This is the miracle story of 6-abandoned baby wild bunnies and their attempted survival and the joy and understanding they are bringing to my life about nature, love and forgiveness. This is a true story!

(NOTE: If you find wild animals please don't take it upon yourself to bring them home with you; they are wild animals and need to stay in the wild. If they are injured or orphaned then it is always best to contact a wildlife rehabilitator in your area if that is possible )

At 48 years of age, having never been married, no siblings or children of my own, I never imagined in my wildest dreams what it would be like to have that experience, let alone being faced with having the responsibility of taking care of 6 abandoned baby bunnies who I literally just stumbled upon one day. Why was this happening? I never had that much of a thing for bunny rabbits I guess; ok, I mean I did love watching Bugs Bunny as a kid (who didn't! at least from my generation, uh um) and always felt a profound truth with his reasoning about life, and I often quoted his "Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive" bit. Other than that, except for collecting the occasional box of Royale tissues with the bunny rabbit on the side (ok I admit it, I took all of them ok, Shoppers Drug Mart please forgive me now you know who done dat). And 3 weeks ago, while out for a walk, I did rescue a small bunny that was being chased by a cat; unfortunately, he only survived for another day. So much for my attempted mothering skills, little did I know I was about to be in for one major challenge in the days ahead…

Last Tuesday, while cutting the grass I noticed what appeared to be a clump of bird feathers in the side yard so I stopped the mower and got a shovel to pick them up and give "whatever it was" a proper burial. When I went to dig under the pile, out from down under came a squeak. Somewhat startled, I delicately uncovered what appeared to be about 6 baby bunnies, barely 2 inches long and just barely below the surface, covered only by a clump of their mothers fur. They were likely only a few days old and I quickly re-covered them and left them alone. I had noticed a rabbit in the yard for several days' prior and I quickly put 2 and 2 together; mama rabbit was there taking care of them.

The next night around 5PM, I saw mama rabbit nursing them for the first time and she spent only about 20 minutes with them. First, she slowly circled the area to make sure there was no evident danger and then approached the nest in a rather nonchalant manner and proceeded to remove the fur from the top of the den. After nursing was done, some 15 minutes later, she ever so carefully recovered them with her fur and left the area as inconspicuously as she came. I was rather curious at this point about the short time she spent with them and in my research I noted this was supposedly "normal behavior," the prime directive being that she does not want to attract undue attention to her den. That kind of made sense to me but I had some questions and concerns about her baby's safety being in what could be a shallow grave in the right condition.

That was the last night I saw mama rabbit. Prior to that night, I had seen her in the yard every day for several days, so then the questions began to arise; what happened to her? Was she alive? Is she injured? Did she abandon her babies and most importantly, what am I going to do with 6 wild baby bunnies in my side yard! (Major panic SOMEONE HELP ME!) My neighbor had the perfect solution, or so he thought and it was just to let the neighbor's cat take care of the problem for me! - But being a humanitarian, animal lover and fan of Bugs Bunny, that obviously wasn't going to work very well for me…

In the next couple days, I tried to watch the den as best as I could, looking out for their safety and trying to discern if mama had been back to the den or not. Surely I could have missed her somehow? All the research I had done was saying those exact same things but something felt not quite right to me about it. I then had a rather insightful idea to put some leaves on top of the den and check to see if they were disturbed or not in the morning - that way I would know if she was there or not! If the leaves were disturbed (Like Lieutenant Columbo's use of putting a toothpick in the door jam to see if the door had been previously opened, I digress, old 1970's tv show in case anyone really wants to know..), then chances are they were in good hands and mama had been there! Or so I thought. On the next morning, nothing appeared disturbed from the previous night and no sign of mama rabbit during the day either.

I watched the nest as best I could that day and noticed a chipmunk approaching the den and when he almost got on top of the den, a bird (it was a grackle or starling), swooped down towards the den and knocked the chipmunk off! Startled, the chipmunk high tailed it out of there and quick. Wow, I was thinking, did that really just happen? I was aware of some young adolescent starlings in the area but this seemed to be quite the "coincidence;" was it possible these babies were also being looked after by Mother Nature I wondered?

