Mortified and traumatized - please hold me. (warning-graphic content)

[progmom]

I heard a ruckus coming from the back yard so I went and looked out the window. Crows had found a nest of baby bunnies. I watched one crow peck a struggling baby bunny to death. Another crow flew by with a wriggling, bloody bunny carcass in its beak.

The mother rabbit showed up in my backyard, obviously on high alert, listening to sounds from the yard next door. She suddenly bolted, zipped under the fence, and chased off the crows. She was too late, though. And now she is sitting in the middle of the neighbor's back yard, where the nest used to be, sniffing the air and pawing the ground and breaking my heart. :cry:

[BiggJawn]

1. wow.....

:hug:

Nature can be brutal sometimes....

[progmom]

8. thanks, BiggJawn

Yeah. Nature can be brutal. :cry:

[Trigger Hippie]

2. Oh, that's so sad.

Poor bunnies

:cry:

[XNASA]

3. Don't fret. Those things multiply like.....

....rabbits.

[johnnie]

4. Sad, but that's the nature of things

I have been in situations where it killed me to watch nature take it's course.

[Shell Beau]

5. OMG!! How sad!

It sucks to see that shit happen in front of your eyes! Crows can be vicious too!

On a lighther note, the rate at which bunnies do the deed, the mama will have some new ones shortly!

Here have a hug!!:pals: :hug:

[jilln]

17. right, babies are replaceable...

no animals have feelings or brains or anything like that, probably not even nerves so I'm sure the baby bunnies didn't feel a thing, the mother is just going through her robotic grieving process.... ie, in other words, could your answer BE any more insensitive?

[progmom]

19. I actually thought Shell's response was sweet.

But yours is too. Thanks for understanding why I am so worked up about this. :hug:

[Shell Beau]

28. Thank you! It was certainly meant to be sweet!

I only cry in movies when animals are hurt or injured, so I know it must be tough to witness the real thing! I was just trying to make you laugh!! I know you understand! :hug:

[Shell Beau]

25. Oh! Please! I was trying to lift her spirits.

Sometimes laughter is good for the soul! You know the joke about rabbits multiplying? I wasn't insinuating anything that your post suggests. Get over yourself!

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Life in the animal kingdom

sucks sometimes, doesn't it?

[sundog]

10. beat me to it

natural order x(

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I'll let you have the next one

You seem nice enough. :)

[Deja Q]

7. All predatory species should cease to exist.

They kill all the nice ones. :cry:

[progmom]

11. I know it's nature.

I just wish it didn't happen to bunnies. x(

[Zuni]

48. or kittens, or baby harp seals

every animal is prey for something. Sad and I wish we didn't see it

[Beware the Beast Man]

9. Poor dear.

:hug:

Such is the law of the jungle. But still...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. My dear progmom......

How horrible...never mind that this is how nature is, some of the time. It is too much for us to absorb. I'm so sorry that you had to witness these horrible deaths.

Wish I could be there to deliver these hugs in person: :hug: :hug:

[progmom]

13. thanks peggy

the virtual hugs helped too. :hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. My pleasure....

Take care, Jessica.....:loveya:

[Richardo]

15. Sorry you had to see that...

:hug:

[Left Is Write]

16. Ohhhh....that's so sad.

I know that sort of thing happens, but witnessing it must have been difficult.

[progmom]

20. I wanted to help...but by the time I realized what was happening...

it was long past too late. :cry:

[Misunderestimator]

18. OHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no

:cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

[progmom]

24. thank you

i'm so sad. :cry:

watching the mother bunny now is tearing my heart out.

[Misunderestimator]

27. I have no idea what I'd do if I saw that....

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

[ernstbass]

21. How awful

I would feel traumatized if I witnessed that - consider yourself hugged!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. Poor bunnies!

Poor Progmom! :cry::hug:

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

26. What about the poor struggling baby crows?

Don't they have a right to live too?

[progmom]

29. devil's advocate? sick humor?

big fan of crows?

[Misunderestimator]

32. It is called a Murder of Crows...

now we know why...

[progmom]

35. holy shit - you're right

:scared:

[chickenscratching]

30. oh, dearest

:hug:

[Bunny]

31. Oh that's awful!

What an awful thing to see! :cry: :hug:

[gardenista]

33. !@#$% Crows!

