Nurturing Nature

I came home tonight and saw that my rose bush and herb pot needed water. I grabbed the hose and doused the rose which is still sitting in its pot. Just as I was turning to the pot of herbs I heard a SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK! I saw something scurry in the irises. Please, please don't be a mouse, I said to myself. A mouse would be a problem. I looked and saw a tiny ball of brownish grey fir with ears. As I pulled back the irises a bit more the creature leaped up. Startled, I jumped back. I went in to take another look and decided it must be a baby bunny. Ohhhh! Where is mamma? What if some big ol' nasty crow finds the little guy? I grabbed a Folgers coffee bucket and placed it between the irises and the side of the house hoping that bunny would take refuge in there if need be. He ignored it though, and actually when he hopped closer I could see that the little guy was still blind.

(Okay, so he still looks a bit like a mouse or rodent in this pic, but I promise you there is no rodent tail, so we're cool)

I Googled "Found a baby rabbit" and was reassured by this bit of info:

Rabbit mothers nurse their babies for approximately 5 minutes a day. They will be in the nest or nest box early in the morning and then again in the evening...If you come across a nest of bunnies in the wild and the mother is no where to be seen, please DO NOT disturb them...this is normal. Mother rabbits return to the nest to nurse only at night, staying away as much as possible so as not to attract predators. To determine if the mother is returning, create a tic-tac-toe pattern over the nest with straw, grasses or tiny twigs. Wait 24 hours to see if the twigs have been disturbed. She may be able to feed them without moving the twigs much, so double check--If the babies look healthy, are warm, then the mother is coming back.

--According to the House Rabbit Society 

There appears to be a nest in the leaves of the irises, which explains why Elmo was so interested in them the last time he was here. I know rabbits are almost a nuisance in suburbia, (okay, they are the very definition of nuisance since they do eat my flowers) but come on, they're so cute and it's nice to have such a cute animal friend in my back yard. Plus, I found the bunny when I was taking care of Love. If that isn't a divine plot I don't know what is.

(I need a pet, don't I? I'm one rabbit nest away from crazy town.)