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| Love transcends species. |
My apple tree that produced all those delicious pies finally needed to be chopped down last summer. The tree became infested with bugs. It was painful for my family as well as the squirrels and deer that fed on the apples, but it was the only decision to be made.
The squirrels were vocal when I went outside the day after the tree came down. Out of nowhere, they gathered in the surrounding trees in my backyard and made a ruckus around me, an angry chattering sound, like they were yelling at what I had done. And those rascals kept it up until I went back inside.
The Rabbit and Its Love of Bread
Out of guilt, I decided to leave some bread on that stump in hopes of shutting them up. The bread remained for a while but later that afternoon I looked out my kitchen window and saw something unusual--a rabbit was on my stump eating pieces of my homemade bread.
Now I don't know about you and the animals where you live, but a bread eating rabbit is rare in my neck of the woods. So when I saw the rabbit finished what I left, I decided to see if it would come back the next day if I left more.
After I prepared another mixing bowl of bread pieces, I headed toward the stump before returning inside to watch from my window. Shortly after, I saw the hedges move near the stump and that rabbit emerged. Once again it went to my stump and ate every bite.
A day or two later I decided to leave the bread but remain in the yard to see what would happen. The rabbit stayed in one part of the yard and waited until the stump had its bread before hopping over to eat.
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| Love is constant despite the species. |
Whenever I saw that rabbit I would hurry downstairs with my mixing bowl of bread and go outside. I named it Bread-eater because over the rest of that summer we became good friends. Bread-eater would see my silver mixing bowl and hop closer toward the stump--and me as I remained closer each time.
A Mother's Love Is Universal Regardless of Form
Bread-eater finally trusted me enough to bring her baby to the stump. Watching that rabbit nudge that tiny bunny up toward the bread was something I'll never forget--the love a mother shows for its young, regardless of species. Bread-eater was a good mom!
