brave wild bunny

Question
We had a nest of bunnies just 2 feet from our fenced in
deck (we put chicken wire over the rungs also so our dog
won't push his ball off) We took delight in seeing them grow & went out of our way not to let my 4 yr. old Golden
Retriever out when they were around. Next to our deck we
have a area where it is fenced in so my dog can still do his business! In time, 3 bunnies made their home next door.
My neighbor loves them too. We live in the country with lots of good places to live. The remaining bunny decided to
make it's home under our deck. Sometimes I don't see right
away & let my dog out. When I see the bunny I can contain my
dog off the deck in that fenced in area. We have it gated.
If the bunny is in the yard when my dog is on the deck, it
continues to eat & play sometime inches from my dog. Needless to say, Yukon is frantic. Never barking, but he
paws at the chicken wire or just sits there staring. Yukon
will run window to window in the house to see it, jumping on the window sills. I even go outside and the bunny is
fearless. My inside cats meow at it and he doesn't mind either. Isn't this quite abnormal? Last night the bunny made it into the fenced in area from under the deck. We can
and will fix it with chicken wire. I'd hate to see it get
in there when Yukon is in there. The bunny has been out of
it's baby nest for 2 wks. now. He is getting big, but I am
sure he can just dig a bigger hole. Will he continue to be
fearless? I wish he would move next door with his siblings
& mom where it is safe. I could still enjoy them! We have an acre of land with oodles of good spots to live. Maybe he
just likes our gang! Thank you. Karen

Answer
Dear Karen,

Some wild cottontails are very calm and unperturbed by humans or domestic animals--even if they are dangerous!  This isn't great for the bunny, and I hope he will be able to make it on  his own without getting himself eaten.  :(  The genetically-based tendency for cotties to be shy is certainly adaptive under most circumstances.

I hope your little guy will wise up.  He seems to have learned that the chicken wire will keep him safe, and has become habituated to the frantic dog, not realizing that if the wire were not there, he wouldn't be, either.

Instead of chicken wire, you might consider strong, galvanized hardware cloth, which is stiffer and stronger and not likely to be breached by the bunny or the dog.  You can get this at any Home Depot.  Since it's galvanized, you can bury it a foot or so into the ground to help prevent anyone from digging across, either way.

I wonder if you gently discouraged him from being so close to the dog with a quick, gentle spray from the hose when he is near, he might get the message.  It seems mean, but in the long run it could save his life.

I hope this helps.

Dana