So, yours truly was nearly reduced to a bawling mess today (warning: salty words)

[gay texan]

I'm notorious for putting things off especially when there are projects i really adore.

My lawn was a jungle, so i decided to mow it with your typical American gas powered push mower. As I'm mowing my jungle, something brown and small darts out and my mower suddenly stops with a violent chopping sound. WTF?

Well i find the small creature and its a baby wild bunny about 5 inches in length.

Oh no, OH FUCK NO, motherfucking hell i just found a baby bunny nest with my lawn mower. Mother fucking HELL NO!!!!!

My heart rate is up, emotions running high, adrenaline has 100% kicked in so i literally THROW the lawn mower with one hand into another part of the yard. I can feel my throat tightening up thinking of what i will see. I just know this isn't going to be good and i JUST know i'm going to bawling like a baby.

The lawn mower was stopped by a rock. A big one

There were a lot of baby wild bunnies, all of them huddling up near my deck with no place to go, scared absolutely shitless.

So i moved them. They are amazingly soft by the way. Four of the six were reasonably OK with me handing them. Two of them squealed. I had no idea they made sound!!! As far as i know they are safe.

So i broke the lawn mower and i'm ok with this. The lawn can wait for today.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Wow, you did such a good thing, my dear gay texan!

I'm sure they're OK. Well, I hope they are! I hope their mom found them.

And there's nothing wrong with salty language!

[gay texan]

2. ...

[Diamond_Dog]

3. You described all the same emotions

I would have felt had I done the same thing.

I’m so glad the bunnies were OK. I absolutely adore wild bunnies! You did good! And thank goodness it was just a rock that stopped your mower! Maybe it stopped your mower for a reason, eh!

And yes, they squeal!

[Deuxcents]

4. Love this story

And your kind heart. I’ve lived in my house for 3 years now. It’s out some but not too far in the county and today was the first bunny I have seen. There may be a nest next door in my neighbor’s hedge near his a/c unit. I was pleasantly surprised n I’ll think of this story the next time I see the bunny.

[gay texan]

5. I hate harm to animals

Especially if it's by anything i do in my daily activities. I mean i am truly reminded of a "Looney Tunes" cartoon where a dog thinks he's accidentally killed a kitten that he adores.

I would have been just a right mess

[gay texan]

13. ....

[TheBlackAdder]

22. That's a great cartoon.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

42. I don't eat anything resembling a cat

Cat like cookies,cupcakes,cake decorations, I don't care , I don't want it.

It reminds me of killing them .

[gay texan]

45. Well, yes niether do i

The cartoon is a representation of what i would have looked like and the relief of what didn't happen.....

[Kali]

6. oh yeah they make sound

you don't ever want to actually hear one scream. nor get in a fight with one. they make cats look like amateurs.

[gay texan]

8. it freaked me out to be honest! n/t

[3catwoman3]

7. I would have reacted the same way.

You must have been so relieved.

[gay texan]

9. You have no idea

I hugged my two furballs tonight

[stopdiggin]

10. you're my kinda' guy

F the lawnmower. N' fer that matter, F the lawn!

[gay texan]

11. YES, this! n/t

[Evolve Dammit]

12. Proper reaction. Great work! Lawns are highly over-rated anyhow; bunnies under-rated. Except Easter.

[AllaN01Bear]

14. what happened to the parents ? did the mower scare them off?

the rock was put there for a reason.

[gay texan]

19. I have no idea.

I do have bunnies out in my yard nightly. Heck i set water out for them.

[demigoddess]

15. I'm so glad it was the lawn mower who bit the dust, not the bunnies.

Mow more often and you will be able to see the bunnies. Maybe leave an area long so that can be their habitat. You are welcome in my neighborhood any day, even with salty language.

[Aussie105]

16. Your mower saw the bunnies

and sacrificed itself on the rock instead.

Only answer possible.

Next time you mow . . . have a walk around first, see what is hiding in the tall stuff?
Rocks, bunnies, alligators, who knows? Find out first!

And keep the stuff short, dammit! (My contribution to salty language, not as good as yours.)

[stage left]

17. Oh Gosh

I'm so glad the bunnies(and you) are fine.

