New photos of Mama Bunz and her yearling, Cottontail, in my backyard, from early this morning. The quality is regrettable but I took these from the driver's seat of my car, before pulling away for work.

#wildrabbits #rabbits #bunnies
#BackyardWildlife #backyardnature
#gardenwildlife #easterncottontail
#northcarolina #alttext

Three Good Things

🐇 The older, female wild Eastern Cottontail rabbit that lives in my yard had a single kit to survive from last year. Young adult males tend to wander off to establish new territory, but this surviving yearling is staying in the neighborhood, very close to Mama Bunz' current kit nest (under my nextdoor neighbors covered wood pile) so I assume this yearling is a female. This particular yearling has a big, white, fluffy tail, so I have named her "Cottontail". She is understandably skittish around humans, even me.

🐇 Mama Bunz was enjoying the sunshine this morning in my backyard, completely unfazed by my presence, when I took my dog out to potty. She didn't even look in my direction. I never bother the wild bunnies, and it tickles me that she feels that comfortable sharing my space.

🐇 This year's kit is still safe, under the woodpile. My nextdoor neighbor chased off a wandering fox, after I told them about the kit nest. So maybe there will be another yearling to watch in my yard, in 2027.

#3goodthings #threegoodthings
#wildrabbits #easterncottontail
#NatureLovers #BackyardWildlife
#backyardnature

#BaldFacedHornet isn't a true hornet. It's in the yellowjacket wasp family.

#wasp #yellowjacket #insects #pollinators #BackyardWildlife #BackyardNature #nature #wildlife #NatureVideos #NatureShorts

This isn't just any wasp...

The anchor-shaped marking on the first abdominal segment identifies an eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons), and the dots identify a queen.

Most yellowjackets die each winter; a few queens survive to start new colonies each spring. #entomology #backyardnature

#Squirrel - a chonky one.

#BackyardWildlife #BackyardNature #wildlife #Saanich