Another Nibbles Update from our good friend, Drop Bear!
An almost new bunny tale? I held off posting this, because I was hoping for more action, but, this is all I have for now. So, the next day, after my previous encounter with my old bunny, Nibbles, in the front of the cave, I saw a larger cottontail sitting in the back yard in the early morning. Taking that as a good sign, I went out to my "sunset patio" that evening to have my green tea and watch the colors. Oftentimes, that is when the cottontails come out of hiding to feed.
A picture is needed, because placement is everything for this tail/tale. The little brick patio, between the two big maples, is my "sunset patio"...because I'm generally facing West, to see the sunset? Duh! Behind the patio is the chain-link fence, separating the uphill neighbor's stuff from mine. Wildflowers are in a border area on my side of the fence (good bunny buffet).
Back where you see her red tool shed is the Thing Corner -- named so, because I never see the guy who lives in that house behind the shed. Just like in the Adams Family, this arm (Thing) opens the back door, their two dogs come out to pee & poop and then the arm opens the door again. With a slam, dogs and arm vanish. In that Thing Corner is also a larger triangular area for wildflowers, which happens to be next to Nibbles' secret bunny tunnel in the fence -- leading into Thing's yard, because fresh dog poo means more green growing things all year round!
Anyway, as I'm slumped in my chair, watching the changing sky colors, I heard a noise slightly behind me and to the side. Figured it was just another damn squirrel digging up the mulch at the tree base. Turned my head to the left to bark at it, but the squirrel was actually a small cottontail bunny! He was really, really trying to rip a clump of weeds out of my mulch (somebody has to do that weeding) and it was noisy! Turned my furry head farther and the little bunny seemed to notice me and silently yelled, "BEAR!!", before disappearing around the tree.
As soon as I refocused on the sunset, I could hear the noise again... and there (out of the corner of my eye) was the bunny -- even closer to my furry rear paw. He was again savaging that same clump of weeds. Now, I'm talking gently to him, so he doesn't seem to mind me noticing him -- until I turned a little more. ZO-O-O-O-M!! He's back around the tree, but this time, the bunny is playing Peek-A-Boo. We continue this game for over half an hour and each time, he's getting less worried about what a dumb old bear is doing in the chair. I even dangled my left arm off the side of the chair. My paw was only a couple inches away and I hoped the little bunny might get curious enough to nuzzle it? Never happened.
Meanwhile, I was trying to come up with a good name for my new bunny friend. Originally, it was "Detective Munch", because he was skinny with a thin face -- like the actor -- and he was dedicated to his cause. But, that didn't have a good bunny feel to it. Next choice was "Ripper" for the way he was trying to rip the weeds out of the mulch. Totally unlike Nibbles, who is a very dainty eater. In the harshest parts of Winter, I go out and cut down some small branches and defrost them in the garage, because all the other food stuffs are under the frozen snow. But, my Nibbles wouldn't/couldn't chomp on the branches, so I first have to cut them into lady-like, bite-sized twigs and pile those up for her! Spoiled bunny?
Anyway, "Ripper" sounded too mean for a cute little bunny, so I changed it to "Rip". That way, if "he" turns out to be a mommy (like Nibbles eventually did), I can change her name to "Ripley" without much fuss! Now, I just need my new bunny to return. NO luck the past three nights -- even though I've been watering the weeds to keep them fresh in the drought. Still hoping...