The next morning, while looking out the door window, I spotted some movement near the den and dashed out to find 3 baby bunnies outside! Wow they were still alive - This was in fact the first time I had seen them outside the den! So I just had to know about the others and decided to peek inside… slowly peeling back some of mama's fur, I spotted 3 more alive and well and obviously thinking to themselves that I wasn't mama! (Like no kidding!)

Since my pile of leaves on top of the den hadn't been disturbed yet again overnight, I was feeling the desire to at least improve their living conditions somewhat. The layer of fur on top of their den offered no protection for them whatsoever from predators and the forces of nature and the den was rather small for 6 babies so I felt guided to make it larger inside by scooping out as much dirt as I could from around the sides and I had the idea to put a roof on the den at the same time. In looking around for roofing solutions I came across a small concrete block that I had left over from doing some garden edging a few years back and it worked perfectly and almost like it was waiting there to be used for that exact purpose! It was covering the entire top of the den and was heavy enough so most predators could not move it and grab a quick lunch, at the very least. Also, by leaving the den where it was I figured it was the best solution for mama to reunite with her babies again, if it was meant to be and I wasn't going to interfere with that.

I was still very worried about what else I should do or not do for them - Offering some better protection for them was one thing but I knew that without their mama, the chances for survival would be quite poor if they were in fact to survive at all. Indications were at that point that mama was at least on an extended vacation. I mean who wouldn't need one with 6 babies to look after right? That day was Fathers day, last Sunday and I made the executive decision then to take on a surrogate mother role and at least try to supplement their food supply as well. It's common knowledge that youngsters need milk, the fatty acids are in fact essential for proper cell growth. All the research was saying if mama's milk is not available, the next best thing is to give them regular goats milk. So off to local grocery the store it was. The babies were very reluctant to take the goats milk initially and I'm sure my delivery mechanism wasn't quite as good as mama's but they eventually did take some when they were given not a lot of choice. I also supplemented their diet with shredded carrots and spinach as well and they absolutely adored the carrots especially.

Yesterday morning found the baby rabbits safely around the den and during the day a couple ventured off nearly 20 feet away into some shrubs and one managed to get through the fence to the other side. I let him be for a short while but thinking he had been gone too long I went searching for him and found him sitting under a bush. As I approached him he quickly remembered where his home was and scampered through the fence and much quicker than I could do it. (I mean I wasn't going to climb over the fence right?). But fast little fellow indeed and I think he knew his "surrogate parent" was in no mood to argue the point. I took it upon myself to feed the 5 that were there with some goat's milk early afternoon but none of them wanted any and I barely made any progress with that…

Number 6, as I call him was missing for most of the day in fact and that good ole song from Doris Day kept playing in my head "what will be will be que sera sera". I know I can't and possibly wasn't meant to save all of them, I kept telling myself. And oh how I wondered how mamas do it! And it's only been a few days at this point! That evening while feeding the Group of 5 some shaved carrot, suddenly from nowhere and like a bolt of lightening I see something coming in, fast and low to the ground. As I tried to focus and lock in on the object, it was the long lost #6 and he looked hungry, "watch out you guys" I'm sure he was saying! He joined in the feast with the others and all was well.

The later evening hours of last night were really special. I touched the water dish I left out for them and made a small splash in the water and they all came a running and a couple even jumped in! woooohooo What was it that this guy was showing us? I'm sure they asked, but it felt cool and on a hot day not a bad place to hang out for awhile! After that it was feeding time at the zoo and every one of them wanted some goats milk! Who could have figured and alas it wasn't that they didn't previously like it or want it but there was a right time for it and early evening was it! So I am learning how to be a mama and they are the ones teaching me how to be just that. After their playtime in the bath and supper they came over to me and appeared to offer their appreciation of what I had done for them, at least that is what it felt like. It was one of the most special moments with them to date. (If you haven't seen the video of fun in the water you will want to check it out.) This morning, and fairly early around 8AM as I approached the den the famous group of 5 came outside to greet me and they came ready to eat so I gave them some more shaved carrot and spinach. Where #6 was, I didn't want to know, but was hoping he was still sleeping from his extended adventures from yesterday. Our famous starling was also squawking in the backyard and he was alerting me to a cat that was there so I managed to scare him away. Sooner or later I may lose one or more or even all of them, as I can't watch over them continuously but I figure whatever happens will be and I've made peace with that.

