The Running Rabbit

There is a place on the hiking trail where I don't ever expect to see any animals. I don't know why, because I've seen birds here plenty of times before. I've also seen a few interesting bugs. I guess it's mammals that I'm thinking of then when I think I won't see any animals.

This place is at the front of the park, right at the entrance to the forest. There are big turns on the trail that hide the parking lot behind a good sized group of trees, and the little area forms a small meadow there. When I think about it, it's really a great place for smaller animals to hide.

But I was still very surprised when I had just emerged from the forest on my way out of the park. If you haven't guessed what happened yet, I guess I'm just going to have to tell you. I walked around the first bend of that twisty turny(that's right, I said twisty turny!) trail, and I came right up behind a little brown rabbit resting on the trail.

I was as quick with my camera as I could be. I really wasn't prepared to see anything, so the camera was only ready to get pictures of scenery. I had to take the time to zoom it in to get a decent shot of this little rabbit. By the time I was ready, which was only a matter of seconds, the rabbit was already running.

I was lucky enough to get three shots of the little rabbit before it disappeared into the grass on the right of the path. All three pictures came out good, which is very unusual when I have to rush like I did. I wanted to get some closeups of the rabbit, but I guess it wasn't meant to be this time. These three action shots may be better anyway.

This was the first time in a year that I saw a rabbit on a hiking trail. I've seen plenty of them, and I even have some closer and more detailed pictures of one, but never on the trails. In fact, this is only the second one I've ever seen right on the trail. The other one was because of the magic of my little friend Alice, but it seems I've been developing my own magic now.

There goes the rabbit, racing around the track! That was one of the exciting things of the day for me. I love the adrenaline rush of trying to keep up with a fleeing animal. A hunter has this same rush, but my animals are left unharmed. I have the advantage of being able to stalk these animals again and again.

This little rabbit is the last mammal I've seen so far, until my next adventure, of course. I wonder what I'll see next. Will it be as fun as this was? Will I put myself in danger, like I have on a few other occasions? Will I find a sad scene of a hurt or dying animal? Or will I find a happy family of a mother and her babies? Read and find out!