Bear Rabbit Homestead

09/07/2025

Wow! The night just started and already Doppler radars are lighting up. 368 million birds are estimated to be in flight right now.

08/29/2025

HUMMINGBIRD HELP: Our Ruby-throated hummingbirds are heading back south on their annual fall migration. Please consider keeping the hummingbird feeders out and stocked with hummingbird nectar now through at least late October. One part white sugar and four parts water works! The most common and heaviest concentration of the Ruby-throated humming bird is zipping southward with the arrival of yet another cold front across the eastern United States.

The tiny hummingbird is incredible and can flap their wings up to 80 times per second with a heartbeat of over 1,260 per minute! That burns a lot of energy and requires calories and frequent feedings during peak migration into September. Hummingbirds can feed every 10-15 minutes and can consume up to 3 times their body weight in daily food as they migrate southward during the day.

If you've seen them hungry and at your feeders in great numbers recently, this is why! Keep them fed and spread the word. Safe travels as this migrations takes the next several weeks, see you again in the Spring!

06/25/2024

It's that time of year where I make rabbit owners and breeders mad at me, but I have something to say and it's important to say it.

First, DO NOT bring your rabbit inside because the heat index is high and then put them back outside the next day. All you are going to do is shock their system. If you bring them inside to cool down, you now have house rabbits until the heat of summer starts to pass. I know Google recommends this. Don't listen to it. I have known too many people to lose their rabbits listening to bad advice from Google.

Second, rabbits DO NOT need AC. It's actually a detriment to their bodies and produces heat sensitive rabbits. If you sell your rabbits, you are setting them up for failure. Rabbits kept in the AC should remain in the AC and so should their kits. Their body simply doesn't know how to cool down properly. If your AC goes out, you will lose most of your rabbits.

If you want rabbits that are heat tolerant,
❌No AC
❌No Ice
❌No misting fans

What you can do to help your rabbits through the heat is:
✅Keep them in the shade. Add shade cloth to any part of their enclosure that gets sunlight.

✅Put them on the ground. Rabbit colonies and rabbit tractors allow the rabbit to naturally cool down by laying against the ground.

✅Keep cool drinking water available

✅Set their pen up in a way that promotes good airflow

✅ If you can't put them on the ground, provide marble or ceramic tiles for laying on. It will mimic how they would naturally cool themselves down.

✅ If you live in a hot environment, breed for rabbits with thinner coats and longer ears. These traits will help promote the body's natural ability to cool itself down. (If breeding for show, check ARBA SOP to find out what is regulation for your breed.)

Signs of heat stroke in rabbits 🥵
🔥 Open mouth breathing
🔥 Red, hot ears
🔥 Wetness around the mouth and on paws from drooling.
🔥 Weakness & confusion

Prior to death seizures or unconsciousness may be noted.

It's hot friends. I know that.
Do your best to stay cool and support your animals to stay cool as well.
Summer doesn't last forever.

06/12/2024

Firefly adults live 3-4 weeks; eggs take about 3 weeks to hatch, but the larvae spend 1-2 years as larvae, hibernating underground or under tree bark. The pupae take another 3 weeks to mature. Because of this long period as larvae, the use of insecticides on lawns and landscaping can have long lasting effects on the firefly population.
Another reason to let your lawn go nature and skip the harmful chemicals

06/07/2024

05/05/2024

03/15/2024

This is a picture right out of my backyard. The modern property owner wants that uniform cut on his 1 species of grass lawn. It's over-sprayed, over-cut, and in my personal opinion, an ecological disaster. I let my lawn grow wild. I don't spray for "weeds", as these species in the picture are affectionately known.

For those still having a hard time, pictured below is Purple Dead Nettle, that's the plant with the tiny purple flowers, Dandelion, yellow flower, and that tall light green in the middle is Wild Onion/Wild Garlic depending on where your from.

All three of these are edible and surprisingly not bad.

Dandelion leaves can be used in a salad, and the flowers have been used to make wines.

Use Purple Dead Nettle like you would Spinach.

Wild Onion has a very strong garlic/onion taste. The stalk can be chopped and used like chives.

These plants have other beneficial uses we can dive too deep into but encourage you to do a search of their other values!

*Edit: White flowers are chickweed which are also edible. Thanks to my friends in the network for reminding me of this!

02/03/2024