Tonight, again most of the babies were home for the usual meal time cerimony, except for #6 who came strolling in shortly after roll call. Being such a hot day (94 F) I was worried they may all suffer from heat stroke. All of them were extremely hungry and I in fact had to refill my milk container 3 times!

 

 

Thursday June 21, 2012 - I checked on the babies about 8:20AM this morning and around the den there was complete silence.... I almost didn't want to know if they had survived the night but just then I see some movement in the bushes and one little fellow came back for a snack. I held my breath as I checked the den for casualties but they all had left. Again today is very hot, like 94 F right now so fingers crossed they all make it through this....

At tonight's supper there were only 2 bunnies in attendance. No doubt this "mutiny" had been organized by Number 6, I'm sure! The rest failed to show up and upon the onset of darkness, the situation failed to change. It was a couple rough days for them, temperature wise, for sure and hopefully they all managed to survive, wherever they are. Will see what the morning brings.

Friday, June 22, 2012 - I checked on the den fairly early this morning, shortly after 7AM, and found one bunny searching for his breakfast and I was eager to facilitate that. Upon inspecting the den I had found no other bunnies. This little guy spent some time munching away on some carrot and washed it all down with a gulp of goat's milk and shortly thereafter bolted for the bushes and trees towards the property line. It was as if he wanted me to know he was just as independent as the others and I had the feeling I may not see any of them for supper as they had more interesting things to do. After running some errands this afternoon and visiting Shoppers Drug Mart, I needed to buy some Tissues and upon searching through several crates of Royale tissue, there were none with the picture of the bunny rabbit on them! This was like a message to me about something I already knew...

Shortly past 4PM the same bunny, probably the smallest of the pack, was back for an early meal. After that, I was out for supper myself and when I came back I spotted a cat, in a stalking position, about 3 feet in front of the den. I scared him away ( I MEAN I REALLY SCARED HIM AWAY .... I SCARED MYSELF AS WELL) and checked the den but no bunnies were there. Since it's almost dark it looks like this will be the first night the den is completely empty. And yes, I got the feeling this cat did not get any tasty treats, but of course it's just a feeling.... Will see what the morning brings...

Saturday, June 23, 2012 - I had a very restless night and I guess I had my mind on how the bunnies were doing so I only managed to get a couple hours of sleep. How mothers do it, I don't know, but I have a pretty good idea how they feel about the safety of their kids... I checked on the den shortly past 7AM and found our usual bunny waiting for his breakfast. It was so good to see him waiting there! I haven't picked a name for him yet but think Timothy is appropriate as he has a bit of a timid type nature and he reminds me somewhat of myself. (likes to explore around the area but also appreciates the safety and comfort of his own home). I'm so happy to know the cat didn't get him last night. Tonight, as usual, Timothy is back home again like clockwork. There have been no signs of the other bunnies since they left the den... (Part of me still wants to call 911.)

Sunday, June 24, 2012 - There has been no sign of Timothy so far today. When I took a surveillance walk around the property this morning I didn't see much of anything until I walked by the side flowerbed and noticed a lot of multi-colored flies the area. I knew these to be the variety you see when there is usually something dead close by. Upon further inspection, I found *something* but not entirely sure what that something is (In the state it was in I wasn't going to get that close as I would practically have to take it in for forensic analysis to find out!) For sure it was not that recent due to the state of decay and certainly not little Tim but I won't speculate about that right now.

