A close call

So last night after work I was out in the chicken yard doing some maintenance.  One of those things was watering the sod we placed in the area as well as the four small palms we have around the chicken “playground”.  They were looking water stressed so I soaked them all pretty well.

I then dumped and refilled the two water containers we have behind the coop.  As I was bringing them back in I heard a strange squeaking noise.  I saw Kristen and Peaches sort of squatted down and still.  My first thought was one of the chickens were making this noise, something I never heard them do before.

I then saw movement on the ground a few inches in front of the chickens.  I realize it is some sort of baby animal.  I swooped in and scared back the chickens as I am pretty sure they were getting ready to kill it, chickens will kill small animals.  We have seen them kill frogs and even a small mouse.  The last thing I wanted was a front row seat to another murder.

First I looked to make sure the baby wasn’t injured.  I was worried the birds had already started pecking at it.  It seemed ok.  My first idea was it was a baby mouse but after closer inspection I realized it was a baby rabbit. Great….  So I had no idea what I was going to do but I scooped the baby up and held it inside my t-shirt, like a kangaroo pouch.  I figured my body heat would be good for it.  I carried the baby inside with me and kept it tucked inside my shirt as I got on the computer to look for information.

What I found was rabbits don’t spend a lot of time with their young.  They dig small holes often in plain site and leave their babies in there most of the day.  The mother typically only returns at night to feed them.  I was still confused how the baby rabbit would be in the middle of the chicken area but I figured the nest HAD to be nearby.  I put some towels in a box and carefully placed the bunny in there while I went back outside to try to find the nest.

  So it didn’t take long for me to spot a small hole dug out a few inches from one of the palm trees.  I realized what had happened.  When I was soaking the trees I inadvertently flooded out the nest.  The baby probably either floated or swam out to avoid drowning.  I of course felt terrible that I caused this chain of events that could have potentially killed the rabbit.  When I got on my knees and looked into the hole I saw ANOTHER baby in there.  I was glad when I saw it moving around.

So I had a problem.  I planned to put the baby back in the hole but I was worried that as time goes on they are going to draw more attention from the chickens which could be dangerous.  I went and grabbed a leftover piece of composite lumber and screwed it to the wood that the hole was dug under.  This left enough space for the mother rabbit to get in while hopefully keeping the chickens out.  Of course the best option would be for the nest to be moved but that is something we couldn’t do.

I didn’t place the baby rabbit back until Cindy got home so she could see it.  It was very cute as it would interrupt sleeping with brief periods of stretching and moving around.  When Cindy placed the baby back with it’s sibling they both seemed excited.  For a brief period of time they were crawling out of the nest which was not good.  I hung around standing guard until both babies returned to the bottom of the hole.

During the entire ordeal I tried to minimize my contact with the baby, only picking it up with my bare hands briefly to scoop it out of the chickens reach.  No other skin contact occurred so hopefully the mom doesn’t freak out.  I can only hope the rabbits manage to mature safely in their hostile home.  We’ll be checking on them.  This is just another chapter of my long history of animal interventions.  I’m crossing my fingers it has a happy ending.