I'm sorry, but it's the one animal I HATE.

They are so mean, and gang up on other animals, including hawks and owls.

I've never heard of them killing rabbits. How sad.

[In_The_Wind]

34. that's so sad

did she only have one baby bunny

:hug: sorry you had to see that

[progmom]

37. i saw at least three get killed

x(

[In_The_Wind]

41. that may be all of her babies

:cry:

[Sugar Smack]

36. That was really hard to read.

I'm so sorry you had to see that. I'd be freaking out, too.

:hug:

[progmom]

38. Should I put a warning on it?

[Sugar Smack]

39. Maybe so.

I clicked at my own risk.

[Squeech]

40. Awww...

I hate to see things like that happening. (And I cohabit with cats, so I know all too well about Nature red of tooth and claw...)

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[SnohoDem]

42. I'm sorry progmom.

Nature is scary sometimes. :hug:

There's nothing you can do about this. Let it go.

[yvr girl]

43. Was this the same bunny family that suffered the earlier loss?

A few weeks ago?

What a terrible thing to see. Nature is rough sometimes.

:hug: :loveya:

[progmom]

44. I wonder.

Since the mommy bunny was in our back yard, I do think it might be the same ones.

[yvr girl]

45. Your yard seems

dangerous.

[rocktivity]

46. I saw something similiar on a TV show about wild horses

A woman was following and filming and herd of wild horses. One of them gave birth, but for some reason, the baby couldn't get on its feet. The alpha male horse poked and prodded at the baby with no results. After a pause, he grabbed the baby by the neck and slammed it on the ground a several times.

I realize now that what made it particularly shocking is that it's not behavior you associate with horses. But at the same time, I understood it--a lame horse would have slowed the herd up, and allowing it to breed might spread the baby's disease.

:grouphug:
rocknation

[Zuni]

47. oh my

that is terrible :(

maybe we are so destructive because killing is a part of nature? :shrug:

:hug:

[Kraklen]

49. One time when I was 14 or so...

I was over at my friends house and we were watching a mother duck take her ducklings for a swim across a pond. Out of nowhere a snapping turtle exploded out of no where and took the last duckling in the line.

Interestingly, as teenage boys, we had essentially the complete opposite opinion on watching nature happen right in front of us.

[Aristus]

50. Sorry you had to see that, progmom.

:hug:

[Dogmudgeon]

51. At high risk ...

This is going to sound cruel.

It's not a good thing to sentimentalize about animals in nature. There is so much "brutal" death in nature that you could easily drive yourself insane with grief contemplating it. Neither you nor the animals are helped by it.

I know that most of us have a heightened sense of empathy when it comes to animals. That sense of empathy keeps us from inflicting brutality on animals and other humans. But it can also lead to despair.

Animals are not human babies. Even infant animals are not human babies. Sentimentality does not lead to respect for nature, it just compounds the pain. Those infant rabbits -- not "bunnies" but rabbits -- did not die by malice, and no emotionalizing went into the process. It hurt. They died. A tragedy in human terms, but normal -- good, even -- in natural terms.

Perhaps it's because nature is so brutal that humans developed civilization to reduce that brutality among ourselves. Many of us, anyway. Hopefully.

The dead rabbits gave us a gift with their deaths. They showed us the power and unfathomability of nature. That's not too common these days, when we humans segregate and separate ourselves from nature. No sterile travelogue, no airy veneration of Mother Earth, no close-up photography of what the wiseacres call "bugs fucking to Mozart" can ever hope to rival the terrible majesty you inadvertantly witnessed.

So dry your tears, and open the dead rabbits' gift.

--p!

[progmom]

59. thanks pigwidgeon

you're a good egg. :hug:

[rocktivity]

62. Those horses definitely gave me a "gift"

I probably wouldn't have been as shocked if the horses had been lions or even some kind of primate--after all, they're "wild" animals! My gift is that now I know better, and I'm grateful to the cinematographer for not sugarcoating the scene with "sterile travelouge".

