.
Don't stand at my grave and grieve for me
I'm not in there – I haven't died.

A Very Bold Baby

Born April 24, this wild youngster is not threatened by us in the least. He (or she) was the subject of one of Andrea's blog entries a little while back and he still prefers to hang around the warrens. Yesterday I spied him in the 'weed bed' and hurried to get the camera. I thought I would have to be quick and hopefully have some luck in getting pictures of him doing cute cottontail things. But as it turned out I had plenty of time. I lost count of the pictures he allowed, and I suspect he enjoyed the star treatment as he POSED throughout the 70 some pictures I got! What was incredible to me was that the camera was on the macro feature which requires that you be very up-close to the subject. These pictures were taken about 12 inches from his nose! He didn't balk once, an extremely rare behavior for a wild bunny. We are lecturing him on safety, and telling him he should not trust humans to be that close. I will resort to thumping my foot if necessary.

Cottie Takeover

In the past few weeks, our bunnies' wild relatives have taken over our play yard.
It seems that, even in the wild, the Patterson yard is known to be a safe and friendly place for bunnies of all sorts. First, there was smart Mama C ...

who knew Jeannie would do everything to keep her little babies safe:

Brad was under strict "orders" not to mow anywhere in the vicinity, and Hogan, the "big white one" so used to free-ranging in the yard was miffed beyond belief that he was limited to enjoying the yard in a play pen.

This was the beginning of the "invasion" - suddenly, there were cute little cotties all over the place, and it is amazing how close they let us get to them. One cottie teenager took to hanging out under the wheelbarrow right by the path leading to the warrens, completely undisturbed by human feet trampling back and forth beside him.

One of the youngsters loves to play hide-and-seek in the tall grass right outside the south warren and has presented us with the most wonderful photo opportunities:

Little cotties, you are so amazing and beautiful! Thanks for being around; it's an honor having you.

Wild Children

Jeannie and I were lucky enough to catch these little cottontails frolicking around the rescue the other night. When we first came outside, four of the cottontails came barreling around the corner, zig-zagging this way and that, playing follow the leader. We didn't have a chance to get our camera out in time to catch the game, but we did manage to capture a little glimpse of their antics. It was sunset, so the video is a little dark. We hope you enjoy watching them...we did!

Cottontail Baby

Um...There's a Rabbit Up My Pants!

Another little wild bunny came to Heartland the other day. She had been handled and fed for a while and therefore has become rather tame, which makes her release more difficult. Her fate is still to be determined..meanwhile...

Jeannie is nursing her little growing body with good formula. She sticks her whole face into the milk so she gets stuff all over her. Watching her clean up after her meal is just a hoot! After a good bath, she always looks for a warm hand to cozy up in.

At one point I was sitting on the floor cross-legged and wouldn't you know, she ran right up my pant leg! We had the camera handy and couldn't resist snapping a few photos for the blog.

Peter Cottontail at Heartland

Six tiny itty-bitty little cottontails, only about 10 days old, arrived Saturday as the newest addition to Heartland; students from OU had spotted them on a meadow dangerously close to the lawn mower.


Their stay will only be temporary; once they´ve grown, they have to be released into the wild again. In the meantime, they are being fed with a special formula, and while some of the little ones are drinking quite readily...

others are stubbornly resisting, going so far as to hide their faces ...

... poor little things, such unfamiliar surroundings, the sounds, the smells, and the milk just doesn´t taste at all like mommy´s, does it? It is no easy task to raise wild bunnies, but we hope for the best. They are in the best hands with Jeannie as this isn´t the first time she has to raise baby cottontails. It is a joy to see them grow and thrive, but on the other hand it is always heartbreaking to find a safe spot to release them and to watch them hop away into an insecure future.