Brer Bunn

The wildlife around here is getting too doggone cheeky. This morning I was weeding in the Rock Garden, pulling weeds with my right hand and collecting them in my left. I was humming along, alone in my own little dream world, not paying attention to anything, listening to the birds, swatting deerflies and so on, when I felt a little tug on my left hand. At first it didn't really register, but I did feel it. A minute later I felt it again. This time I looked down, and there was a brown bunny pulling at one of the weeds in my hand!

I think it was the same long-eared lo-lopper I have been seeing in the mornings. When I sit at my computer, my window view is of the Hillside Garden with the path coming down off the hill. Several times lately I have seen a brown bunny come hopping down the path. He's no doubt headed for my Herb Garden, going to see what new things I've arranged for his dining pleasure. My basil and parsley are practically endangered plants this year. I planted a dozen baby basils and have 3 left, and they have teeth marks on them. The parsley is getting nibbled too. He's a distinctive kind of a guy, with a blackish look all along his back, shading to a quite black little tail. In colour, he's a lot like a German Shepherd dog. These critters are actually hares, called Snowshoe Hare or Varying Hare. I think that's a great pun, given that it is their hair that varies.

I was startled and said 'Hey!' loudly. He  twitched those long ears of his and then bounded off into the woods.

If he likes these weeds so much, why doesn't he pull them?