A bunny post

On Thursday night I had to leave Rensselaer suddenly but not unexpectedly for family reasons. During my stay in Indianapolis, I took my granddaughter for a walk in a little park near her house. As we were coming to the end of the trail, we saw a bunny. Instead of running away, as bunnies should, this bunny approached us. For a couple seconds I had visions of the bunny in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. However, it was harmless and appeared to be a very hungry domesticated rabbit that someone had turned loose in the park.

 I mentioned the bunny to my daughter-in-law and she, who even in normal times loves little animals, put out a notice on Facebook to her fellow animal lovers asking what could be done to help the little critter. (Being a hard-hearted fellow who grew up in a very different world, I saw nothing wrong with letting nature take its course.) She got some responses and then she and my son went on a bunny hunt. They were unsuccessful, but two people who had joined them, one a police officer, did find it. We got a call the next day telling us that the skinny, malnourished rabbit--you can see its backbone and ribs in the picture above--was happily munching on cilantro and pellets. The rescuers were going to take it to a vet to have it checked out and then find a home for it.

Instead of being happy about the outcome, I was rather embarrassed for setting in motion all this activity. However, the search for the bunny also seems to have set in motion some other activity that was the point of my trip to Indianapolis.

Here is a picture of the park with its little stream. The entire park is flood plain or steep creek bank. The picture below gives the impression that the park is a wilderness retreat.

 But from a different angle, you can see that it is next to commercial development along a very busy highway. You never get away from the sounds of traffic. (The bench overlooks a retention pond for that development.)

(Note to pet owners--most domesticated animals do not fare well in the wild. Dumping tame animals and expecting them to manage on their own is cruel.)

Update: Here is the bunny after rescue.