[gay texan]

23. Thank you!

I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a horrible day

[Arkansas Granny]

18. You did good. The chances are that the bunnies will be fine. They only stay in the nest

for about 3 weeks and then they are out on their own.

[gay texan]

26. judging by their size and spunk

i think they will be ok. They were quite strong!!!

[wendyb-NC]

20. You are a very thoughtful hero, in my book

Despite the terrifying situation that took you by complete surprise. You were able to take the frightened, baby bunnies to a safe place, splendid job.

Thank you and blessings.

[gay texan]

25. it's nice to know i can still throw heavy objects when needed

[TheBlackAdder]

21. I did that once too, with a riding mower, and the lawn wasn't overgrown. Horrible. 😢

.

One week the nest wasn't there, less than two weeks later, a nest with babies. I didn't know until it was all over.

None survived. The uplift blades must have pulled them out of the hole. Now, I walk the property first.

.

[Joinfortmill]

24. 👍

[summer_in_TX]

27. Thank you, God, for rocks!

And baby bunnies that are safe and well, thanks to an everyday miracle.

[Solly Mack]

28. I'd have cried too. Whew!

[Ferrets are Cool]

29. Big huge virtual hug for your kindness

[gay texan]

46. Awww.... n/t

[LittleGirl]

30. Oh, I loved this story.

I would have reacted the exact same way. I found baby bunnies in my yard about 17 years ago. They were so tiny. I guess mama chose my yard because I had an indoor cat and no dog. The only yard in my neighborhood without a dog.

[The Jungle 1]

31. Yer not gonna like this but here it is.

If you do not keep the lawn mowed the small critters will build nests in the grass.
Go buy an electric mower and keep the grass cut.
Your answer is: Yes Dad.

I pulled a toad out of a snakes mouth couple of days ago. He only had the legs in his mouth. That was fun. Toads are cool. Dogs will only lick them once.

[appleannie1]

32. That is how my neighbor found my oldest cat.

He came running in my door yelling "can you save this". This was a tiny, still damp, ice cold, kitten with the umbilical cord still dangling from it motionless body. It's ears, nose and paws were bluish in color. I put it down my blouse and grabbed a zip lock bag and filled it with warm water to hold over it. Slowly it began to shiver. I then warmed some canned milk, put it in a Visine bottle I found and rinsed and it began to nurse. Wonder is at least 14 years old now. She hates her tail. Her mom does not have one. She adores me but can be very nasty with others. I just hope she dies before I do because everyone in my family calls her "the cat from hell" and most are afraid of her.

Make sure the 'mama' bunny finds her family. You did well.

[gay texan]

47. Ironically this is how i found my cat

It's mother had been killed by coyotes. one month of solid round the clock care produced me a loving kitty that's a violent terrorist out to kill me for the insurance money.

Not really, mind you but it's a hyperactive furball that snuggles with me every night.

[BobTheSubgenius]

33. I'm so glad it ended the way it did, and that you're happy to trade your mower for them.

Your mower probably didn't break when you threw it - it was probably already a goner when it hit the rock. I did that, and it killed a mower with very few hours on it. The shear pin designed to save the motor from a violent stoppage like that didn't shear, and I never looked to see exactly what had happened. When a repair shop wouldn't even look at it because the owner said it was hopeless, that was enough for me.

Yours was the "best" catastrophic motor failure ever.

[gay texan]

48. this one actully survived

New blade and it was up and running. I've sent rods through the cases before

[BobTheSubgenius]

49. What a superb outcome!

Safe bunnies, and a relatively inexpensive fix. My felicitations!

[TigressDem]

34. Thank you. My lawn is so tall, I've been thinking weed wacker instead of mower...

Our gas "can" (plastic actually) got broken and we just bought a new one yesterday.

NOW I am also considering just buying a push mower. Exercise is good.

BUT ... I also looked up what to do with a found bunny/bunny nest.... I found a baby bunny in a parking lot one time and took it to our vet and they contacted the University to pick it up and repopulate it to the wild.

I tried to avoid touching it much, more because I remember a family that lived nearby saying it scares them and they can literally give themselves a heart attack if handled excessively when young. I kept it in my coat pocket facing out so it had good airflow.


https://www.denherdervet.com/what-should-you-do-if-you-find-a-baby-rabbit/

[LakeArenal]

35. That sound. The thump on the fender or the chunk of the lawnmower

Can live with you a long time if it’s the wrong thump or chunk.

