Saving the Easter Bunny.

The roads of life are paved with good intentions.

I had been keeping Mickey Kitty and Sweet Pea inside the house because there were so many baby birds around the porch. Gatsby has been going in and out as usual because he never seems interested in the birds. But with Sweet Pea and Mickey, who will pounce on anything that moves, I wanted the baby barn swallows to have enough time to get used to their new feathered wings.

This morning when I opened the back door, all the baby birds were gone from their perches on the porch columns, so I thought it would be okay to let Mickey and Sweet Pea outside. After they ate their breakfast, they ran so fast towards the back door that they were skidding on the kitchen floor, each one trying to be the first one to hit the porch at a run.

I went about my morning routine... cleaned the coop, put birdseed into the feeders by the cottage, and then had some breakfast. My husband went out to walk around the property, checking the bluebird boxes in the fields to see if there were new nests or eggs. After about an hour, it was time to see what Mickey and Sweet Pea were doing before I went upstairs to get some make-up on and get ready for the day here.

Out the back door I went, and all three cats were on the back porch deck. Mickey was standing on the deck with his tail held high, the other two were watching him, not moving a bit. A few steps closer to the cats and I understood the stand-off... Mickey was holding a baby bunny in his mouth, and I could see by the look on his whiskered face that he was darn proud of his 'catch.' I could also hear the baby bunny crying like one of the cats' squeaky-toys. Mickey clearly didn't know what to do with the tiny bunny, and I'm sure Gatsby was just holding his own breath and waiting for Mickey to drop that prize on the deck.

I wanted to cry myself, but I gave Mickey my happiest voice and asked him "What are you bringing to me, Mickey?" When I say that to him inside the house, he will bring me his toy and drop it at my feet-- which is what I was hoping would happen with the bunny.

No such luck. Mickey knew I wanted his 'toy' and he ran off the porch and into the bushes. By that time, my husband had finished his birdhouse count and was in the yard by the front of the house. I told him what happened with Mickey and the baby bunny and we figured that we could get Mickey cornered in the flowerbed and one of us could grab Mickey and the other could rescue the bunny.

Gatsby and Sweet Pea had followed Mickey into the bushes, still waiting for him to drop the bunny. The poor little bunny once again started to scream, which I think scared Mickey this time because he dropped the bunny into the grass underneath the bushes.

I grabbed Mickey and carried him into the house, all the while telling him what a good boy he was, but also telling him that he shouldn't be messing around with tiny baby bunnies. The next one I grabbed was Sweet Pea, and I carried him into the house and put him in the TV room with Mickey. Gatsby was the last one outside, and he was smart enough to run far back under the bushes. I'm sure he was hoping that my husband and I would go into the house and then he would grab the baby bunny. Gatsby has caught baby bunnies before, and killed them, leaving them as gifts for us by the back door.

I managed to get hold of Gatsby when he stuck his head out from under the bushes to see what we were doing with 'his' bunny. Into the house went Gatsby, and when I put him in the TV room with the other two cats, he let out a fierce meow, most likely wanting to know why he was being grounded when it was Mickey who caught the bunny in the first place.

Back outside I went, and my husband and I began the search for the baby bunny. We pulled up some weeds and tall grass, and there was the bunny, peeking up from its hiding place in the flowerbed. I tried to catch him, but he was way too fast and he ran off towards the barn. Just looking at how fast he was running, we knew that Mickey didn't hurt him. We just let him go, with the hope that he will get back to his mama and the rest of his bunny family.

The cats are all still in the house. They're sound asleep now, and all dreaming of baby bunnies, I'm sure. I told my husband that I'm not going to let Mickey and Sweet Pea out in the early mornings anymore. I didn't realize that bunnies would be out in the open during the day. I thought they came out at night to look for food and hop around the property.

As I type, I can still hear the tiny screams of that baby bunny. I told my husband that what will eventually 'do me in' here will be all these little traumas with the wildlife and the neighbors' lifestock. Goats getting stuck in fences, mama cows crying for their calves who've been taken to market, baby bunnies getting caught by the cats, baby birds falling out of nests, the cats cornering snakes in the yard, raccoons in the fountain, baby possums by the side of the road... it just never ends.

Country Living Rule #1: You can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl.