That doesn't look like a harmless black snake. Poor bunny in deed!

Great pictures, beautiful garden.

Hare today, gone tomorrow.

dcarch

Thanks Mustangs.
I am much more alarmed that there are snakes out there- I know they're there, I just never ever want to see them- than any concern over the bunny!

Oh gosh. I wonder if bunny was lunch. That snake looked more like he would make a meal of a mouse than a rabbit.

I just discovered a sparrow's nest in a plant next to my back door. Why do birds build nests in such dumb places? Poor mama has a conniption every time I go in and out, plus I have a lot of gardening to do out there. I hope she doesn't abandon the nest. I had one in my window box years ago and there were three little babies.

Oh, and your garden is very pretty! I'd be worried about running into snakes, though, but he looks harmless.

Pam, We had a storm last night and I'm thinking that's why we found a fledgling in the yard. I followed instructions on a youtube vid and within hours, the mommy bird rescued the baby.

Very interesting Mustangs. I'll have to remember that.

This tickled me because I saw the same thing a couple years ago but then the next view, a hour or so later, was of my two Russian Blue cats dragging the 5' black snake onto the "place of honor" (my front step), dead of course but with a bulging belly, and waiting to be congratulated by me. I'd like to keep black snakes here because they are such good rodent hunters but the cats don't distinguish between them and the copperhead snakes that I REALLY don't want around. And then again, the blues keep the rodent population down too (witness more "gifts" at the front step just about weekly).
Nancy

Bumble, any sign of the bunny?

I made a nest and nailed high in a tree with the help of a ladder. Here is the video that helped with the fledgling...

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Rescue

Well, my mama bird is sitting on her egg(s?) right now. I'll do my best not to give her too many heart attacks as I go in and out. I hope the whole birthing process and leaving the nest goes smoothly. I don't want to nail a plastic container to a tree, but I will if I have to.

I am very grateful not to have snakes around here!

Too funny, mustangs, have I seen the bunny, I have seen his extended family all over the place!
One comes under the birdfeeder in the backyard.

I wish I had a snake in my yard big enough to eat all the blasted bunnies that live here and eat only the vegetation I plant but nothing that naturally occurs. Arrghhh. I really have learned to dislike bunnies, especially since they have taken such a liking to the little artichoke plants that I've carefully tended for the past couple of months.

I also have a finch next in a bush right next to my back door. Every morning when I take Cooper out to play fetch, mama bird gives us a good what-for but never leaves the nest. I haven't disturbed her by getting close enough to see if there's anything there besides her.

I also don't think that snake looks anywhere near big enough to eat a bunny, I think that bunny is still nibbling away happily on something BB planted, I'm sure it's not eating anything that's not decorative, somehow.

Annie

I also don't think that snake is a bunny eater....more like bird eggs and voles....but he might do away the the babies in a nest!
I stand out in my yard and gently go "Hoo Hoo Hooark ark ark...hooooo" Hoping I am calling the owls I hear a block over.
( and I wonder why the neighbors aren't friendly? LOL!)
We didn't have owls nesting nearby last summer.....and the bunnies got a leg up on the owls.

Boy if it had been my yard, photo number one would be the bunny and photo number two would be devoid of all vegetation!! I'm with Annie, I wish I had snakes! Although it does seem like the bunny was a little large for a snake to eat. I wish I had more hawks too. As a gardener, the only thing I hate worse than bunnies is groundhogs!! Just call me Ms. McGregor!

Posted by dedtired "Oh gosh. I wonder if bunny was lunch. -----------"

Not so soon.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: ???? :-)

I am sure that is very entertaining, but I can't watch that DC! Gives me the willies to even look at snakes.

I'm another Mrs. McGregor, Lpink!
You would think with two terriers I would have less rabbits but no...

Ooo, started to watch the video but couldn't. My biggest garden pest is white tail deer. Fortunately my house is not too close to the woods, so the people at the bottom of my street have to contend with them more than I do. However, when they make their way up here, they can demolish all the hosta, impatiens and hydrangea in one meal.

I used to see a lot of bunnies around but now I rarely do. There are many more fox, however. Do foxes eat rabbits?

I could watch it. The snake tries to nip at the bunny, but the bunny nips it back and chases it down to do it again repeatedly! Cool bunny.

Annie, those fluffers make some mighty tasty meals. You could save on your food bill, oomph up the variety and save your green stuff.

No bunnies here. But the neighborhood has an urban raccoon population. My neighbor directly behind me saw two raccoons living in the large cypress trees that grow between us. He placed a have a heart trap under the trees but has only caught the neighborhood cats. I have never seen any evidence that they were in my yard but until recently I have always had a large dog. He thinks they may have moved on. I hope so. I understand they can be very destructive and invasive.

My friend a few blocks away from me has two that must live in her backyard trees. She is terrified. They are on her patio nightly and are quite fearless. One night she found a raccoon in her bathroom after leaving the back door open for a minute. A guest took this photo a few evenings ago.

