Today was Wild Kingdom in the suburbs.
My plan for the day was to create the 2nd bed for flowers in my side yard. A few minutes into that work, I noticed my neighbor's 2 young cats had a kitten friend. Then, oh, no ... it's not a kitten. It's a baby rabbit. I tried to distract the cats and save the rabbit's life, but they ran off with their prey. The cats' owner wants to discourage this behavior, so I texted her and went back to my project. About 10 minutes later, the owner walks out the door with a bag in her hand -- and a story:
The cats took the baby rabbit into the back yard whereupon the dog (retriever type, maybe has a soft mouth) took possession of the rabbit and went into the house. Chaos ensued ... with 4 people, including a teenage neighbor, trying to stop the dog and rescue the rabbit. The dog flew up the stairs, into the master bedroom, and deposited the still breathing rabbit in the middle of the bed.
The bag in the neighbor's hand contained the stunned, perhaps injured baby rabbit. (Ah, a gift.) I took it and put the rabbit in a crate to rest in the shade and then later released it in the grassy area at a school nearby.
After a break, I stepped out my door to resume my project. And another neighbor yelled that I had a "critter". You know where this is headed, right? I mean, NObody yells to warn you that there's a fluffy kitten in your yard.
The critter ...
And the other end ...
That is a bull snake that was chased out of my other next door neighbor's garage. It sought refuge by the tree that is 2 feet away from the flower bed I was working on.
I didn't get to see the snake. Yay? Report was that it is about 4 feet long and 1-1.5 inches in diameter. Hopefully, it was just passing through the neighborhood. If not, there is a local guy who is licensed/certified/whatever in removal and relocation.