While mowing the lawn this afternoon, I saw some furry thing go rolling across the front porch, then get its legs underneath itself and go running towards the house. It took me a moment to realize that it was small rabbit, definitely younger, that was running towards a small amount of shelter under the window of the front of our house. I moved towards it to get a better look, figuring it was scared from the lawn mower, when I saw another small rabbit doing the same thing about four feet away. I took a picture of the sight, send it via text to the entire Boss family, and went back to mowing. No sooner had I started mowing, then two other small rabbits came running out from under the mower. Unbeknownst to me, I had mowed over their burrow. While one of the second two rabbits escaped to somewhere I could not find them, the other stood frozen with its ears drawn all the way back so they were touching each other behind its head where it remained for several minutes. I felt really bad about the situation and I still do – the two rabbits that I saw first are huddled against one another in the corner a full three hours after this happened. I feel like a complete asshole.
I mentioned in RST 48 that Ms. Boss purchase squirrel-proof bird feeders for my birthday. I must now revise that remark. A couple of months after I posted that, a particularly clever squirrel managed to find a way to climb the shepherd’s hook, hold on with his back legs, and get seeds from the feeder. Not satisfied with that, he graduated to hanging of the feeder with his back legs, then basically doing a sit up to grab seeds out of the feeder. Impressed, we began to start calling him Tom Cruise (as an aside, he must have killer abs). Soon enough he brought ‘assistants’ who worked towards maximum ‘seed haul”. I bought a hummingbird feeder to attract a hummingbird I’ve seen flying around the area, they knocked that over and started drinking out of that. This week, however, was the final straw. Not one, but two of my bird feeders have gone missing. We’ve not had storms this week, that isn’t the answer. I’m blaming Tom Cruise and company. Ms. Boss, who shares my disdain for squirrels, decided to take matters in her own hands. She covered the two shepherds hooks with spray olive oil. As we speak, I see them out there scheming to get up the pole. They’ve made several aborted attempts and made one nearly successful jump from a nearby tree. The battle is not yet over.
Haiku 47 talks about a mother cardinal who decided to make a nest in a small real Christmas tree on our front porch right outside the window. We waited for the two eggs to hatch – rejoicing when the one egg hatched and lamenting when she shoved the egg that didn’t hatch out of the nest. Over and over, we watched mother and father taking their turns feeding the young, gaping mouth. Ms. Boss just happened to be watching out the window as baby took their first flight and captured a video of their second. She, and by extension we, were fortunate, because we never knowingly saw baby again. We wish them well.
Shortly after baby cardinal’s departure, we returned home find an old, torn soccer ball moving oddly, almost like a jumping bean. Soon enough, a birds head – probably a sparrow – comes poking out of a hole in the side. They no sooner make it out, then another head appears. Their departure from this strangest of nests was followed by a third. Just when I thought it was over, the ball keeps moving – a fourth bird that could not get out. While I know these things generally work themselves out, I couldn’t help but change the shape of the hole slightly to ease their exit. We spent the next hour watching the new family try and try their new wings in an effort to get over our privacy fence with mama bird standing watch nearby. Eventually all four made it over, never to be seen again.
I’m back at work five days a week now. While in some ways it feels good occupationally to return to work, I miss so many things about being home. Ms. Boss, obviously, tops the list, but I miss my back yard ‘coworkers’ as well. Birds, deer, chipmunks, rabbits, foxes… and, yes… even Tom Cruise – I miss them all. It was good to catch up with all of them today.