(June 22nd) Usually I have to go out searching hard for wildlife, but every once in a while it comes when you least expect it. For some reason while doing laundry today, I happened to look out on of the basement windows. This window is sunk beneath ground and has a small area (4 or 5 square feet) dug out just for it. Don't know why I looked - I have maybe looked out this window twice since I've been at the house. Trapped in the area was a very young Eastern Cottontail rabbit. This poor little guy had a tangle with something nasty - my guess would be a cat. He was in terrible shape, with one of his ears torn and a large bloody path on one of his sides where some fur and flesh was missing. To top things off, he was trapped down with no ready source of food or water. When I first spotted him, he looked like a wreck.
After I took a few pictures of him, my roommate and I set about freeing him while causing minimal stress to him (i.e. not directly touching him, etc.). After being freed he immediately seemed happier. He also was pretty oblivious to our presence - perhaps he was so hungry and thirsty that he didn't care. I took this shot shortly after his release. Normally I try for a nice clean subject, but here I like the look of him peeping out through the plants in the soft light.
As soon as he got his bearings, he proceeded to chow down. Almost any plant he could find was fair game. The area around our house doesn't get much sun late in the day, so most of the time he was in the shade. Good thing my flash usage is getting better, otherwise this shot would have been too flat.
After poking around in the shade, he finally found some of the few shafts of late sun we have. This shot is my favorite of him with its fantastic light. I like the bee flying in the image too - makes the suburban setting seem a bit more natural. As he went on his way, we hoped he makes it! It's a tough world out there for a little guy like him.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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