Rob, I can't, for a couple of reasons. First, I just can't kill anything, although I've tried my best to b!tch those bunnies to death. Hasn't worked, and neither has siccing Cooper on them. Sigh. I stop to move turtles out of the road, brake for squirrels, and I cry every year when we slaughter cattle. I couldn't shoot the bunnies although I'd have no problem skinning or cleaning them if someone else shot them!

Which won't happen because of problem #2. I have bunnies in my yard here in town. No firearms discharged within city limits, it'll get you a ticket and scare the heck out of the neighbors. I still have Dad's old tomcat living at the farm, he keeps everything out of the garden, from moles to rabbits. Now if I could just teach him to catch pigeons.....

Annie

That's scary with the raccoons! Many are probably rabid.

There is an excellent documentary about the urban raccoons in Toronto, which evidently is overrun with them. I watched it and gained new respect for the critters, as long as they stay away from me. We had one living in our chimney for awhile. Disgusting!

Maybe I will watch the video as long as no animals were harmed in the filming. LOL. I can't kill an animal either. I slammed on the brakes for a chipmunk yesterday. There were no other cars around.

Here is a link that might be useful: Raccoon Nation

OK, I watched it. Cwazy wabbit.

Wildlife in my kitchen eating peanut butter cookies!

I had a pet raccoon when I was in the second grade. My father had shot its mother when raccoon hunting, but he saved the two babies and brought them to my sister and me. Since I had more maternal instincts than DS did, I raised both babies by feeding them milk (or some kind of forumla) in a baby doll's bottle - the kind of doll that you would feed water and it would wet its diapers. Only one of the babies survived, and my mother named him Rodney. Then when there was a pet contest in Temple, she entered me in the contest in the "most unusual" category (even though I did not think a raccoon was an unusual pet), and the Temple paper came and did a story on me because I was the first to enter the contest. My picture was on the first page of the newspaper along with some of my quotes. I did win third place in my category.

Rodney was very smart and could undo latches if we put him in a cage. He was able to break out of his cage outdoors and then make a hole in my screen window, unlatch the window, and break into my bedroom, which is where he thought he should sleep. When my father would come home in the evening, Rodney would jump on him and steal silver coins from his pockets and hide them under my bed. He only liked silver and mostly stole silver dollars, half dollars, and quarters. He was very nimble with his hands.

Lars

Ded, those are beautiful birds. Are they your pets? How long have you had them?
Cool story, Lars but I don't like your father! ( Although he may be a very nice person)

No, they belong to my brother. Both females, they are about four years old. They will outlive him by many years as cockatoos are quite long-lived. Maybe my grandnephews will get them!

They are extremely noisy at times and can destroy just about anything with those beaks. Having birds like that is quite a commitment. My brother is really good with them.

Lars, Rodney sounds much nicer than the raccoon we had as a pet when I was small. Ours was so mean, I was afraid of it and it would bite if you got near it and it was in a bad mood. Other days it was nice as can be. I used to give it pieces of cookie and watch it "wash" them, ours washed everything before he ate it.

He was not a very good pet at all, and I don't even remember what happened to him, only that I was scared to get close without a cookie or another treat because I was bitten too many times.

Annie

I love the rabbits in my yard. They never bother my plants. They eat the plantain and clover in the grass. One really liked fallen rose petals.
I'm always afraid the neighborhood cats will get them.

CC, send them my way. I have tons of clover I'd like to be rid of.

CC, mine never eat anything except the stuff I plant. I just spent a couple of hours fencing off the raised bed that I have artichokes in. Or at least the artichokes I have left. I planted them this morning and within an hour 6 of them were rabbit snacks. Sigh. It seems the only real pests that bother artichokes are aphids and rabbits.

The ones in my yard must be gourmet rabbits because they never eat dandelions or clover, they eat artichokes, fennel and bok choy.

Annie

Annie, I used to have artichokes in my back yard in Venice, but the plants got very huge after a few years, since they are perennial. The larger the plant, the smaller the artichokes they made, but the larger plants of course made many more artichokes. When Bernard left, I got rid of them because they took up too much space, and artichokes are cheap enough to buy anyway. What I did like was being able to keep the stems very long, and I cooked the stems as well. No pest problems for artichokes here, as we do not have rabbits, and I did not notice aphids on them either.

Lars

Thanks, Lars, for the idea of cooking the stems too. Artichokes cannot be overwintered here, they have to be grown as annuals and they have to be started early because our growing season is so short. I know several people who have tried to grow them unsuccessfully, getting only plants but nothing edible, so of course I have to try.

They are pretty expensive here and not readily available, so if I get a bunch I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with them. Freeze them, maybe?

And could I cook the stems in a stew with rabbit? (grin)

Annie

I've never heard of freezing artichokes, but I know you can preserve or can the hearts. I think you could cook the stems in a stew with the offending rabbit.

If you don't get the flowers to eat, you might try cooking some of the tender stems. Old, larger stems will be woody, but they will still have the same flavor.

They are readily available here at farmers' markets because so many people around here grow them, but I think they take up a lot of space.

Lars