Mayhem and Murder in the Midnight Garden

Looks tranquil, doesn't it? I spent a moment admiring the lilac when I first stepped outside this morning. Then, after gazing at the clouds and sky, a brown lump on the lawn to the left of the lilac caught my eye. A pile of dirt? A stack of matted dried leaves? As I stepped toward it, I discovered, to my horror

a headless brown bunny rabbit, with one foot lying six inches from the body and the bowels spilled out onto the grass (a graphic description, but, for heaven's sake, you all have seen and heard worse on CSI and Law and Order!).

Mother Nature often seems a cruel kind of gal but I guess it is the natural order of things, the law of the jungle/forest. We have owls in the woodland around us and one Barn Owl in particular has lately been hooting loudly, day and night. I am hoping the bunny fell victim to the nighttime hunting skills of this local barn owl. And not a coyote. Oh, please, Mother Nature, not a coyote! And I hope  decapitation was swift.

I suppose the presence of a corpse on the property will lower the real estate values around here. These houses up back are empty at present and I was really counting on summer rentals.