Rescue surprise!
>> Tuesday, May 24, 2016 –
rabbits
It seems every year we're rescuing some bird from a gutter downspout. Yesterday as I was putting dinner onto plates I heard that telltale scrabbling again, the sound of tiny claws on sheet metal.
So I grabbed my tools and started disassembling the downspout. This one was right next to the deck so all of it was easy to reach, even without a ladder.
Fully expecting a bird to come flying out as soon as I opened this tubular trap, imagine my surprise to see this:
A little rabbit!
He was completely crammed in there, as this low-quality blowup shows:
My only guess is that it went all the way up the buried drainpipe from the middle of the yard, made the turn upward as there was nowhere else to go, and got stuck.
I'm so glad that I heard it struggling, as this morning's rains would have drowned it for sure.
It took a little effort to coax it out (I had to shake it down), but once out it took off across the garden like, well, a rabbit.
It's sure to repay me by munching on some bamboo shoots or something else important to me at some point, but I'm glad I could help!
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Poor little bunny! Good that you heard and rescued it.
Poor little one! Glad you heard him!
All this week I've been thinking about how one's heart can go out to an individual which, when part of a crowd, we'd think of as a pest - or even dangerous.
Oh that poor little guy!!! So glad you were able to help.
Andrew and I were just talking about bunnies in the landscape last night. He expressed his surprise that you just do not see them here. I mentioned that even growing up in a rural area outside of Spokane we didn't have wild bunnies, and that I'd always assumed it was due to the large numbers of coyotes we had (as well as the occasional bear), he thought that was crazy talk.
You're a hero! What a wonderful story to add to your garden tales.
Sweet little guy. So glad you rescued him! We don't see bunnies very much in our current garden but when we lived in a different part of town, sightings were frequent.
It just boggles my mind that there are places that don't have rabbits. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, as things are different everywhere, but still...
I'm pretty pleased that this was a successful rescue, and a bit sad thinking about what could have been!
You have a heart and I'm glad it was a bunny. We had the same thing happen only it was a squirrel. There was nothing we could do to take the downspout apart. A heavy rain did wash him out and we have now covered the exit with mesh.
I'm glad that you heard him and were able to rescue him. You always have the most interesting animal antics in your garden.
Susie: I believe that this sort of thing goes on everywhere daily, but that I just happen to see more of it for some reason. It's like the time years ago that I happened to be looking out the kitchen window at the exact time that a squirrel fell out of a tree riding a branch down to the ground. Hilarious and unexpected and I can't believe I saw it. :)
Super Gardner to the Rescue! We often get various wild life stuck here and there in our old house. No rabbits but lots of birds, opossums and raccoons. The mothers squeeze in and have their babies but the babies can't get out. We do these rescues and then try and close up the holes. For our downspouts and drains I have used wire grating to close off holes while still letting water thru.
Terrific rescue story. I see an occasional bunny at work, as we are located in semi secluded area with a pond near by. In my own garden I'm happy to find mostly birds and insects :-)