Favorite Things

Front yard in Aiken SC, 21 July 2009, about 6:40 am. A "neighbor" stopped by for breakfast.

Took several photos, some with flash, some without. This one (with flash) seemed the clearest. It apparently has some kind of reflective tissue in its eyes (similar to cats and deer) that reflected the flash. The eye didn't look like that in the non-flash photos. I see this bunny perhaps two mornings per week at about this same time. It's probably here the other mornings too.

Later: During the first 16-17 years at this house, had perhaps 6 sightings of rabbits, in total. Had heard their populations were very depressed (relative to, say, 1960} due to the spread of fire ants into the area. It's said the ants sting baby rabbits to death (rabbits nest in shallow ground burrows). Between around 2008 and 2011 (when this is written) have seen perhaps 100 bunny sightings in the yard -- and nearby yards and the adjacent fairways. There has also been a noticable reduction in the number of fire ant nests, so perhaps the folklore about the ants suppressing rabbit populations has some validity.


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