The Library Rabbit

 For the past few weeks, we've had a regular visitor to the library.

He or she sits just outside one of the windows by the library. The students were the ones that first spotted the rabbit, and they were very excited to discover him/her. After seeing the bunny for several days in a row, I worried that there might be something wrong. I did some research and based on the websites Bunny As a Pet, Backyard Caring, and My Backyard Life, there are many logical reasons. The consensus seems to be that it is relaxed and comfortable in this sheltered space.

As you can imagine, the presence of this animal has caused quite a commotion in the library.

The students are accustomed to animals in the library. After all, the library is regularly home to skinny pigs. Our current residents are Alvin and Simon.

Students love to feed Alvin and Simon, which is why I have a school vacuum permanently located in the library to clean up all the timothy hay dropped on the ground. The skinny pigs featured prominently in our Family Feud audition tape.

However, there's a different energy with the appearance of the rabbit. He/she is a wild animal, and so cannot be regularly counted on to appear. Sometimes the students are too loud, even with the closed window between them, and the rabbit will scamper away. The kindergarten students have named the rabbit "Brownie" and will routinely ask if Brownie is around if they are in the library. A student (and a teacher) has smuggled food outside for Brownie to eat. 

Brownie could provide a wide variety of inquiry questions for the students to investigate. However, we have not been able to take full advantage of the opportunity, because our social studies lessons have been directed on addressing knowledge gaps that the students still have. I will try to include Brownie in these plans, if I can. 

It will be interesting to see if Brownie continues to visit, especially when fall turns to winter and the bushes providing coverage thin out as their leaves drop. Either way, it's been a charming, delightful series of encounters.