As the recent snows recede, we’re finding all sorts of signs of animal activity that’s been brewing below. It’s no wonder I’m already having a tough time getting Lilly to come inside (a warm-weather phenomenon, for those new to her unique behavior patterns). Behold, the mighty hunter. Rabbit and vole season is well underway.
Lilly has somehow slid the flagstones at the base of the middle pasture shed so that she can get a better look at the rabbit den we suspect is under there. I WISH I could get a bunny’s-eye view of what they see when she noses in (ahem, I mean observes the tasty wildlife).
I found one observation point on each side of the shed, and I’ve watched her move from one to the next just sniffing, smiling, and wagging.
She’ll definitely click into predator mode, if she sees a rabbit out in the open and it runs, but mostly, she just watches them kind of like TV, I guess.
The voles have been busy as well in the snow softened ground. Look at these little highways. The ankle-turning risk is high because these mounds collapse easily, so we have to be careful when we play and run around.
Our poor pups. They keep trying even when they always come up empty handed. Perhaps a lesson in tenacity.
Keep those ankles safe!
My dog, R, never stops his hunting all winter long. However, I think that he’s finally learning to accept that he may never catch a tree squirrel. But, those ground squirrels (saw my first one recently), chipmunks, and rabbits had better watch out!
Signs of spring are so nice… even if they make Lilly harder to herd inside!
My dogs are at it already too!