Another litter of bunnies on the way... they're here!

Stubbornhillfarm

Attractive To Bees
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
924
Reaction score
8
Points
74
Location
Shapleigh, Maine
Very cute! Interesting to me to see how one of the pink ones has the brown patches, and clearly will look like momma. I can't tell on the other one, but they are super cute!
 

ducks4you

Garden Master
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
11,769
Reaction score
15,578
Points
417
Location
East Central IL, Was Zone 6, Now...maybe Zone 5
D'awww!! We had a couple of rabbit litters when I was a kid and my parents inadvertantly bought me a pair of New Zealand whites!
All rabbits will move around their litter. When does get ready to birth they strip their belly of their fur, specifically to expose the nipples so the babies are sucking fur, as you can see in the pics. THAT's the sign you look for. :D
 

wsmoak

Deeply Rooted
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
547
Reaction score
23
Points
151
Location
A little north of Columbus, GA
I was away visiting my parents and came home to adorably cute week old bunnies!


120403_6418 by wsmoak, on Flickr

Unfortunately, when I checked on them later this afternoon I found THIS in the nest box:


120403_6420 by wsmoak, on Flickr

It's just a rat snake, though it was "rattling" its tail at me. In the straw and cardboard the sound was enough to make me look twice!

Unfortunately it ate two of the little ones. :( :::sigh::: With the mild winter and early spring, all the creatures are out already.

The other four are spending the night inside and tomorrow I'll work on reinforcing that cage and/or building another out of smaller wire. The door swings in and is only latched at one point, so Mr. Snake would have had no trouble getting in.

So, that was our excitement for the day.

-Wendy
 

Stubbornhillfarm

Attractive To Bees
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
924
Reaction score
8
Points
74
Location
Shapleigh, Maine
Gotta say, being that I am from up north and don't see that kind of thing around here. I would have Freaked Out! I can't even imagine....

I am glad that you got there in time to save most of the babies though. They certainly are cute!
 

Southern Gardener

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Nov 22, 2007
Messages
1,558
Reaction score
8
Points
142
Location
NW Louisiana Zone 8a
OMG!!! :ep :hit I would have been so freaked out! I hope you killed it. I've killed 3 already this spring - not very big - but they are DEAD! I hate snakes. :hide
 

lesa

Garden Master
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
6,645
Reaction score
570
Points
337
Location
ZONE 4 UPSTATE NY
Wow!! I was not expecting that! I don't mind discovering a snake in the grass- but I think I would have screamed if I saw that one! Poor buns....
 

The Mama Chicken

Attractive To Bees
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
650
Reaction score
1
Points
64
Location
Central Tx, Zone 8a
Dare I say it? What a pretty snake. :hide I wouldn't want to find one in my rabbit cages, but I would never kill a snake that I was sure wasn't venomous. They are really important in the environment, plus I would rather have ratsnakes on the property than rats (or mice, or gophers, or other nasty vermin that want to eat my plants!) When we do find a small rattler I have my husband chop the head off and then throw the body into the chicken run.
 

wsmoak

Deeply Rooted
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
547
Reaction score
23
Points
151
Location
A little north of Columbus, GA
lesa said:
Wow!! I was not expecting that! I don't mind discovering a snake in the grass- but I think I would have screamed if I saw that one! Poor buns....
Oh, I did. I went out and saw that some of the babies were out of the nest box, then looked *in* the nest box, and AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I made a pouch out of my shirt tail, scooped up the babies and stuffed them in a cat carrier, then went back for mom. (At that point Mr. Snake was rattling his tail at me so I peered more closely at him to make sure it really *was* a rat snake. But the "bad snakes" generally don't climb, and a rattlesnake THAT big would be very obvious.)

TMC, they are pretty. We had an enormous one the first year we moved in: http://www.pbase.com/wendysmoak/image/124309511 (That one cleaned out a nest of baby bluebirds. :( )

-Wendy
 

Chickie'sMomaInNH

Garden Master
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Messages
3,427
Reaction score
1,172
Points
313
Location
Seacoast NH zone 5
Stubbornhillfarm said:
Gotta say, being that I am from up north and don't see that kind of thing around here. I would have Freaked Out! I can't even imagine....

I am glad that you got there in time to save most of the babies though. They certainly are cute!
oooh boy! do we have snakes up here in New England! we actually have a variety or eastern rattler but we don't see it often since it tries to keep away from people. Rattle Snake Island in the Winnipesaukee was named after them. mostly we see garter snakes here and a small tan colored snake i don't see often nor have i heard of a name for them.

sorry to hear about the 2 buns Wendy. :hugs keep moma and her remaining babies safe and warm!
 

Latest posts

Top