Coming from a fairly urban
environment to North Las Vegas, I never expected to be thrust into a veritable
zoo of wildlife. Don’t get me wrong – we have animals in New York, even in the
city, and they are rather hearty types.
We have skunks, raccoons,
squirrels, pigeons, birds of all types, even some pretty ones, and we have
rats! The skunks and raccoons are nocturnal so the chance of running into one
of them while walking your dog in the day light is remote. Night walks are
another story altogether, especially on evenings before garbage pick-ups. The
raccoons and skunks either have very good noses (probably) or are intelligent
enough to have learned the days of the week (possibly). Sunday evenings before
Monday trash pick-ups were usually the best time for spotting urban game
lurking under a parked car or hiding behind a shrub.
A close encounter involves
a snarl on one end and a feverish barking Maltese on the other but the
stand-off usually results in a draw and the ways of urban nature go
undisturbed. Get too close and risk being sprayed or even worse.
Our little house in North
Las Vegas is sandwiched between a quiet street of similar (more like EXACTLY
THE SAME) houses on one side and a golf course on the other. We tolerate the
occasional stray golf ball hitting the side of the house or rolling into our
space. Our dogs even put up with the occasional golfer crossing the “Out Of
Bounds” line and searching our bushes for a ball (tolerate for dogs equals
frantic snarly and incessant barking, by the way). We retrieve the lost,
unclaimed balls, especially after a weekend, in the unlikeliest of places. So
be it! No big deal.
What we never expected was
the number and variety of wild critters that make their homes around our home
and neighborhood.
New Yorkers are no
strangers to rabbits. They (the rabbits) live in the suburbs twenty minutes or
so from the busy streets of the city or closer in enclosures we call “Pet
Stores!” We know some people (even relatives) that have or have had a rabbit or
two as a pet. They always seemed quite docile and rather motionless inside
their too small indoor hutches surrounded by hay and toys they were unlikely to
play with. Most of these family pets start out small and skinny but grow fat
and ponderous from too much good food and little or no exercise.
Enter the Las Vegas Desert
Golf Course Dwelling Jackrabbit!!! I am sure I am at fault for not paying
attention to the non-man-eating beasts on the TV nature programs or for
by-passing the rabbit houses at the Bronx Zoo deeming them uninteresting and
boring as a kid but the creature that lives under a rosemary bush three feet
from our patio sliding door is a ferocious looking beast like I have never seen
before.
We call him Jack since I
am reasonably sure he (she maybe! – if so we apologize for the gender naming
mix-up) is a jackrabbit.
To start with he is huge.
Not fat mind you. On the contrary, he is sleek and wiry, the very definition of
one of those lean, mean prize-fighters with no pronounced muscles to speak of
who kick the crap out of anyone who gets in their way. He is tall but that
incudes his ears and who wouldn’t since, after his eyes, they are the most
pronounced feature of this animal. When he stretches out to wander out onto the
golf course for dinner he is longer and taller than either our Maltese or our
Shi-Tzu. That’s not saying much but he’s a rabbit after all. If you were
expecting warm, furry and cuddly as in “bunny,” Jack’s not your guy. He is
every bit as wily as “Wily Coyote.” (By the way, we have those too but that’s a
story for another post!).
Most times Jack just sits
outside our back door and stares which is easy for him since his eyes are dark,
large, and bulging. With a few small modifications by an amateur illustrator he
could easily be turned into the Zombie Rabbit of your worst nightmare.
Jack has friends and
perhaps even family. Although there are a few other jackrabbits of his size and
stature in the neighborhood, most are smaller (maybe children!) and many are
different looking which leads me to conclude that in addition to jackrabbits we
also have other breeds of rabbits around here. These other rabbits terrify you
with their sheer numbers rather than their frightening appearance.
Our complex has set aside
a few grassy areas for dog walking, complete with an ample supply of doggy
doodie bags for dealing with (well, you know what I mean!). Evening walks, just
like back in the city, require a flash light since the green patch at night is
covered (that is not an exaggeration) with rabbits that mostly flee when you
shine a light on them. It’s creepy to see so many rabbits in the same place at
the same time. I have counted thirty at once but I am sure some have already
fled by the time I gather enough composure to count.
Some do not flee. These
are the bigger ones, not as big as Jack but way bigger than the average rabbit.
Their mottled coats tell me they are some kind of hybrid born out of some
ungodly union between different breeds of rabbit. Shine a light on them and
they do not flinch; walk up to them and they do not move; hiss, “Shoo!” at them
and they remain. Only my dog can scatter them with a lunge and a yelp. Good
thing they do not lunge back.
These rabbits are grey,
brown, beige, black, white or any combination of the above. There is a solid
black one of impressive size who has little or no fear of humans and none of
little dogs. We avoid him.
Each night we do our
business quickly and leave the grass to the rabbits.
I have mentioned the
“rabbit issue” to a few neighbors who are willing to speak to a New Yorker. The
response is immediate and vehement – they (the rabbits) are hated members of
the community and in the best Trumpian spirit they have attempted to have them
banned, deported or even exterminated. The local newsletter has contained
articles detailing the progress (little, if any) that has been made with the
Animal Control people. “Desert animals live in the desert,” the authorities
have said and “we are living on their territory.” Not dismayed the anti-rabbit
posse has suggested (again very Trump-like) building “rabbit-proof” walls
throughout the community. Although it didn’t say so in the article I am sure
someone suggested having the rabbits pay for the wall as well!
As a side note our
community (55+ as it happens to be and fairly (hugely) conservative) has many
election signs posted in front yards. To the dismay of a liberal, soft,
mealy-mouthed (their description, not mine) Democrat from the east coast, the
Trump signs out front out-number the Hillary signs about 20-1 ( that’s not an
average – there are about 20 Trump signs and one lonely but proud Hillary
sign). Each time I pass the Hillary sign I beep my car horn in support; each
time I pass a Trump sign I wonder if the occupants of that home really do
support a megalomaniac, war mongering, bigoted, frightened, failed entrepreneur from NYC or they just want
to get rid of the rabbits!
