Poor Betty Bunny

I've been telling you about a rabbit that I found living in my yard since last winter. I saw her paw prints in the snow several times. And when the snow melted she came out for me to see her. She would come out right outside my door as if to greet me almost every day. But when I got home today, this above was the scene I found on the lawn.

It was my wild pet. Poor Betty Bunny! NO!!! I found her laying there on the grass, her fur looked matted, and she wasn't moving! She was laying in this strange way, as if there was something that was just not right about her. I was afraid to go over to her because I figured I wasn't going to like what I found.

I'm not really sure why I took these pictures, but I felt compelled to have this all documented in some way. So many thoughts ran through my mind. What happened to her? What do I do now? Should I bury her? Please move, Betty!!! Please be alive!!!

As I got closer to her I saw that her eyes were open. That wasn't proof that she was okay, but I hoped it was something. Then as I stepped even closer something encouraging happened. Betty moved! It was only a little bit, but she has done that before.

You see, she has become very used to my presence, so she doesn't try to run from me anymore unless I walk right up to her. Most of the time she just holds her ground. This time she lifted her head alertly and looked at me! This was a very good sign, but it wasn't over yet.

I still wondered why she was laying like that. I decided to leave her alone. I didn't want to disturb her if she was sick. So I went in the house. Later I looked out the window to check on her, and I discovered that while she was still in the same spot, she had moved to lay on her other side. I was still worried.

Then a little while later I went out to look at her again, and I found her laying in a better position. She was looking better, but she still looked kind of out of it. Then she began looking around as if nothing was wrong. I had seen her laying down before, and sometimes it looked like this. I was beginning to hope that maybe she was just pulling a prank on me, or something.

After some more time I noticed that she was eating grass around her. The fact that she was eating was a very good sign. I also noticed that where she was laying was in the shade. It was a very hot day today, and I was feeling it. That thought made me begin to suspect something. Could it be?

As it got later and later, it began to cool off a bit. I went out to check on Betty another time. She was up!!! Betty looked normal!!! She had also moved from the place where she was laying before. Betty looked like she was just fine. She was alert, and she was moving well. I began to really think that Betty had just been hot before, and that was her way of cooling off.

A rabbit can do things like that right outside my door. There are no predators in the immediate area, and I don't even bother her. She feels very comfortable here. So maybe she just feels safe enough to lounge around like that. Rabbits are very nervous creatures though. They have to be.

So even though she looked okay the last time I saw her, I'm still a bit worried about Betty Bunny. Her behavior didn't seem normal, but she seemed fine later. I'm still hoping that it was just the heat. She was still ready to run from me even when I first found her like that. I hope this is a happy ending to this story. Wish Betty good luck.

Nature Center Magazine - Emma has a new Nature Site Of The Week today. She always features the best, so go take a look to see what she has for you this time.