The last bunny I named Timothy has passed away and I have a candle out for his memory tonight. I found him in the den this afternoon and it appeared to be "natural" causes. I grew very close to Timothy for the very short duration of time that I knew him. He had a very distinct personality and we grew very close. I certainly didn't have a name for him or any of the other bunnies in the beginning, but during several feeding sessions with all of the

bunnies, he was the only one who would snuggle up next to me very close and on one occasion he almost fell asleep by my side. The other bunnies didn't care for human contact that much but Timothy seemed to really enjoy it. He didn't act like a bunny at all and had more human like qualities. He was quite shy and reserved and it was almost like we knew each other somehow; there were no words to describe it …

Little did I know that last Sunday I would be doing a "bunny blog" about my experiences with these wonderful animals of the wild and sharing some of the insights I have had directly because of them. (I have yet to spell any of that out but will soon for those who are interested). With that said, I know everyone is not going to agree, approve or appreciate what I'm doing or saying and that is perfectly fine and it is as it should be. This little blog is for people who do have a desire to follow this story and know more about some of the insights that I have been given from these beautiful little creatures. They have in fact, given me plenty to reflect upon in such a very short period of time, and for that I am extremely grateful to them. (I found them not even 2 weeks ago now in fact)

I did receive one negative comment this morning from a "gentleman" who didn't appreciate what I was doing here, who left what I considered to be inappropriate comments, so I removed them. I will simply say that my intent is to share a story that has touched and deeply affected my life. If you don't resonate with the story that is perfectly fine, but please be respectful of my and others views and find something that does interest you and I wish you all the very best. I will also say for those of you who do feel touched by this story, (and if you feel motivated) that you may want to consider donating or volunteering to your local wildlife rescue organization or any place that deals with animals like a local animal shelter. Most of these organizations operate on donations or very little funding and can use your support!

Animals are wonderful as they allow us to be who we are, they never judge us, they love unconditionally no matter what race, sex, religion or belief system that we have. Clearly, we can learn something from them if we decide to listen to what they are trying to tell us. The messages are sometimes very subtle of course and given in ways that we don't always understand and I will be providing some interesting insight that I have had in the next couple or few days.

Monday June 25, 2012 - "Coincidences"

Timothy's death yesterday affected me a great deal. I'm not one to usually admit these types of things but it had a profound effect upon me and I was quite sad, shaken up and feeling like a "failure" that I had let him down in some way. I was very sure that since he stayed close to the den for the longest time, that his chances for survival would be the best of any of the 6 bunnies and his passing made very little sense to me… Since yesterday, I keep constantly looking out the window for signs of the other bunnies as a "distraction" of sorts, but so far there have been no traces of any of them; it's as if they all disappeared into a different dimension or something. Just how do 5 small baby bunny rabbits just disappear like that?

The past 2 weeks have felt more like a "dream" than anything "real" and as I look out into the yard several times a day and see the vacant den, I realize that it was all quite real. I could NOT have written a script like this, not nearly this good anyway with my limited writing skills and otherwise very poor imagination. (Working with computers a lot will do that to you!) I have always believed there is a lot of truth to the statement: "the truth is stranger than fiction." I realize this now more than ever, as understanding what happened to me in the past 2 weeks has been like trying to assemble a million-piece jigsaw puzzle.

As a child I was always very curious and asked a lot of questions about everything (and for some things I never got suitable answers that made any sense.) At times I was sure that there just had to be something more to it! I just "knew it" and I didn't know how I even knew that but I did! Since then, I've had a lot of amazing realizations and understandings about many things that were previously unexplained to me. I am most grateful for that but I always lacked having my own personal experiences for a lot of things. It was something that "just didn't happen to me" and it was like graduating from college without having anything that would be useful to use in the real world.

I have been trying now, for some time, to pay more attention to when things "don't quite make sense" (or add up??) and look for deeper understandings of why that is and if there is "more to the story" as the expression goes. From day one, this entire experience with the bunnies made me think about that a great deal. And then there were the never-ending stream of "coincidences" happening over and over and over again. There was no possible way they could be just meaningless "coincidences" without further meaning...