:headbang:
rocknation

[MisterP]

64. by "sentimentality," do you mean favoritism of "useful" animals

or opposition to Ted Nugent's "kill everything"?

[Dogmudgeon]

70. Sentimentality and animals

I'm not certain what question you have, so I'll wing it.

"Sentimentality" is when a person develops deep emotional human attachment to animals. It usually causes a lot of pain to the human. The animal is clueless to that pain. Animals are just different, and we seldom respect that difference.

I don't think it's wrong to love your pets, but they're not human. They're not one's "babies". That's sentimentalizing. The animals don't understand it, but they do like the attention and care they get. But it can be very painful for the sentimentalist, especially when a beloved pet dies or runs away. To understand them as a different life-form with a different path in life (and death) would help keep a high level of sanity with no less love for the animal.

Obviously, none of this means that animal abuse, torture, or modern meat production practices should be condoned. And it does get into some ethical thickets. But a healthy understanding of animals as being both lovable and loving, and not necessarily in human terms, is a good place to start.

--p!

[MisterP]

71. still don't get it:

I go wholly by a critter's intellect when considering them--even if that "critter" is human. I just don't get species suprematism...

[Magrittes Pipe]

52. My sentimentality is different.

Whereas I would not choose to witness what you did, I would be far more troubled to see a bunch of rabbits killing baby crows.


edit: the crows likely took the rabbit carcasses back to the nests in order to feed their own babies. THE CIRCLE OF LIFE....

[progmom]

58. I had pet rabbits.

I am a lot cooler about the circle of life when it doesn't involve animals that look just like my pets. :(

[progressoid]

68. Aw dammit

now I have that dumb Disney song in my head.

Grrrr.

[Blue Diadem]

53. hugs to you progmom

:hug:

Nature can be so ugly sometimes. Poor Momma bunny..I feel sorry for her..and am sorry you had to witness that.

:cry:

[Taverner]

54. That is sad

I witnessed crows rampage a robins nest last spring, and all the mother and father robins could do is watch....

[Kenneth ken]

55. I'm sorry

:hug:

I understand your hurt; it's one thing to know about "nature, red in tooth and claw" but another to bear unanticipated witness to it.

I had a similar experience once involving a heron, baby ducks and a mamma duck.

I hope you're feeling a bit better by now. :hug:

:hi:

ps - liking Kite so far.

[newsguyatl]

56. so sad

one of my very few vivid memories from early childhood, is seeing a dog attack a little bunny rabbit, as a frightened mother watched on... i remember chasing the dog away and the little one ran back to its mother bloody and scared... not sure if it ever survived, but it certainly did in my memory.

[nicknameless]

60. Hero :)

[Merrick]

57. that bunny should be indicted for negligence.

probably out swinging at the bunny bar. and if she was out digging up carrots or what not that's no excuse either - she should've hired a bunny sitter.

[nicknameless]

61. I'm so sorry

I've watched the local hawks carry off little squirrels.
Nature can be so brutal.
:cry:

[salin]

63. how sad...

have been interested in getting a pup to replace a recently lost family dog - but we have some Hawks/Merlins that spend a couple of months a year in our trees - and we know that the scene you describe is quite possible. :-(

[BuelahWitch]

65. I found a baby bunny that was in my yard last year

that was obviously dying. I got it some water and put it as close to it as I dared, then called some local vets to see if I could bring it in. All of them said no, just let nature take it's course. Broke my heart!
:cry:

[jpgray]

66. Pretty tragic

I once saw a squirrel maul a chipmunk, and that was pretty shocking. And rabbits are known to tear things up pretty badly (each other, and also their young, in extreme moments of stress). Ugly thing to see however you look at it. :(

[elshiva]

67. Sorry, hon!

:hug: :hug:

[TimeChaser]

69. The rabbits died so the crows could live...

... and the crows will grow up and be eaten by birds of prey, or die of old age. Eventually decomposers will break them down too to provide nutrients to the plants to feed more rabbits.

I'm afraid I've been desensitized by years of nature books and animal planet...

[Tiggeroshii]

72. here's a really insensitive way of looking at this:

Bunnies are disposable, giving their incredible reproduction rate. Sorry, I had to say that :\

I feel you though! Watching thigns die succccccks :(