Good vibes probably saved the bunnies. Thanks for sending them out.

[cayugafalls]

36. You did good, but brought back memories of my first mow as a young man.

It was not pleasant and is probably why I dislike mowing to this day.

You saved your baby bunnies, I was not that fortunate 50 years ago...

Odd, now that I think about it, we have lots of stuffed and porcelain bunnies around the house and my nickname for my spouse is bunny.

Hmmm...

[DENVERPOPS]

37. Beware

You should never handle wild rabbits dead or alive without gloves.
Tularemia can be a wicked and deadly disease for humans.
A year or two ago here in Colorado, a woman hit a bunny with her ride on mower, she inhaled some of the vaporized mist from the shredded rabbit and died a few days later. Soon after, kids playing football in a prairie dog field here in colorado.....one of them contracted the plague and died a few days later.

Wildlife is best when observed from a distance...........

[Niagara]

38. That's petrifying to have happen.

I hope that watching this YouTube video helps for future reference, especially during this time of year when wild animals are having babies and keeping them hidden.

As someone else mentioned, look for the nest before mowing and mark them off with a laundry basket or something else that will help you to remember not to mow in that area as opposed to moving them.



We have wild rabbits in our yard and luckily no nests that we've almost ran over. However in the past, we've had foxes that have hunted the wild rabbits in our yard and I've heard the rabbits scream. Another DUer suggested to put cat poop in various places and so far that has kept the sly foxes away and from hunting wild rabbits on our property.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

39. I am so glad bunnies are safe.

You had me tearing up. Heck, I am still tearing up.

[lastlib]

40. Some years ago, I nearly did this with a big brush hog.

I live on a farm, so that means a big diesel tractor, with an 8-ft. brush-hog-type mower. I was mowing part of a pasture, when I saw a rabbit run between the tractor's front wheel and back wheel. I stopped, and that's when I saw the nest, with three baby rabbits. I was three feet from hitting them with that mower. I picked them up as gently as I could, and carried them toward the fence where I had seen the mother rabbit run to. All I could do was set them down there, and hope the mother found them and took them back in. After that, I parked the tractor for a couple hours.

[cilla4progress]

41. Lovely.

Thanks!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

43. I had a rabbit

Give birth in the plant box built into my porch. There was mom and 4 babies.

The babies were so cute. It was August and we had a horrible dry spell.

Seeing the baby bunnies panting in the heat I dug a hole in the box furthest away from them. I went inside got a shallow bowl and filled it with water. Laid it in the hole flush with the soil.
After I left the bunnies went over and drank it as I watched from inside the house..
I kept the water full.

After a few days the drought broke and huge thunderstorms were coming. My gutter had slipped down that day and fell and I didn't have the stuff to fix it yet.

If it rained hard ,water would have gushed into the pot and possibly drowned them.

So I took a tarp and covered the entire pot.
They didn't run away. The mother took them into the burrow.

The rain pounded and the gutter was rushing like a faucet on full blast.

I hoped they were okay. I took the tarp off after the moon came out and the storm was over.
They didn't run away.
I was hoping they were ok. I got my flashlight
I saw 4 little bunnies and mom huddled together in the nest.

All was ok.

[haele]

44. I was weed whacking in a lower backyard off a canyon a few years back

I knew where the bunny nest was other side of the yard, and where I was whacking was part of an old herb bed that had gone to mustard plants.

I heard a shriek, threw the whacker to the side, and found a baby bunny with part of it's ear cut.
Wrapped it in a rag, got it back to the house ( screaming all the way, poor baby) and had spouse fill a sink with warm water so I could wash out the wound.
We fixed up a bird transport cage with pine shavings, covered it with a blanket, and got poor baby bunny to wildlife rescue and rehab.

Two months later, they released him back into the canyon, now an almost grown bunny with one and a half ear.

Next year when I was weed-wacking, I whacked the shell of a huge Russian Tortoise that had been lost a couple years previously. The vet said he was about 40 years old; the kidlet ended up with a new pet worth a couple hundred dollars because we couldn't find out who originally lost him.
Me and weedwhackers...

Glad your mower hit the rock first.

Haele