24 Wednesday Apr 2024
I was planning a different subject for today’s post but I just had to share this little bundle of furry cuteness from my morning walk. It was far too blasé about me strolling along the path towards it – the location is much used by dog walkers so is not very safe for unwary young rabbits. Let’s hope it learns quickly to be more cautious.
11 Wednesday Oct 2023
I don’t know how they’ve managed it but there are rabbits living next to the port just off the Barrage in Cardiff Bay. Don’t get me wrong – I really enjoy seeing them, especially this little cutie, and their numbers seem to have increased this year.
What intrigues me how on earth they got there. I’ve marked the area they inhabit in red on the map below. I can’t think of anywhere on that map where rabbits are currently living that could be the origin of the Barrage bunnies. It’s a mystery!
03 Tuesday Jan 2023
It probably comes as no surprise that the first mammal I spotted this year was a Grey squirrel – it’s certainly the mammal I see most often.
And that wee beastie was followed closely by the second mammal of 2023, a Rabbit, this one enjoying a snooze in some very welcome sunshine yesterday.
30 Tuesday Nov 2021
Tags
During Sunday’s walk I came across this very sick-looking rabbit, sitting at the end of a local no exit road. I don’t think it had been hit by a car – no obvious signs of injury, and I doubt it had myxomatosis – eyes clear and bright. But, later, on Twitter, a contact suggested it might have had RVHD2 (rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease) as that often shows no outward signs. The only positive thing about that diagnosis is that the rabbit usually dies quickly, instead of suffering the horrific lingering torture of myxomatosis.
Monday’s walk took me round various Cardiff streets on the hunt for particular leafmines (more on that next Monday) and, sadly, this time I found a dead fox. In this case, I think the poor creature probably was hit by a car as it was lying just off the verge of a very busy road.
I was almost dreading what today’s walk might bring but I’m extremely relieved to report that I found nothing injured or deceased!
26 Saturday Jun 2021
It’s not only birds you can see from a bird hide. When I enjoyed my first (post-lockdown) wander in 18 months at Forest Farm Nature Reserve yesterday, I naturally visited both bird hides to see what was about. I didn’t venture inside the hides, thought it safer to peer through the slots in the tall fences on either side, and, though I did see one particularly beautiful bird, it was actually the family of young rabbits that held my attention. This little cutie was adorable. Those ears!
03 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, animals, mammal, nature
Today’s cute young things are not birds but mammals, a pair of cute little bunnies who were checking out the world from the safety of the entrance to their burrow, a very wise thing to do as a lot of dogs are exercised in this field.
19 Monday Feb 2018
“Hallo, Rabbit,” he said, “is that you?”
“Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “and see what happens.”
~ A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
15 Sunday May 2016
Posted in 'Dedicated Naturalist' Project, animals, nature
A snippet from my volunteer work on the ‘Dedicated Naturalist’ Project, helping to decipher and digitise, record and publicise the life’s work of naturalist extraordinaire, Dr Mary Gillham.
From Mary’s 1935 Form IIa Biology exercise book:
The rabbit is covered with a soft greyish coloured fur. The teats or milk glands of the mother sometimes range over the whole of the ventral side of the body. Rabbits have flat feet with fur on the underneath. Their claws cannot be drawn in as can those of a cat, and so if it wasn’t for the fact that they usually run on grass they would make a noise when running. As it is easy prey for other animals it has large ears so that it can hear the slightest sound. The rabbit has a prominent white tail, so that when one runs away the others may see it and know there is danger at hand, then they can make good their escape. The three most formidable enemies of the rabbit are the stoat, weasel and fox. Sometimes when the rabbit sees any of these it is so overcome with fright that it seems paralysed and cannot move while its attacker comes up and kills it. The rabbit has three eyelids instead of the usual two, it also has sensitive whiskers like those of a cat growing from the sides of its face. The ventral side is a much lighter grey that the dorsal side. Rabbits are very common in England and in almost any field you go into you can see either the rabbits or their burrows.
My rabbits were photographed this week at Forest Farm Nature Reserve, where they are certainly very common!
You can follow our progress with this project on Facebook and on Twitter. A website will follow soon.
27 Sunday Mar 2016
Tags
Although Easter is a time when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, its origins can be traced back to much earlier, pagan times. Some sources say the name Easter comes from Ishtar (pronounced ‘Easter’), the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of sex and fertility. Given the similarity of the names, as well as the bunny’s propensity for frequent reproduction, the association of bunnies with Ishtar-Easter would seem to make perfect sense.
However, other sources say there is no actual evidence that Ishtar is associated with the present-day Easter celebrations and cite the Venerable Bede as their source when explaining that the name comes from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring. Springtime festivities traditionally celebrate rebirth and fertility, so the Easter bunnies fit right in with that explanation.
It seems the modern day Easter bunny started life amongst German Lutherans (the earliest known written record is dated 1682), where his role was a little like that of Santa Claus – if a child had been good, they would receive gifts from an Easter bunny carrying a basketful of coloured eggs, and sometimes sweets and toys. If you’ve been good boys and girls, perhaps the bunny will bring you a gift as well.
earthstar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.