mondhasen

I was telling my son on Monday that all the fireflies disappeared a couple of weeks back after a hellacious rain. I mean totally gone, not one could be seen anywhere on the property. I've never noticed this before, that they'd go before the end of August, so it worried me that maybe there was spraying going on for the ongoing moth invasion, but the moths were still abundant (f'ing moths, literally, hundreds of females on the trees being attended to by hundreds of males...).

So last night I go out the basement door with The Huntress and spook a bunny in the process: the rabbit and I are more surprised than she as pup tears out through the door in pursuit. Of course the rabbit gets clear. But hey, I see a firefly blink... and another, and damned if the whole backyard isn't filling up with their little lights :D Fortuitous?

I also heard a deer chuffing away in the backyard yesterday. We've had a beautiful young buck hanging around and I wonder if it wasn't him.

And rabbits... out front as well as the one in the back. It's probably the same rabbit circling about, but it could also be two separate bunnies. The one out back may have a nest started.

Finally, a most unusual addition to my backyard flora




(click to see full sizes)

It's a Canada Lily, or Meadow Lily: there are three but only one has a bloom. We've never had these before, or I've just never noticed them in the last 50 or so years there... Apparently White-tailed deer love eating these, so this one within the dog's fenced yard should be safe...

In spring and fall, rabbits use a grass or weed shelter called a "form." The form is a nestlike cavity on the surface of the ground, usually made in dense cover. It gives the rabbit some protection from weather, but is largely used for concealment.*

Veterans Day was rainy and dreary here. As I walked with The Huntress out back I wondered where the deer and bunnies were hunkering down in the wet chill. Musing, I surveyed the brush and I realized there could be animals looking back and I probably couldn't see them with their protective coloration and natural shrewdness... And there I saw a lone rabbit watching me!

This critter was near to the dog's fence, about ten feet from the dog! The Huntress sensed it (that actually gave me the clue to look carefully into the woods) but she didn't see what I did. I watched the bunny for a bit, its fur all damp as it hunched in its form, and decided I shouldn't bother it or I might frighten it off. This was the first time I've ever seen a rabbit in its form, other than the babies the dog dug out.

I've returned to the spot several times over the past couple of days and the rabbit is still 'at home.' Being crepuscular she probably leaves around dusk, but I see her back later in the morning.

I've wanted to get her picture and I finally got a shot of her today! I also included a shot of my auto-focus nightmare due to all the branches.








*The best 'form' description I could find in a hurry: from http://icwdm.org/handbook/mammals/CottontailRabbits.asp