Backyard wildlife (house, neighborhood, income) - Delaware (DE) - City-Data Forum

NYC refugee · 05-29-2017, 10:59 PM

Today was a bad day to be a bunny in my yard. I came home from the store to find a small dead rabbit in the space between my stoop and trash bins. It had a wound, not a life-threatening looking one, and another smaller, like a puncture (tooth?) wound and was not long gone, the poor thing. The H insisted on burying him and we tried to find a place at the end of the yard, away from where the mother and her unfortunate babies have been trying to make a life - so of course we disturbed a duck sitting eggs that we didn't even know was there behind the ditch lilies. That was when my heart dropped for the day.

Anyway, we managed a deep hole and put a concrete gargoyle on top to ward off both evil spirits and stray animals. Which brings me to the stray dog that runs through the neighborhood and all the yards and has done ever since I got here, and probably before. It seems like it had an owner, it's cute and not unkempt, but has no leash, no collar or tag, and no manners. There's also a cat that comes by with no collar, either, and I don't know if it's a pet or not. There was a stray picked up one town over that had rabies.

I don't want to be mean to strays any more than other wild things, but if they're going to kill my rabbits and upset my indoor cat, I wonder if I should call the town and see if they know these two.

I didn't see any other rabbits today.

longneckone · 05-29-2017, 11:12 PM

Animal Control may help you with a stray dog. I would seriously suggest next time you ssee a dead animal if you must move it pick it up with a shovel. Had that open wound been caused by a rabid animal YOU could contract rabies simply by touching it.

DelawareLiz · 05-30-2017, 07:07 AM

Sorry to hear this. As a rabbit lover, it saddens me to ever see a dead rabbit. I had two pet rabbits in a large, secure outdoor hutch many years ago and had trouble with two dogs that always escaped their yard and would harass my rabbits. I called animal control on them and also made the dogs' last visit to my yard a very unpleasant experience. They were aggressive to both people AND animals so they were basically a menace to society as a whole. Not dealing with that, especially when I had a young son at home at the time.

Animal control has been pretty good out my way as far as responding. The number I found online is (302) 255-4646 although it may have changed.

I now have my pet rabbit in my house and have for many years. I was sick of stray dogs and also a fox that kept bothering them. I haven't had a stray dog in my yard in years, but we get cats and I chase them away. They try to get my wild rabbits. Consider yourself lucky if you have a nest of more than one baby. Our rabbits that breed under our shed seem to either only have one baby at a time or else some are dying shortly after birth, possibly from all the lawn poison around here. It's been that way for a few years.....only one baby is born or survives. Very odd.

NYC refugee · 05-30-2017, 10:20 AM

Longneckone - I didn't pick that rabbit up bare-handed. I used gardening gloves and wrapped it in some paper towels; gloves went through the wash.

Beachliz - I have the same here, only one baby rabbit at a time. There were 2, but there was an incident with my neighbor and a lawnmower that I can't talk about (that was the day I met the vet and no doubt made quite an impression). But the one survived, and judging by the size, that was the one I found yesterday. The H saw the tiny new one this morning and that made me feel a little bit better. I had mentioned the litter size to a friend who said how odd to have only one at a time. But if you're a rabbit lover you probably read Watership Down and I think that's where I read about rabbits having some very amazing reproductive mechanisms, like being able to re-absorb embryos if conditions are poor for a litter to survive. So maybe your wild rabbits know what they're doing.

I called the town, who want me to call the police about a dog. I'm going to consider that for a while or maybe just try animal control instead. There's nothing to be done about the cat; it's OK in DE to have outdoor cats, so I also just go out and shoo it away when I see it.

1AngryTaxPayer · 05-30-2017, 10:24 AM

If it was fresh dead then whatever killed it was probably waiting for you to leave to finish it.

NYC refugee · 05-30-2017, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

If it was fresh dead then whatever killed it was probably waiting for you to leave to finish it.

I think you're right since I just took out recycling without putting the light on and something took off around the side of the house. And the only thing hovering yesterday was the dog. I called the town this morning and they said to call the police and I got annoyed and found the animal control number. I'll call in the morning. I only hesitate because people around here have tried coaxing the dog in and it's scared. I guess if it's healthy someone will adopt it.

NYC refugee · 06-03-2017, 12:25 PM

Rather than call the police, I've asked around and that little dog belongs to someone on the other side of the road. They claim it hops the fence and while most people around here are not thrilled with its antics, they haven't done anything about it. Again, I'm the incomer and if it wasn't for the rabbits, I could stand the dog running through once in a while. What to do?

DelawareLiz · 06-04-2017, 04:44 PM

Oh my....irresponsible pet owners, one of my pet peeves. We have a couple around here. Seems to be more and more common anymore. I find most of them aren't the brightest bulbs to begin with; therefore, talking to them is like talking to a brick wall. Personally, I'd call the authorities because my tolerance for bs and irresponsibility is slim to none anymore, especially as densely populated as my area has (sadly) become. What's sad is the dog is in danger of being hit by a car or--even worse--harmed by somebody who doesn't like dogs. However, it's obvious the owners don't care since this happens often.

NYC refugee · 06-05-2017, 06:57 PM

I'm still pondering this. I agree it's their problem to solve and I shouldn't have to put up with it, but this is a very small town and I'm not sure I want to - I'm not sure what to do with this. Open to suggestions.

NYC refugee · 06-16-2017, 10:47 PM

Question for BeachLiz: Would a backyard rabbit dig a nest and not use it? The H and I spent half an afternoon watching a rabbit munching around inside our dog fence (no dog, long gone) and finally she settled on a spot and got to digging. H said the next morning she was back digging some more. I know if she had young there that it's part of her job for us not to see her, and we haven't. If babies are there, how old do they have to be to emerge?