We currently live with cats, dogs, horses, and iguana, and a host of wildlife on our property. We recently observed a truly unusual and touching event involving a dog, a cat, two horses, and some baby rabbits.
While out doing pasture chores – aka picking up horse puckies from the pasture – I heard our dog Bear barking and squealing frantically. Normally when she does this, it’s her “I see a squirrel and I want to CHASE IT!!!” noise. Usually our squirrels are smart enough not to come into the back yard, so I thought maybe one was in the pasture next to the fence. They do love to tease Bear! When she kept barking, I looked over to see what was happening.
I observed our cat Ben – the great and mighty Hunter – walking away from a couple of trees close to the fence, with one of our horses walking behind him with his head down. Usually the horses don’t like the cats in their pasture, and will escort them out with head down meaning “I’m serious – OUT!”.
What was so unusual is that Rohan (the horse) then turned around and went back to the trees next to the backyard fence. Rusty, our other horse, stood behind him. All the while Bear was continuing to bark and squeal. Rohan put his nose down to the base of the tree and sniffed. He did this over and over again, while Bear continued to bark. He would sniff, turn his head and look at Bear, and then sniff again. He positioned his body between Bear and the tree, Rusty right behind him. They did not move.
I asked Bear what was going on – she said “KILL KILL KILL!”, so I knew we had some sort of critter over there. Puzzled at the horses’ behavior, I walked over to the trees, fully expecting to find a squirrel or mouse or mole. What I found instead was a few baby rabbits huddled into the base of the tree, with another one trying to join them. They were young – about 1” long with dark skins and unopened eyes. Momma rabbit was nowhere to be seen. I looked up at Rohan and asked him how he was feeling, and what he was doing. He showed me that there was danger to something that I interpreted as “children”; I couldn’t get a clear word, just an impression. He showed me that when the young were in danger, the adult horses placed themselves between the source of the danger and the young. This is what he and Rusty were doing – placing themselves first between the rabbits and Ben, and then between the rabbits and Bear.
As I watched, the final baby made it to its littermates. I carefully covered the base of the tree with some fallen leaves and twigs, and sent a picture to momma rabbit showing her what I had done, and also the thought that she should move the babies that night. Ben has a very long memory when it comes to prey. I then backed away, and went into the back yard. I assured Bear that she was not going to be able to kill the rabbits, and asked her to go into the house. She did so, reminding me that I had asked her to catch a mole that Ben had brought into the house and released a few nights before. I explained that the rabbits were outside where they belonged, so we needed to leave them alone. She has a great deal of patience with all these complicated human rules, and is good most of the time. When I went back outside, the horses were still by the trees. They did not move until I went out to the barn to feed them about 10 minutes later.
I was very touched at sharing the wonderful experience with our animals. It is a great example of how animals can communicate with one another across species, and also how they can use instinctive behavior in new ways. The horses sensed that the baby rabbits were in danger from predators, and protected them in their own instinctive way as they would young horses. Our predators behaved as they normally would – backing away from prey when threatened (Rohan moving Ben away) and also backing down when the pack leader (me in this case) requested it.
What a rare and wonderful insight into the instinctual behavior of our beloved companion animals, and how they live in community with the wildlife. I did not further interfere with Nature by relocating the baby rabbits, because we respect and try very hard to preserve the balance between the plants and wildlife and our presence (buildings, animals and us).
