Bring on the Night

Stupid is as stupid does Why oh why do I have such a big heart?

I like animals, but don’t feel the urge to own one. I had my share of fish, a rabbit, a cat and some dogs in our family when I was a boy, but never really was on the lookout for another pet since I left my parents to grow up. Fate has its own plans it seems.

This Tuesday morning I ate my warm breakfast as usual (another story), and walked to the window to enjoy the view while finishing of a warm cup of green tea. The weather was cloudy and cold and the bicycle trip to work seemed less than desirable. Nothing better to enjoy being indoors for the last minutes before entering the elements. As always I could spot a few hares frolicking on the grass or whatever those guys eat.

Below our “balcony” we have a green area with small circular gardens. These are surrounded by grassy areas and besides acting as home to wild hares, people walk their dogs and in the summer few people occasionally work up a tan.

This morning as I enjoyed my tea, I suddenly saw what looked like a small white dog without a leash or master close by. Since it was far away I was not quite sure weather it was a dog, or something else. My guess was “something else”, and I was correct. The white spot now started moving, and revealed itself to be nothing less than a rabbit. Denmark has a lot of wild hares, but we have no wild rabbits roaming the nature. So the little fella had run away from home.

I think it would do well for some days or maybe more, but since it is not as agile as a hare, and not used to living outside, it would run into problems eventually. The weather is not in the best of moods these days, and it snows/rains on and off here in Denmark. In short; the little guy needed help soon to make it in my opinion.

So I called the misses and she went into one of her “ANIMAL!!!?” frenzies. C loves animals too, and likes to watch the wild hares working the grass. I guess I would never hear the end of it, and decided to go and capture it. On with the shoes and jacket and as expected it had not moved far. I soon found out that I may have been a tad optimistic, as it never allowed me to close. Always 5m ahead of me, and with access to private gardens close by, it dodged me. Sucks.

Back to the wife and try not to look a failure. Work was calling and I forgot about the rabbit hoping someone else captured it instead.

Later same day arriving from work the same thing happened. I had my cup of hot chaaaaa in the hand and gazed out the window. What meets the eye but our little friend. This time sitting inside one of the circular gardens. I rallied C and we brought 2 blankets to throw over the rabbit hoping to paralyze it. Even though we made this brilliant plan, the little sucker made its way to a private garden nearby. This time we got closer though. Still the blankets seemed like a bad idea.

Back to the apartment, and my mind was set on giving up. Of course the little bastard decides to come back ½ hour later. My wife was set on trying again, but I really was fed up and insisted on letting the rabbit wear itself out first. Then I remembered that I was the proud owner of 2 fishing nets. You know the kind to drag your catch up from the water after successfully hooking one. So off we went, now armoured with nets. 2nd try, and we got him.

So now we are the “proud” owners of this little buddy (the picture was taken immediately after the catch. Note that he is still wet from the rain, the poor thing):

He is extremely cute and lives in our kitchen. We made him a bed with a blanket and a cardboard box that fittingly arrived with the last of C’s clothes the day before. Somehow he likes to wet the floor and leave chewy tobacco thingies, but fortunately the kitchen floor can take it. We bought some rabbit food, and fed him apples, lettuce, carrot and water. He is still very shy, and like fat people he never eats when you watch. When he is alone, he does it with a vengeance though.

Someone must miss him. He seems well fed, and he must have slipped away from a family living nearby. Maybe a little girl or boy has sleepless nights these days, who knows. So we snapped a picture and made a paper poster with contact information. Yesterday we had a bike ride round the neighbourhood putting these in nearby shops and on a few lampposts close to our home.

Now all we can do is wait if someone calls to get him back. I don’t know what to do else. Maybe we have to keep him. I fear that the misses may begin to love the creature as the days goes. Not that I mind if we have to, but this spells more expenses to a fitting cage and possible stinky tofu on the floor once in a while.