Ivy came through the sliding glass door and quietly announced, “Mom, we found a baby bunny.” Meg didn’t understand, so Ivy explained the kids playing baseball had  discovered a tiny bunny… that is when Meg saw the little furry ear poking out of Ivy’s glove.

Meg – if you have heard our garden stories this year – is no rabbit fan and she flipped. I jumped onto the bandwagon talking about “how we can’t touch wild animals. When we leave our scent, their parents will abandon them…” ** Ivy began to cry, but we were not keeping a pet bunny. So I asked Ivy to take it back. She, with me and Phoebe in tow, made the long walk and returned the bunny. The little bunny was beautiful. Tiny, but not really a baby, brown hair and eyes bright. (I regret not snapping a photo of Ivy, her glove, and the bunny.)

Back at the house Ivy shared that she knew mama hated bunnies, “but it was not the babies that ate the garden, just their parents.”

As she spoke, still upset for the bunny, I pondered her brave heart. She knew mom was at war with the bunnies. But Ivy’s compassion compelled her to bring one home. She hoped her logic (“not the baby bunnies”) could win over a gardener.

As Ivy grows up I hope she never loses this heart. She will discover people at war with many things. I pray she continues to have a heart to risk angering others to save  bunnies or the hungry or foreigners.

As for Ivy’s influence on us. We were not prepared to have a pet bunny. But our concern for bunnies in the garden has waned. And that night our prayers at dinner and bedtime centered on the bunny. Even Meg was praying for bunny survival rather than their demise.

** I have since debated the danger of our scent on an baby animal. Is this  just a parent story to keep kids from touching wild animals – especially to keep kids from bringing them home. There are so many bunnies in our neighbor, so close to humans. I can’t image our scent is that big a deal!