The Chihuahua and the Cottontail    

 

Each morning as the sun peeks over the mesquites in Gransie’s Gardens, Merry dances down the steps and out the gate for her morning run.  With her graceful Chihuahua-esque moves, she herds three to five uninvited guests out of the yard and into the pasture beyond the barbed wire fence.

Who, you might ask, would dare to congregate on Merry’s turf?

Why, it’s a rather large family, in fact, several generations of cottontails.

At dusk, the “stars” step on stage once more and repeat the morning performance with precision.  The mockingbirds, dove, and hummingbirds cheer them on from their perches high above.

It’s a good life!

Predictable.  On schedule.  Lots of exercise. 
No one gets hurt.

They’re living each day just as the next—anticipating tomorrow will be just like the day before.

Then, one scorching summer day, things changed.  Merry pranced out of the yard to chase the intruders away, ran them under the fence, and turned to skip back for her breakfast treat.  But something caught her attention, and she turned to see one of the cottontails hopping after her.

What?  Who did this bunny think she was?

Merry pursued the rabbit again.  She hopped away and ducked into a large prickly pear patch.  Of course, this Chihuahua was feeling very proud of herself, and she dashed through the garden doing figure eights as Gransie clapped and cheered.

When Merry reached the steps, Gransie pointed and whispered, “Merry, I think you have a visitor.”

That rabbit had followed her and stood right at the open gate, wiggling her bunny nose and her soft white tail.

The little dog ran out after her, and the two went back and forth across the field with Merry in hot pursuit and the cottontail, Honey Bunch,

scurrying just ahead of her.

Gransie couldn’t believe her eyes!  This must be one bold rabbit.  Most of them ran away and hid, but this cottontail was fierce.  Honey Bunch, Gransie’s name for bunny, would wait until Merry was almost to her in a full run, then she’d jump straight up in the air.  The dog would pass right under and stop when she realized the bunny wasn’t in front of her.

Something strange was going on here!  Gransie decided to get to the bottom of it.  She began to look around the gardens and was surprised to find a hole in the middle of the yard.  With a stem from a daylily, Gransie carefully pushed back dirt, grass, and balls of hair.  There, deep inside, she found three baby bunnies, snug as bugs in a rug.

Gransie and Merry had to have a little talk!  These must be Honey Bunch’s babies.  She was trying to get the Chihuahua to run after her so she’d leave her baby bunnies alone.  Gransie shared the new found treasure with her little friend and told her the hole must not be disturbed.

Merry changed her morning and evening dances to include a little warm-up beside the rabbit hole.  Well, a little change is good for every one of God’s creatures!  She’d look inside, take two or three sniffs and circle the hole twice.

Oh, yes, Merry would make her usual passes to scatter the rabbits…all except for Honey Bunch, who always had surprise moves and secret trails to lead her away from the babies.

The saga of the Chihuahua and the cottontail went on for days and into weeks.  The babies were safe, and the performers were happy in their roles.   One day, however, Merry circled the hole and turned to Gransie with a questioning look.  Gransie checked inside and the baby bunnies were gone.

Merry ran out of the garden.  There was Honey Bunch awaiting their morning chase.  Merry quickly followed her to the fence.  She backed away and stood staring under the boughs of a cedar.  Gransie had followed and peeked beneath the tree to see what was happening.  Three baby bunnies were sitting underneath with their mama.  Merry wasn’t moving a muscle.

Had Honey Bunch finally introduced her to the triplets?

Oh, how Gransie wished she could hear what they were saying to each other through the old fence.

          Thank you for being kind to my babies.

          You know, we aren’t so different!

          We can all live together and be friends.

          Really…new adventures make life more fun.

Merry turned and trotted to the porch, and Gransie was sure that she saw a smile on the Chihuahua’s face.

Time went by, the rabbits grew up, and Merry still has her daily runs through the gardens to chase the cottontails.  But, there’s one special bunny who always comes to challenge her and keep her on her toes.

A family dog and a wild cottontail faced off as enemies and became friends.  And they taught Gransie some special lessons about life.