The rabbit is back. I saw him in the brush along the natural causeway between the two parallel washes, where I walk in the desert. He was there last spring.
He is the boldest of the rabbits in that he will linger in the bushes as I walk by, and if I stop to talk to him, he will stay in place under the cover of a tall bush, ready to flee into obscure safety but willing to talk to me. Who's to say it is not the same rabbit as the year before?
He gave me his full attention, staring right at me. Rabbits stare at you by turning sideways to you. It is part of the defense mechanism. To flee at right angles to a predator's advance is a great advantage.
The the pupils of a staring rabbit are as round as can be, beautiful circle of deep black. A thin iris makes it not threatening. If some creature stared at you with two eyes like that, or without an iris, it would be unsettling. It would feel like a threat. But to see just one staring at you is endearing. No creature is more endearing than rabbits, as they are among the first that infants gravitate towards with interest.
The rabbit also stares at you with its ears. This is the unique feature of the rabbit of course. Rabbits without ears would not be nearly as endearing.
As I spoke to it, I saw the interior of both ears facing me, one directly and one cocked a bit as it twisted to catch as much sound from me as possible.
I took up about a minute of the rabbit's time. Perhaps it would still be out there listening to me, if I were still talking to it, without breaking gaze and by speaking in a soothing voice. Rabbits no doubt can outlast my ability to do that.
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