Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A Battle for the Ages!

Well, I stand corrected. Our little hop-a-long pinned a hopper....


When I came home from work this evening, I noticed a rabbit in our yard. This is nothing unusual as rabbits are all over South Minneapolis.


What was odd was that this particular rabbit couldn’t seem to find its way out of our yard as I walked through toward the house. Usually when I enter our yard the wildlife scurries as if I’m shooting leprosy from a sprinkler. This rabbit just stood still and tried to act natural as I stared at it from five feet away.


The rabbit looked at me like we were ex-lovers who ran into each other in public. Don’t make eye contact. Is that really him? Yes, it really is… Okay, I’m not going to make the first move. I'll just pretend I don’t notice him and hope he plays the same game…soon it will be all over.


There must be multiple exits through our fence that are well known in the bunny and squirrel world as they typically enter and exit at will. Either this one forgot the map or didn’t get the memo.


I went into the house, let Chloe out of her confinement room and grabbed the mail. From a previous phone conversation, I knew my pregnant wife was starving. A starving pregnant wife is a recipe for a disastrous evening, so my mind got fully consumed with getting dinner going as soon as possible.


Without thought, I ran outside to get the grill going and Chloe followed. This is when things got interesting.


Like a heat seeking missile after a jet, (or, in this case, like a turtle in hot pursuit of a snail) Chloe tore after the map-less rabbit stranded in our yard. A wild chase ensued. It ended in a corner of the yard as the rabbit simply had no place to turn. Chloe had it cornered and for one glorious moment she was like, 'what’s up now, doc?'


But that authority quickly turned into, 'whoa, I finally caught you….what in the hell am I supposed to do now…?' She's clearly the last of the great hunters.


The hesitation cost her. Mr. Rabbit seized the indecision by darting off and miraculously finding an exit through the fence.


The bunny hopped away and never looked back. Chloe was confirmed - in her head - champion of the fight. She ran back to our deck and gave me a look like, ‘I sure showed bunny who was boss, no doubt about it, I’m the woman.’


While I found the whole situation kind of pathetic - after all she’s hopping around on three legs - I bent down, scratched her behind the ears, patted her on the chest and said, “Chloe, I’m so proud of you for keeping me safe.”


She strutted with her chest out for at least the next hour. It was adorable.


Let me guess, our refrigerator will someday be plastered with squiggly laden, nonsensical finger paintings….