UPDATE: Last night a neighbor came to my door with one of the baby bunnies! She rescued her from the neighbor's cat and fortunately she seems to be ok for the most part. She is here with me now and I will keep her here with me and only release her when I know she has a better chance to survive. I have named her "Melissa" in honor of a close friend from Texas who is helping me correct my "syntax and graphical errors." I will post a picture of her shortly.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - Melissa has passed away tonight in my arms. I had her outside today in a small pen for a short while and she must have eaten a poisonous plant. There were some closer to the house and I checked where I put her but she must have found a small piece or something. I have also determined the other animal in the flowerbed was likely one of the other bunny rabbits and most likely died from the same cause. I am rather upset about this and will make sure I eradicate all of the poisonous flowers completely. (It was Lily of the Valley and known to be quite toxic, I just didn't think anything would try to eat it and I figured it out but not soon enough unfortunately).

UPDATE: I was able to confirm that there were a couple very small leaves from the Lily of the Valley plants where Melissa was so there is no doubt this was the cause of her death. These plants multiply and spread mainly from roots and they are very well established in the area where they are. They also spread out into the lawn as well, where I didn't initially see them, so it will be a challenge to remove all of them but it will be done. I have added a photo showing the side of the house and flowerbed where the plants spread and in fact completely took over, all the way up too and past a purple clematis plant. I am also going to advise anyone who has these plants to get rid of them, especially if you have young children, pets or if you're an animal lover. They are quite beautiful when they are in bloom but very deadly when consumed. I found out too late…

Wednesday June 27, 2012 - Timothy's Death, Greater Meanings and My "Experience"

I have always believed that our lives had meaning and purpose and that goes for every man, woman and child on this planet; no matter how long or short our life, and that includes our wild and domestic animal friends as well. I don't know why I believed that but it was more of a "knowing" than anything else and I also believed that our lives continued on after physical death, at least in some way, shape, or form.

I believed Timothy's short life had meaning as well even though I wasn't sure of what that purpose was exactly, I had a feeling that he would teach me something or contribute to my life in some way. Sunday, being unaware of where Timothy was, I set out to run an errand in the early afternoon. After I came home I sat down and at exactly 3PM I scanned the TV program guide and I found the movie "Ghost" starting on one of the movie channels. I had noted the unusual timing "coincidence" right away, as I can't ever remember hitting the start of a movie like that so "bang on." I hadn't seen this movie in its entirety since it first came out in 1990 but it was one I could not ever forget, and it was one of my favorite movies of all time. The acting by Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg was not only brilliant (IMHO) but the movie had special meaning to me for what it conveyed about the meaning of "life after death" and I decided to watch it again.

Several minutes into the movie, I start to become aware of *something*, it was some presence of a sort, I could not identify it or even describe it but it seemed to be some sort of "nonphysical energy," for lack of a better term. I could not see it or hear it with any of my regular 5-senses but I was clearly sensing "something" and this was again a knowing but it was as real as if I was actually seeing it with my own 2-eyes. I have never experienced anything quite like that before! I always gave myself credit for being about as "psychic as a rock," as the expression goes, but nonetheless I experienced some form of intelligence, that is the only way I can describe it. I don't know where it came from or where it went, only that it seemed to communicate its presence to me somehow and for some reason. That is the only thing I understood about what had just happened and I labeled it as being "weird or what" and I returned my attention to the movie.

