It's amazing how much I don't hate rabbits when they aren't eating the fruits and vegetables of my labor. I've seen a couple bunnies lurking outside the garden fence, but they have been unable to breach the barrier to reach the goodies on the other side. And so I don't really care about them.

Stella, however, has a much less forgiving nature than I. And she remembers all too well how those rabbits decimated the garden last year and how deeply it pained me. She probably also recalls that the garden breaching often happened on her watch and how we all made fun of her and despaired over her laziness and lack of good terrier breeding.

So yesterday when she uncovered the warren of bunnies that some not-the-brightest rodent decided to bring into the world beside our deck, she showed no mercy. She killed four before Duke saw what she was up to and stopped her. Three remain. I hope that either a hawk or fox or jellyfish gets them or that they hop away into the world asap because Stella is quivering and salivating all over the place. It's causing some problems in our house as she is being pretty vocal about the scorn she feels for us for having gone all soft.

All 10 of our painted lady butterflies successfully emerged from their cocoons, however. So it's a real cycle of life here. Unless, y'know, Stella kills the butterflies too.