Rabbits, Rabbits and More Rabbits

My eyes popped open at 5:30 this morning. My thought process went something like this ...

5:30 is too early for a Saturday ...
2% power on my cell phone ...
I need to get my phone charger so I can watch Netflix on my phone in bed ...

So I did what I always, always do any time I stand up to do something once the twilight hours roll around. I peeked out the living room blinds to see if I could spot a rabbit.

A rabbit was nibbling on the food under our fir tree. I opened the blinds, settled in on the love seat beside the window and just enjoyed watching the rabbit.

Lately, where there has been one rabbit in full view, a second rabbit seems to be hiding in plain sight close by. One time, a third rabbit joined the pair I spotted. So I settled in, scouring the area for anything that resembled a snow clump that may or may not move.

Nothing.

My rabbit hopped off and no others joined it. I gazed into the street for a short while before I thought I may as well toss in a load of laundry while I was up and about.

I did a few minor tasks and glanced out the window again. Sure enough. A rabbit was on our street, faced towards our house. I sat down and got comfortable, hopeful the rabbit may have a friend close by.

This time, I was not disappeared. Before long, a second rabbit hopped into view. I was pleased with this turn of events and thanked my lucky stars for my almost dead cell phone battery which put me at the right place at the right time.

Then a third rabbit joined the first two. My heart was jumping for joy. Three rabbits! How much better could a person start the day?! Three rabbits all together, right in front of me.

One rabbit headed west and the other two started to follow. The first rabbit was completely out of sight when ... one ... two ... three ... four ... ... ... and even a fifth rabbit hopped in from the south. One after another. The two remaining rabbits from my initial rabbit sighting turned around and joined the group and there were SEVEN rabbits all in one eyeful.

These rabbits chased each other; three of them hopped upon a neighbor's hill of snow hill and took in the view; they frolicked; they jumped; one rolled around on the street in front of me; while most of them took a turn at the feeding station under our fir tree.

The rabbits would split off in pairs or threesomes, run off into a yard, then reappear. They headed westward for a while, they circled back and came back my direction and eventually most of them headed down the street in a southward direction before they disappeared out of sight.

Seven rabbits!!! Seven! And I'm certain there is an eighth. The rabbit that headed west never came back into sight and all the "new" rabbits came from the opposite direction.

Potentially, we have a minimum of eight adult rabbits living in or around our street. Eight! I was thrilled to tears when I could have swore I saw two pairs of rabbits a while ago. "That means baby rabbits in the spring!!!"

Eight adult rabbits? We may have a little population explosion here in our neck of the woods. I sure hope this doesn't entice any predators our way.