Rabbit Chasing

Since Jack has been gone, Zoey has taken to rabbit hunting. She actually caught two around Easter. One was the day before Easter and the second rabbit was the Thursday following. The favorite hiding place is under the gazebo. Jack and Zoey cornered a couple rabbits when Jack was still around. Why a rabbit would want to continually come in our yard is beyond me. Maybe it is the thrill and adventure.

Zoey seems to know when a rabbit is present. She will cock her ears, circle the gazebo, try to get under the gazebo, back up to view 3 sides of the gazebo and start the dance all over again until the rabbit gets tired of waiting it out. The rabbit will then get the thrill of being chased and normally not being caught, since it has the head start on Zoey. The two she caught did not have a head start.

We encourage her behavior just because it is amusing. The dog is dumb and has no clue though that when we say, "Look, go get the rabbit," in a real excited voice. She gets real excited and just stares at us like we have the game in our hands. Jack knew what we meant and he would be on top of it. He, however, was never successful. He didn't have the speed and flexibility that Zoey possesses.

I will let you know though that i do have compassion for baby bunnies. We now have baby bunnies in the yard. I saw one as I was washing dishes. Aaron and I did not try to send the dog. We figured the bunny should be an adult to enjoy such an adventure. BTW, there are no shortages of rabbits in our area. I spot at least one on every walk and every time I am outside or looking outside it seems. In Bloomington, I never had to put up any fencing around gardens or anything. Here, they eat the tops off of my tulips and a few other flowers and all the neighbors without a doubt have to put up fencing around their gardens. It was one of the first things I learned when I was gardening at this house. Anyway, enjoy the pictures.