During one commercial break, I had the inkling to go check the den since I hadn't seen Timothy all day. That was when I found his lifeless body in the den; he had passed away. Was what I experienced during the movie "him" or what was left of "him"? That I cannot say for sure but since I've never experienced anything like that before it was quite the so-called "coincidence"…

Thursday June 28, 2012 - Melissa's Death, Repeating Patterns and Digging Deeper

Melissa's death was also extremely difficult for me and I felt totally and completely responsible for her death and for what happened to her. I've never been that close to the death process before, holding this little one so closely while she literally exhaled her last breath. I felt an almost inconsolable amount of sadness about it and yet I was also realizing at the same time, that there was a greater meaning to what had just happened. I knew I was meant to be a part of this and experience this process for some reason. It was also rather obvious to me that I was not going to find any answers for any of this, by looking at this from purely a "physical perspective," (dead is dead right) I was going to have to look "below the surface" to find the deeper meaning of what was going on…

On one level, most certainly I needed to take steps to eradicate the poisonous plant from the environment; that was indeed a given as there was no telling how many animals ended their life this way and the repeating pattern and cycle of death just had to stop. In doing some research on how to get rid of the plant, it seemed there were only 2 methods; using poison or digging it out by the root, the latter being a very labor and time intensive process… Using poison to kill a poisonous plant sounded like poetic justice to me alright but it also felt like saying two wrong's make a right and it didn't feel like the appropriate solution to me, at least not in this case. Removing the plant by the roots was going to take more time but it would ensure I wasn't doing any more harm to the environment and other animals and the process would also be somewhat cathartic and healing for me as well. The fact that local trash pickup was also one day away seemed to be one more sign that this was how I needed to proceed with this.

As I tried to pull out some of the plants and roots, most stems broke off before the root so I knew it was not going to be possible to remove them without going below the surface so I got a shovel and pitchfork and I started the process. An hour or so into the process, and with a stack of roots starting to build on the surface that was starting to look like an amazing piece of engineering, I realized how the plants got there in the first place. (Where I live now is in fact the same house I grew up in for almost all of my childhood, and I returned here almost 7 years ago now.) As a small boy, I had in fact found some of these plants one day while out in a field behind the house and I decided to transplant some to the (back-left) corner of the house. These plants slowly grew and spread over 40 or so years to where they are now. By looking at the rather amazing large mass of interconnected roots, they in fact choked the living life out of almost all the other plants that were in the area. How interesting I thought…

As I continued to dig and pile the plants and roots I was amazed to find a small tire from a toy truck that I used to have as a young boy. It was quite small but stood out sitting on top of the soil now having being dug up with the massive pile of roots that it resided in and I noted again the rather amazing coincidence of finding it there. While clearing out more plants that were closer to the back of the house, I also noticed a metal plant stand that was hidden behind the old TV tower. It had 2 plant hooks and on the top it had 2 rabbit symbols as a decoration. How ironic I thought, and I was pretty sure I was starting to have some idea of where this was going but I was just scratching the surface…

Friday June 29, 2012 - For the past 3 days I've been working on digging up the massive root system and as of today it's almost completely gone. 3-gigantic ~50 gallon garbage bags full and I wouldn't hesitate to say it's close to 100 pounds. Again, I've never seen such a mass of interconnected roots and it seems quite symbolic of what I'm starting to look at...

 

Tuesday July 3, 2012 "Reflections"

Sunday evening while out for a walk, and some distance away from where I live, I had noticed a bunny rabbit in a large field, grazing away at the vegetation. He was at least 500 feet away from me, but as I stopped to watch him for a couple minutes, he came scurrying towards me fairly quickly and ended up about eight feet in front of me. He was then just sitting there and curiously staring at me; how unusual I thought as I continued with my walk, another strange "coincidence" in a list already too long that dated back to the first day of finding the bunny den. It seems to me now that finding the den was "meant to happen;" it's something I can't explain, but it makes complete sense to me now. In looking back, mama rabbit was always in the area and "wanted me to find it" and to help protect and care for her babies. It was as if this whole thing was planned or scripted in some way, but of course I was only an actor in the play as it unfolded in front of my eyes. (There were so many more "coincidences" that I didn't mention in this journal and I can only say that to me they were like a type of red flag telling me that there were deeper meanings to explore…)

I had a lot of satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment removing all of the poisonous flowers and I managed to remove the entire mass of roots as well as tracing down and removing every single shoot that was spreading out into the lawn. I knew that the situation with the baby bunnies was trying to tell me a lot more; there were deeper meanings to all of it and the initial question of why this was happening was starting to become much more obvious. All of the so-called "coincidences" and symbolism were in fact showing some aspects of myself that I needed to look at, find forgiveness for, heal, or inspire me to change in some way. Without going into my childhood, very little of it in fact would make any sense.

