Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

This morning when Kayla was on her way to breakfast, she spotted not one, but two rabbits in our field.

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There was just enough daylight after we got home yesterday that Lisa and I could take a short walk around the block, which was useful after all of the time spent driving. While rounding the block, we spotted a rabbit.

( Nice to See You, Bunny )

We used to have several rabbits roaming around here, but when the West Lot was sold and the owner leveled and paved it, tearing out the trees and bushes, there was no more room for rabbits, and they didn't seem to adopt our East Lot. However, we still have a rabbit now and then wander through.

A couple of evenings ago, we had a return of a regular visitor to our bird feeding area.

( Hello, Bunny )

Lisa has seen as many as three rabbits out this spring. With the West Lot being cleared, we've been concerned that all of the rabbits had lost their homes, but there seems to be a few of them around.

The rabbits seem to be somewhat less skitterish than the birds. They keep an eye on us, but seem to understand that we are on the opposite side of a fence from them and are therefore less likely to get at them. Therefore, they don't go running away at our slightest move, such as adjusting our chairs as we sit on the porch.

The chipmunks run away from the pumpkin birdseed holder when I open the front door even slowly, so I put my Sony H2 camera (which has a better zoom than the camera phone) plugged into groundside power and sitting near the door. I need to clean the glass panel in the door, but otherwise I can take photos through it. I even came close to taking one of the chipmunks today, but just as I was lining up the shot, the locomotive parked in the house track across the street auto-started (due to the cold) and the chipmunks ran off.

( But there are still birds and bunnies )

Despite the snow, the temperature did not drop below freezing until after sundown. We got all of the snow off the sidewalks, but I could see ice starting to form, sparkling in the just-past-full moon. (By the way, I did get a look at the last half of last night's lunar eclipse, as I had to be up before 4 AM my time.) fortunately the container of ice-melt grit in the garage wasn't buried, so I spread it over the walks so we won't wipe out on the ice tomorrow.

We've been concerned that the clearance of the lot west of Fernley House would have driven away the rabbits. Also, because we were away for ten days, the quail that have been in the neighborhood dropped us from their rounds. We started putting out birdseed again, and both rabbits and quail returned.

( Bunnies and Birds )

It has been so hot that hardly anything has been stirring during the day. It's only after sundown that anything appears, and I can't say that I blame the animals for taking cover.

We think that at least one of the local rabbits has nested either under the wood box or possibly under the house itself. However, this poses a bit of a problem for the bunny, which sometimes finds itself caught between two humans.

( Rabbit on the Sidewalk )

This afternoon, I came outside to wave at the passing afternoon California Zephyr, and startled the bunny as it was foraging in the front yard. It took off as if shot out of gun and fled a safe distance into the field.

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Meanwhile, Lisa cleaned out and vacuumed the Astro today and we began trying to pack things into it. This is going to be a challenging trip, with us having camera gear, Westercon material, and also Winnipeg bid stuff to carry, besides incidental things like our own personal luggage.

A few days ago, before the smoke moved in, Lisa and I spotted behavior from the local rabbits that we've seen before, but have never managed to catch on camera.

( Chilling Out )

Not, it's not the rabbits taking their ease and seemingly ignoring us. It's something we've seen once before, but this time Lisa managed to catch it on video.



Lisa apologizes for the camera jitters. We were far enough away to not frighten them, and at that much magnification, any movement of the hand-held camera is also magnified. We have seen bunnies bounce before, and from what I've managed to locate online, it may simply be high spirits. OTOH, when a rabbit lays its ears back, as in the final segment, it seems to mean "Go Away," and the other one seemed to figure that out.

From some of the other antics we saw (but did not record), possibly there will be some baby bunnies coming along shortly as well.

This morning just before dawn, I spotted two of the local rabbits across the street.

( Where Shall We Go Next, Hoppy? )

Later in the morning, when it was only 25°C (as opposed to the 39° to which it seems to have peaked today), I made a short walk around the block. Lizards scattered as I walked out onto the front porch. I also saw at least two and maybe three chipmunks (I'm not sure because whatever it was moved too quickly to be sure) foraging around the base of one of the bushes in the field next door.

With the heat we're having, sensible animals are seeking shade during the hot part of the day — except that the lizards seem to thrive on the heat — and only are visible at twilight.

The swamp cooler is working for now to keep things tolerable. Lisa is sheltering in her trailer with the air conditioner, and we both are grateful once again that we put in the work to build that shelter over it, for it keeps the sun off sufficiently for the a/c to work well.

As we are in one of the all-too-brief periods when the weather is pleasant enough to do so, Lisa and I are trying to spend part of our evenings sitting on the porch. One part of spring, however, is that the bugs are out taking advantage of it too, so when I went to Big R yesterday to buy more birdseed, I also bought a fresh can of insect repellent. I have always been a mosquito attractant; maybe it's the diabetes, and they can smell the sugar in my blood.

I let the bird feeder go empty a few days ago and two days ago tried to thoroughly clean it with Lysol wipes, to reduce the opportunity for the feeder to become a vector for bird illnesses. That of course means the birds lost interest in our yard, and now that I've refilled the feeder (and also set out some piles of seed in the vacant lot next door), we have to wait for them to rediscover the food. Last night, we were amused to see several quail walking through the field completing missing the piles of birdseed just a few meters away from them.

The rabbit (or rabbits; we're not sure how many of them there are around here), however, did discover that birdseed is to its liking, as I saw it chowing down on one of the piles when I went out to put up the flag this morning. I did not take a picture because it would have been blinded by the rising sun. Maybe this evening if it comes back for more.

It's amazing how relaxing it is to just sit on the porch, sip on a soda, chat with Lisa, and just watch the world (and the trains) go by. And it doesn't cost anything extra. It does remind me why we put in so much work on improving the house. I wish we had enough money to buy the lot to the east of us, but the last time I checked, they wanted more than twice the cost of our house, and it's only a vacant lot, albeit one with water and sewer hookups available. Lisa and I sometimes consider things we could do with it. Our current favorite would be to turn it into a miniature golf course.

Due to concerns about the bird feeder being a disease vector for birds, I cleaned it out thoroughly with disinfectant wipes a few days ago and left it unfilled for a few days. Yesterday morning, I went out to refill it, and as I came back down the sidewalk, saw that at least one of the local rabbits is getting out more often.

( Good Morning, Bunny )

I'm happy to have some rabbits out there eating as many weeds as they want. It means less work for us cutting down the fire hazard that tumbleweeds represent.