Bunny The Huntress

You may remember that Bunny is a curious young greyhound who is still exploring a lot of the world around her. This spring, she met her first nemesis, the rascally rabbit in our backyard, who whispered to all his buddies to taunt her all over town. Bunny has since discovered that she can stalk other things besides the rabbits, who seem to have calmed down some now that spring fever is coming to a close. A few days ago, she met a new object of desire and has been giving her best effort to hunting them ever since.

She actually came very close this time. I took the dogs out to the turn out pens and it was just starting to rain. I put Bunny and Blueberry in the pen together and then to my surprise and horror, Bunny dashed in and grabbed a young robin who was sitting on the ground inside the pen. I yelled at her to drop it, but she had already picked it up. It flew out of her mouth doing some crazy robin acrobatic moves and dropped to the ground. All of Bunny's hunting instincts kicked in at that moment and she ran to scoop it up in her mouth again. I rushed Hawk and Lilac into the other pen, and the pair sauntered in as if they hadn't a care in the world. Blueberry stood looking at Bunny as if she'd grown another head and I shouted something. I think it was her name, but it might not have been coherent. The whole thing was a novelty to her, however, and even the third time she picked the bird up, she dropped it. I suspect because toys are not supposed to wriggle in your mouth if you're a dog. Finally the little bird hopped out between the chain links and scurried over to rest in the grass. I don't think he was injured, but I imagine it gave him a good scare.

Now, Bunny has become the mighty huntress. She is on the prowl everytime she goes out the back door. My husband is convinced that she's part border collie. Our afternoon conversations in the back hallway have changed.

Me: Guys, stand still so I can put your leashes on.

Hawk: Today's not the day the sky will fall, is it? Dinner will be ready when I get back inside, right?

Me: Clear skies ahead, big guy! Of course dinner will magically appear while you're outside.

Lilac: Are you sure I have to go out in this heat? I'm old. I'm tired. Frankly, I'm not feeling it right now...

Me: You will have to go in ten minutes if you don't go out there and go now. I'm warning you, we are not going back outside.

Blueberry: Did you notice how patiently I've been waiting?

Me: Yes, Blue, you're almost perfect!

Bunny: Shhhhhhh! Be very, very quiet!

Me: Quiet? Are you shushing me?

Bunny, perking her ears up and crouching into stealth mode: Yes! I'm on a mission!

Me: A mission? What are you up to?

Bunny: Shhhhhh!

Me: Whatever it is, they'll hear you from a mile away with those tags jingling.

Bunny: You're ruining this for me! I'm a mighty huntress!

Me: We'll see!

We now go out the back door and Bunny drops down into the predatory creep of a lion. You would think with all the commotion that the young robins would fly off. It appears that young robins aren't the brightest in the animal kingdom, however. At least once a day, one of them is perched on the chain links of one of the turn out pens. Bunny never fails to notice if one is out there. We have been putting her in the other pen, and she is none to happy with the arrangement. She stands there on the alert, poised on the edge of the door, hoping for another shot. I am hoping that she doesn't actually get one, but I do think she will educate some young birds this year about avian safety measures. So far, she is quite pleased with herself, however. The birds at least run the other way when she comes by, but she's still waiting.