While I was always given what I needed from a physical perspective, food, shelter, money, etc. I was nurtured very little and generally unsupported as a child and I was rarely if ever told or felt that anyone cared or loved me. (I know that they did, at least in their own way, just that it was rarely if ever expressed verbally or physically.) In many ways I felt abandoned, at least emotionally abandoned and my parents didn't understand me and I never got to stand on my own strengths around them and I learned how to disregard my own feelings in order to survive. I could not deny how closely the situation was being mirrored with the baby bunnies, at least in several respects. My initial questions about whether mama rabbit loved her babies or not and whether she abandoned them was in fact paralleling what I experienced as a child myself. In nurturing them I was also nurturing myself, something that I was not accustomed to as a child. I was also very overprotected growing up and being in the situation of having to care for the bunnies, I could understand all too well those maternal feelings of doing whatever it takes to protect your children and this situation has allowed me to make peace with the circumstances from the past.

The deaths of at least two of the bunny rabbits, (by consuming the poisonous plant,) also had a lot more symbolic meaning to me as well. The fact that I transplanted the poisonous plants there as a child also had meaning as it accurately represented the "poisonous" environment in which I grew up, at least from a symbolic perspective. This also closely paralleled my mother's death back in 2007 when she took some medication that resulted in her kidneys being "poisoned" and shutting down. (She survived for a number of months after this and I helped take care of her after an almost never-ending amount of blood transfusions, followed by continued dialysis, three times a week. She eventually developed multiple myeloma, a form of blood cell plasma cancer and she eventually passed away from complications due to pneumonia…)

Like the bunnies, I also had felt responsible for my mom's death (and even though I advised her against taking the medication at the time), it was my feeling that I should have been able to prevent her death somehow and I had felt some guilt over that. It was my feeling that the experience with the bunnies was meant for me to look at all of this quite differently in fact and I was being given another chance to do just that. My feelings of "being a failure" were in fact a pretty big theme in my life at times as well and it was again in front of my face with the deaths of the baby bunnies. Having the "mystical" experience with Timothy's passing and experiencing Melissa's last breath were telling me that we have a very limited understanding of death; it is simply a transition to another realm and existence. The situation with the bunnies was showing me that I needed to make peace with it and forgive myself for all of it, including of course my mom's death. Timothy's death was also symbolic and it gave me the insight that I needed to move on with my life and that a change was in order…

I'm certainly not saying that the only reason for the bunny's existence was to symbolically "reflect" these things to me, but it became fairly obvious to me right from the very beginning that they were showing me things about myself that I needed to look at and for that I am very grateful.

Friday, July 06, 2012 - Epilogue

Sometimes, despite our best intentions to help abandoned or injured animals all doesn't go as we had hoped or planned. At times it can be difficult to believe that there could be any deeper meaning to everything "bad" that happens, but I firmly believe that there are no such things as "coincidences," and that everything, good and bad, happens for a reason and has meaning. If nothing else, my experiences with the baby bunnies have shown me just that and a great deal more.

I really enjoyed my time with the bunnies and there is nothing I would not have done for them, in retrospect and I tried to find a balance of protecting them while allowing them their personal freedom. When I first found the six babies, I had a feeling they would offer something to my life, but I really didn't know or understand the extent of how true that would be. For some things, I had to really search for the answers to what it all meant but in retrospect, it really wasn't all that difficult and it was more about having an open mind and heart to see what they were showing me. In most cases, they were showing me some reflection or part of myself that I needed to make peace with, heal, forgive or take as some sort of divine message or guidance. It's also been about finding and trusting my own personal power again, self-acceptance, guidance and inner knowing. For me, this experience has been a divine gift and it will be one I never will forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short Tails of 6-abandoned baby wild bunnies

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