This desert cottontail hare is n’t Jackson , but it sure calculate like him .
I take it as an honour when a furious beast choose my curtilage as its home . Whether they’refinchesnesting in the eaves of the house or westerly fence lizard hanging out under the tack shed , I feel blessed when a wild critter palpate comfortable enough to survive in my presence .
So when Randy and I discovered Jackson , we were very excited . I ’m not sure why , since desert cottontail are as common as weeds in Southern California . But the fact that one chose our little farm as his preferred place makes our house feel more like a home .
Jackson — named by Randy , who divines brute monikers from some other - worldly seed — spends most of his meter in the Canis latrans brushing on the slope at the back of our dimension . Three pepper trees tower over the light touch , provide shade to the copse ’s dim book binding .
to come down to the independent part of the G where he can nibble on the horses ’ hay or graze on the back lawn , Jackson has to bound down from the Benny Hill over a 3 - foot retain fall that holds the hill in place . Not a problem for a angry cottontail . What ’s fun is watching him jump the other fashion , from the ground up , over the bulwark and into the skirmish . Seeing him easily leap six times his body length in a single bound have me appreciate the athleticism of little bunnies .
Although Jackson is very comfortable living in our yard , he had to work thing out with our Corgi first . The yard belongs to Nigel , who is our only domestic dog . He has appointed himself the farm lookout , chase off pigeon that make bold land on the cap of the house and alerting us to every mortal who strolls by with a dog . hold on Jackson in line is another of his self - appointed task .
Nigel has decide it ’s okay for Jackson to stroll around the back part of the K , where the horses live . But heaven help that rabbit if he sets foot on the lawn . If Nigel see Jackson on the grass , he dashes at him with speed you would n’t think a dog with such myopic legs could muster up . The chase terminate rapidly , because the minute Jackson ’s human foot collide with the dirt beyond the lawn , Nigel quit . He has no desire to make a repast out of Jackson . He just want him off the lawn .
Every afternoon when the sun begin to go down , Jackson makes his appearance in the horse area . He eye me conservatively as I do my knight chores ; he does n’t execute off like he used to . He ’s in the end figured out I not only wo n’t hurt him , but I like him being here . If I ’m feeling particularly generous , I ’ll lure Nigel into the house so Jackson can spend sentence on the weed without assault . Nigel would n’t be glad to discover this , but I require Jackson to always experience welcome here — even on the lawn .
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