The kids played with the 9/7 Harlequin cross babies this morning before school, and one of them forgot to latch the cage when they were done. When I went out to take photos of the new babies, I couldn't figure out why the dog was whining and trying to get to the edge of the garage. I thought maybe there was a stray cat or a squirrel so I went about my business. Upon checking cages to make sure everyone had food and water, I came upon Dora's cage, only to discover the door unlatched, and just Dora and her doe baby inside. Where were the two boys? In a panic, I locked the cage up and started searching, without any luck. There are a lot of stray cats in the area and they're known to kill bunnies, squirrels and birds and leave the remnants in the yard. This is why we keep our cages not only latched, but 2-feet or more up off the ground now as well. When my husband returned from dropping kids off at school and picking up the last of the lumber (for the roof we're building over the bunnies) he started searching the yard too.
As I started to open one of the nest boxes to photograph new babies, motion caught my attention and I turned around to see little #3 hopping around the old dog house. He was fairly easy to catch (though he thought it would be fun to play hide and seek inside the dog house first). Once he was safely back with his mom and sister, I went ahead and took photos of the new babies.
As I started to open one of the nest boxes to photograph new babies, motion caught my attention and I turned around to see little #3 hopping around the old dog house. He was fairly easy to catch (though he thought it would be fun to play hide and seek inside the dog house first). Once he was safely back with his mom and sister, I went ahead and took photos of the new babies.
I then decided to go ahead and change the hay out in the boxes in the other cages. Then my husband called from the other side of the garage - he found the lost bunny (#1)! We spent the next 10 minutes trying to re-capture him. He'd come almost to one of us, then stop and turn and run away, kicking his heels up with glee. He thought it was pretty fun to get to run around. When we finally captured him (having followed him all the way around the garage), he was content to snuggle with mom and brother. They're still snuggled up with mom now. I think they're exhausted after their fun exploration romp, and mom is definitely happy to have them back!