The Trefoil Muse

White rabbits, white rabbits; spring arrives; winter weather lifts; and there are white rabbits everywhere! 

Rabbits are prolific creatures. There are so many of them here that it is near impossible to count their numbers.

The rabbit symbolizes fertility, luck, creativity, compassion and intuition.  Rabbits are associated with springtime and new beginnings. They are happy reminders that life is full of possibilities. A rabbit’s foot is a lucky token and rabbits are considered symbols of fortune.

But with the appearance of all these rabbits, is it possible our home has undergone a takeover by Easter Bunny Central?

We have a profound conglomeration of long-eared, fluffy-white-tailed creatures hopping around our farmyard and nearby fields.

The majority of rabbits inhabiting the farm are jackrabbits but somewhere during the winter months a bush bunny family moved in as well.

Bush bunnies, otherwise known as mountain cottontail are the only true rabbit in Alberta.  Despite its name, it is not actually found in our mountains. It is restricted to the prairie regions of the province, where it can be found in areas with sufficient brushy cover. I suspect our newly arrived cottontails fled from a nearby coulee to take up residence in our hedges mid winter. 

I usually spot my little bush bunny or cottontail friends closer to the house not far from the hedges, whereas, their larger counterparts, the jackrabbits like kibitzing out in the open.

Jackrabbits, otherwise known as snowshoe hares, are larger than rabbits, have longer hind legs and longer ears.  An interesting fact to note is that rabbits or baby bunnies are born hairless and blind whereas baby hares, (called leverets) are born with fur, can see, and are mobile within an hour of birth.  As well, hares turn from brown in the summer to white in the winter; rabbits do not. 

Our prairie jackrabbits are well camouflaged during seasonal changes.  Right now, most of them are still wearing their white jackets and blend in with the white covered landscape.  Some have begun to shed their white fur and have a brown patchy appearance and are hard to see against the barren spring earth.   Jackrabbits will hide among and under rocks, outbuildings, hollow logs, and other covered spaces or even in plain sight. When faced with danger, rabbits tend to freeze and/or run for cover, while hares will usually try to run away and out maneuver their pursuer. 

The jackrabbits around here love to taunt my dogs.  They have even been known to run right through our legs during a daily walk to induce a game of tag.  Jackrabbits can run up to 55 km/h (34 mph) and can leap up to five meters (16 feet 5 inches)!  They are agile athletes who elude predators from following their scent through a series of large bounds, sometimes even moving at right angles to their previous direction. My poor good natured dogs don’t stand a chance.  They get out distanced and out maneuvered by the jackrabbits during every competition.  Still, they love the chase and it seems to be great exercise for both the rabbits and the dogs.

To be honest, I find the bush bunnies to be much cuter than the jackrabbits but the jackrabbits have afforded me plenty of comic relief over the years due to their antics with my dogs and their Easter exercise regimes. 

To be a successful Easter Bunny candidate, one must assume that a rabbit or hare needs to be white or well camouflaged, agile and fleet of foot to deliver all of those chocolaty candy eggs across the Alberta prairie.

The training sessions around here must have produced plenty of successful Easter Bunnies and gained popularity with the rabbit populous. Rabbits have great listening skills and word seems to have spread that our remote Easter Bunny Central location is top notch. It seems very fortuitous that more and more white rabbits keep appearing from out of nowhere. 

With all of these white rabbits hopping around, I’m beginning to feel like Alice in Wonderland.

Which makes me wonder; if I utter the words white rabbit three times will they all magically disappear like a puff of smoke to be hare today and gone tomorrow? Or have I myself fallen into a rabbit hole?

Happy Easter every bunny!

Thank-you for following, reading, sharing and commenting – The Trefoil Muse

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