Well, there is a rumored bunny boom in our part of Arlington this season. I've suspected as much, based on increased sightings, and a 200% reduction in known bunny homicides in my own backyard vs. 2009.
Community voices are attributing this tropic cascade to a decrease in the fox population Fewer foxes, means more living bunnies. These voices are basing this assumption off of an increase of fox road kill... i am sure a function of better vehicular performance that makes cars accelerate faster than a speeding fox.
I think they are wrong.
The bunny population has BRIAN AND I to thank for their growth and flourish in 2011. After a bloody--- and I do mean bloody 2009, we strategized to avoid a repeat in 2010. In 2009 we witnessed the killing and consumption of two baby rabbits, and a severe spinal injury to the matriarch of the family- mama rabbit. In my mind, she hopped off topsy turvy and recovered without so much as an ounce of PTSD.... but reality that is not.
The perpetrator.... our Kodi.
Nine point five pounds of critter killing instinct unleashed and uncontained. The bunnies never stood a chance. Or the birds... even in flight.... but that's a different post.
We took both offensive and defensive measures in 2010 to barrier the critters from Kodi, closing up holes in the fence, securing gates, and following the terrier tail around filling in any tunnels she would excavate with her teeny tiny-- yet uber-efficient paws that could dig a hole faster than I could with a shovel.
In 2011, with the observation of brazen bunnies chillaxin' on our front lawn like it was Club Med, we upped their level of protection again... this time physically restraining Kodi from getting more than a whiff of their aroma. Using baby gates, harnesses, and a three-part pre-exit bunny warning system before exiting the front door is now standard procedure for leaving our home.
I conclude that we have been successful... but of course, on the other side of that tropic cascade is that more bunnies create the need for more aggressive Kodi restraint strategies for 2012 (joy), and, more intruders to Mr. McGregor's garden!
Article about Bunny Boom:
http://www.arlnow.com/2011/07/20/bunny-boom-in-arlington/
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