As part of the simple lifestyle, I have only one pet. Abigail the cat is easy to care for though fairly demanding when it comes to attention. She has one weakness...bunnies. She loves to find them and chase them and bring them to me. They are usually alive and timid, so I catch them and put them back outside, far from my vegetable garden.
The other night she brought in one that must have gotten away from her before she brought him to me. So I was surprised to be sitting at my desk on Sunday and catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked to see this little bunny hopping about. I went after him and he took off so fast I couldn't track where he went. After searching under everything in the shop, where he was last seen, I gave up.
The next afternoon, same thing. Little bunny hopping through the office. Before I can even focus on him, he's off and behind something (turns out it was the washing machine). Again, I search diligently, but no bunny. I don't want him to die, so I put some grass and clover on a paper and put it in the side entryway before going to bed. In the morning, much of this is gone. I also realize that there's been a mess where Abigail eats the last couple mornings, so apparently he ate some cat food too.
Bunny appears more often on Tuesday, apparently hungry. I decide to put out the Have-a-heart trap I borrowed from the D'Onofrios. I put it in the kitchen, baiting it with clover and grass. I leave for a couple of hours in the evening and when I come back he's in the trap eating. He's too light to set off the trap, which would close the door. So he's out of there like lightening as I enter the house, dashing under the stove.
Abigail comes in and I think she might be able to help me flush him out. . . wrong. When I get the flashlight out, all she wants to do is play with the light. When I remove the drawer beneath the stove, all she wants to do is play with the cat balls that have gone under there. She doesn't even seem to realize that bunny is under there in a narrow space between the stove and cupboard. I can see him, but can't reach him.
I move the trap so it blocks the kitchen doorway to the rest of the house so he is confined to one room. Abigail seems fine hopping over the trap to get to and fro, so I go off to bed.
I am awakened in a few hours by Abigail howling. I get up to see what her problem is and she's sitting on the kitchen counter, looking from me to the trap and back. I can hear noise coming from the trap, so I go downstairs to find bunny in there, too afraid to exit because of Abigail. She's afraid to go near the trap. . . apparently the bunny out of context is a bit scary for her. I close the trap, take it outside and release the bunny, who has presumable hopped away to freedom somewhere other than my garden.
Until the next time.
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