The Rabbit in the Garden

I've known he was around for over a year but never till now did I know just how much. He is so elusive even the dogs can't catch him but I think the little guy's legs are longer than theirs.

One afternoon, sitting on the deck relaxing in the sun, I felt him watching me. I turned to see him sitting eight to ten feet from me, eating and keeping me at a safe distance. I ran for my camera thinking he would be gone before I got back so sketching would be hard at that point. I got this shot and soon realised he had been posing for longer than I knew.

Now, he has become a somewhat permanent fixture but oh how I wish he'd stop eating the garden. Taylor cried when he heard that the vegetables he and Poppy had planted as seeds, watched weekly as they grew into sprouts, were now grass roots. I even wanted to cry. We had pampered those seedlings for over a month.

We even fenced in the garden with chicken wire and I was convinced this would keep him out. It did, but the next day I saw him in the garden and I thought, "I'll step in here slowly and just see where he slips out," as he gets out through the wooden fenced side. It's amazing how skinny that darned fat rabbit made himself, so I need more chicken wire.

I keep thinking if I just plant more he will only be able to eat so much...but. He's proving me wrong and I'm getting frustrated. The only solution is to now run chicken wire down the wooden fence and cross my fingers.

We have accepted the loss of our baby cabbage, broccoli and strawberries. More seeds of a different kind are in the kitchen nursery now. We still enjoy the excitement of watching them grow be we do it with a different sense of anticipation now.