Wild Cottontail Bunnies

 May 2019

One evening in May while we were all upstairs ready for bed I noticed Sophie was looking out the window. She was in full attention mode chattering and letting out a faint cry. She then jumped off the windowsill and ran downstairs. I followed her downstairs but wasn't able to see anything. 

The following night she did the same thing. Then a few days later we saw what all the excitement was about, a wild bunny!

The bunny had also caught Lila's attention. 

As the days passed by we noticed the bunny would drop by the evening. I would find her perched on top of the babies barrel. We had no idea how long she had been coming by so one day I decided to check the barrel. 

And I discovered baby bunnies. This was the second time that our backyard has been used as a nursery for wild bunnies. Look how cute they are!!

It seemed that momma bunny used her own fur to provide insulation. She dug the hole a good ways down and it tunneled to the other side of the tall plant. I think it's so amazing how God weaves knowledge into the animals brains so they know what it takes to survive. Amazing!

As the days went by and as I just kept my eye on the bunnies, one day I happened to see all 6 bunnies out of the hole. 

There were several times when I would only see these three together. I could see the other three still inside the hole. 

I did a bit of research and found out that wild bunnies tend to be on their own about five weeks after they're born. That's just crazy because they are still so little. 

One evening while I was watching television upstairs in my room I heard a loud thud downstairs. I went to check it out and Sophie had pounced on the window and had moved the blinds. I peeked outside and saw a black cat walking along our fence. I went back upstairs and then I heard a squeaking sound. I realized the cat was after the baby bunnies. 

The next morning I checked up on the bunnies and found only 5 baby bunnies. During the day they had jumped off the barrel and were scattered all around our backyard. I didn't want to interfere in case the mom came back for them. As it got dark we again heard another squeak. I felt so bad for them and decided that I should find them and bring them inside the house. I had Riley help me gather them up and as we tried to grab them one of them crawled under the fence and onto the neighbors yard. 

Two baby bunnies were killed by the black cat, one escaped and hopefully it survived and we did catch the remaining three. I felt bad because I didn't want the ones we rescued to die. I called the animal shelter and they don't take wild bunnies since they are native to WA and told us to just release them. 

I  placed an old towel inside the box and placed the three bunnies in there. The next morning we went to a feed store and bought Timothy hay but they didn't care for it so I did more research. Besides small pieces of carrots and cucumber skin I realized that they preferred cilantro. They would eat all the cilantro but they didn't care for the carrots. 

When they weren't eating they would huddle together in a corner and keep each other warm. 

One of the bunnies also liked to sit in the little water bowl I placed in the box. Thought that was cute. By this time the bunnies were about six/seven weeks old. We couldn't keep them because we have two cats plus I didn't want to keep them in a cage because I think that's mean given these are wild bunnies. And I didn't want to release them in our backyard because of the black cat that would still come by looking for them. So, we decided to release them in a large field that's covered with overgrown blackberry bushes and tall grass that's a few blocks from our house. 

We felt good about releasing them in that field. My husband had seen several other bunnies in that area so we knew that they would have a higher chance of survival there. 

I just can't take how cute they are. 

All the ugliness of the world can be best forgotten in the beauty of nature!

Summer 2018 Road Trip - Day 1

June 29, 18
I just love road trips and I especially love heading down Hwy 101 into the 1 ... overlooking the Pacific.
We do visit the Northern Oregon coast often, it is truly my favorite!!! I am aware that because of this fact I tend to make posts about these adventures. Can't help but to want to bring you along to the places that are dear to my heart.

Can't go on a road trip without spotting semis carrying logs. When we head over to the Oregon coast we usually take the Longview way into Oregon. There's a big logging company right on the border and sometimes it smells funky in that town. Kinda makes me nauseous so I have to breathe through my mouth until we drive across the bridge.

We are always on the lookout for wildlife. It's quite fun, it helps with staying alert cause it's always fun being the first one to spot an animal. Once we reached Astoria we came across three deer making their way down an alley.

We stopped at Seaside and rented fun cycles. It was our fist time using one so it was a little bit of a struggle at first. We had to make sure we were on super hard sand or else you'll go nowhere if you try to pedal on semi hard sand. Once we were on hard sand it was easy to get going. Pedaling and maneuvering it is easy and you'll glide smoothly. I was ahead of the boys and it was easy to leave them behind so I had to turn back around. Riley was loving it. He was trying to race his dad. Riley always makes his dad laugh with all the silly faces he makes when he concentrates.

There were dead dungeness crabs along the water. I wonder how it happened. Do they swim out of the ocean and get eaten or do seagulls fish them out of the water and eat them??? Hm.

We didn't stop at Cannon Beach during this trip given we had just been there twice in the past few months.
I am so thankful for Jacob driving because that gives me the opportunity to take pictures and document our trip.

But when we come across a pullout with breathtaking views then we pull over so Jacob can experience it too. Like this right here! Gorgeous!!!! This pullout spot is called Tolovana Park.

Stopping at Tillamook Cheese Factory is a MUST!!! So we make sure to time things right. They close at 6 pm during the week and 8 pm on the weekend.

Cheese Factory ... pretty cool!

Jacob sampling cheese. I'll pass, not really a fan of cheese unless it's mozzarella or nacho cheese.

It's so difficult to choose what flavor ice cream to get since there's so many good ones.

Once we were done with our ice cream we then walked over to the retail shop. I tend to get myself a canvas tote as a souvenir whenever we visit some place fun. Or if they happen to have really nice cups then I'll get one of those too.

After Tillamook we drove to Cape Lookout State Park. This was our very first time here. They have cabins and yurts for rent, RV and tent camping.

As soon as we got to the beach I immediately felt the humidity. My hair was beginning to get frizzy and puffy.

I really liked this place. The vibe was comfortable, there's a lot of trees at the camp sites that provide ample shade, it smelled piney ... and the beach was secluded with pretty views ... low clouds had descended upon the hills giving it an eerie look, straight out of a suspenseful thriller. Sort of reminded me of the movie The Fog (the remake).

We came across this huge opening. If I remember correctly it wasn't a cave and it wasn't really that deep in. I was a little nervous because the earth could topple down at any moment so I told them to step away from there.

What I like about traveling on Hwy 101 during the summer months are all the pretty wildflowers growing along the road. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of any wildflowers on this trip. It's such a pretty sight though.

We stopped in Lincoln City for dinner. Lincoln City is the last place where you can get food or stop at a grocery store before stopping for the night at the Salishan resort in Gleneden Beach.

It felt good to stop for the night and relax. Although I always bring a few books with me I can't seem to get a good amount of reading done. By the time we stop at a hotel I'm tired and just want to shower and go to sleep.
Riley gets homesick fast, by nighttime on our first day of our trip he'll say that his belly hurts or that he wants to go home. This kid doesn't like the in-between stuff one goes through on road trips. All he wants is to get from point A to point B in like ten minutes, lol. I tell him that he needs to learn to enjoy the journey. That's my favorite part of road trips. And it doesn't matter how many things we pack for him to keep him from getting bored, he just doesn't care for them. So I tell him to admire nature and behave himself.

I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth.