September 4, 2008

Life is tough in the country

Not a good day today. This morning Emma found a newborn bunny, maybe a day old, still blind and helpless. It looked like it might have been flushed from its burrow in the storm last night. It was not harmed, so I put it under the tack room, where the animals go in and out. I know that bunny moms live under the tack room, and perhaps one of them will take pity on him/her.

Then when I checked on the towhee chicks in the garden, they were gone. The one remaining egg was still there, but no sign of the birds and nothing underneath the nest. Were they flushed away? The parent(s) are still hanging around.

Just a few minutes ago, as I was here at the desk, a coyote came and snatched one of the hens (Rhode Island Red)! I went after him but he was too fast of course, and then his buddy came cruising by for his dinner. The other hens stood in stunned silence at their yard and went in willingly. Yikes! Now, what a dilemma! The hens love being out, it is good for them to be real, scratching, bug-hunting chickens, but if they all get picked off by the coyotes..... Dan says to keep them locked up. I haven't made up my mind yet. Sad day.

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