Kathy was working in the front yard when she spotted what she thought was a dead mouse in the yard. She yelled for Danny to come handle the situation. When Danny picked it up with gloves, it wriggled and squealed. Turns out it was a baby bunny.
After further investigation (following Stout), it turns out our little killer had found six baby bunnies in the shade garden. He dug all six out, and in the process killed 5 out of 6. The 5 around the hole were all dead, but for some reason he had carried the sixth one, without harming it, to the front yard. Maybe he was feeling guilty?
Stout is a terrier, and his instincts are to dig under ground and kill varmints. This is all a repeat of a previous event a few weeks earlier where Stout found another nest and wiped it out.
To quote Kathy, Clyde has not been involved in any of this, just “aware.”
Kathy, Kelly, and Claire researched bunny care on the internet and found out that with special care, it is possible to raise and release a wild cotton tail. So for the past several days the baby bunny has been getting two feedings of kitten formula with simulated “lickings” (q-tip) to stimulate growth and digestive processes (pooping.)
If all goes well, within a few weeks, we can release the bunny into the woods… away from killer Stout.
Coincidentally Jami and I just finished reading Watership Down for our book club. The lapines at the stonegate warren must hate Stout – I wonder what kind of stories they tell about him?
Alas, the little guy did not last longer than a week. Dead bunnies tell no tales (or tails.)