This is a true digital animal story.
I read the following posting in the Pet Care Forum on America Online: "Great news to all, effective April 1, 1995, Rabbit Chat will move to Tuesday nights.... Our chat will begin at 9 EST. Hope you can join us there." Heh-heh, I thought in my most cynical, smarty-pants media mode. I can definitely have some fun with these people.
It was even better than I thought. A few folders away, there were "Monkies," "Pot Belly Pig Chat," "Vultures as Pets," and "Ferret Fun." In the Dog Care conference, discussions were well underway about the Shih Tzu "grip thing," (Shih Tzus, apparently, won't let go of things), a poop-eating poodle (not the only one, either, judging by responses), and the ever popular our-dog-has-gas problem, which drew scores of instant replies.
Still chuckling at these endearing but slightly wacked people, I took my two yellow Labradors out to the backyard. At this point, a neighbor came running up to tell me that she and her kids had made a startling discovery - there was a big straw nest in the middle of my garden and some tiny but exposed hairless creatures with big ears were squirming around inside it. My dogs sniffed vaguely but didn't seem unduly interested. "You'd better do something," my neighbor suggested. "It looks to me like they're rabbits and the mother has abandoned the nest." Wait, I yelled, as she wished me luck and left. The dogs went to sleep.
Baby rabbits in my backyard! I'd gotten my kid a rabbit once, and sorely regretted it. Pellets in and pellets out. Bowels with ears, I called them. Should I feed them? Move them? Would they burn in the sun? What about the cats next door? What about my two purebred hunting dogs, who surely would eventually notice a dozen baby rabbits hopping around the yard?
I called the vet's office but she was away. I called the animal shelter but got a recording.
I called the police and got a laugh. I called a friend who told me she'd had baby rabbits in her backyard and they were all eaten by cats and crows. My daughter looked at me pleadingly. What were we going to do?
We all know how this turns out, don't we?
I posted an SOS under "Bunny Rescue" in AOL's Small Mammals and Exotic Pets folder. Within minutes, HRSSeattle messaged to say leave them alone. "I hope you won't mind sacrificing some of your veggies this year," she said. (I didn't.) The babies would move on in four weeks or so. No need to leave food, just keep the dogs confined, she cautioned. (No problem there; they never did notice.) "Don't worry if you don't see the mom. She comes back only once (sometimes twice) a day, usually around dawn, so it's likely you won't see her. If the babies continue to grow and appear to be fat, they'll be fine. Just enjoy watching them grow! Sandi." (Sandi Ackerman is an animal educator for the House Rabbit Society. E-mail Ackerman at hrsseattle@aol.com.)
Well, they were fine after all. And they did grow. We had crises - heavy rains, lurking cats - but I had help. As I write this, the rabbits are plump, have devoured many of my iris shoots, are very close to my Labs (they nap together), and are ready to move on. Rabbit Chat meets in Animal Talk room #2, by the way. Two whole hours.
SCANS
Screen Saver for the Cybersavvy
Rabbit Chat
