Mr. Peabody versus the Easter Bunny

This is a re-creation of the crime scene with a considerably
smaller bunny standing in for the Real Easter Bunny!

Hi all!  I’m sorry to report that while Easter may be late this year, I think the Easter Bunny might be a little later!  Ever since we got our schnauzer seven years ago, I have feared for the safety of all our favorite holiday friends.  Year one, Santa came down the chimney to discover Mr. Peabody poised on the hearth barking and growling at the Jolly Old Elf.  God Bless Santa, he tossed the gifts from inside the fireplace and had his finger at the side of his nose in two seconds flat before the Peas could grab hold of his furry lined legs!  Yikes!  From that point on, every Christmas our gifts could be found INSIDE the fireplace with a note “Sorry but your dog is obnoxious and Mrs. Claus is tired of mending my pant legs.  Oh, and keep the cookies!”

As our daughter started losing her baby teeth, my concern switched to the safety of the Tooth Fairy.  Now granted, she had wings so…in theory she could rise above the maylay but…do we really want to be the family responsible for the Tooth Fairy turning in her notice!  Once again, there was barking, leaping and one ticked off fairy who nose dived my daughter’s pillow to retrieve the tooth and then launched the cash at Mr. Peabody’s head.  Tooth after tooth, my daughter’s sleeping head was buzzed by the livid fairy and Peabody was pelted by loose change.  Luckily, Amelia’s last baby tooth came out this year and the Tooth Fairy is sure to celebrate the fact that Amelia is an only child!

But…the worst problem of all…the Easter Bunny.  Most dogs love to chase rabbits and Mr. Peabody is no exception.  We’ve tried to help the little furry friends of our yard by putting a fence around Peabody’s “outside” bathroom to prevent his getting out or little bunnies getting in.  Alas, over the years, the ground has settled and resulted in an opening under the fence large enough for bunnies to enter and schnauzers to exit.  As an animal lover, I used paving stones leftover from another project to form a barrier to the outside world.  That should do it, right?  Uh no…two days after my fortress of stone was erected I found one of the stones knocked over! (insert scary music here!).

Okay that’s a little freaky.  The next day one more stone was tipped over!  Did I point out that the only way these stones could be tipped over was from the outside!  Did I also mention that these stones weigh 5 pounds each and it would take one BIG bunny to knock it over!  What kind of animal could do this?  And then I saw it!  The biggest rabbit I have seen outside a mall photo stand at Easter!  It was huge and it was inside the fence!  Was it the actual Easter Bunny?  Hard to say but it was carrying a basket full of eggs and had on a stylish bow tie!  Well, at least I thought he did. I didn’t get much of a look before Mr. Peabody took off after him.  Oh, this is not good!  This was one big bunny and the space between the grass and the fence wasn’t that big!  He had gotten in but could he get back out when being chased!  I HOPE so because if my dog takes out the Easter Bunny, we’re going to have to move to the moon!

The race was on!  The egg filled basket was firmly in the bunny’s mouth but I could tell it was slowing him down!  Mr. Peabody was fast and focused.  The bunny approached the fence and I saw it suck in its gut and dive for that little space of sunlight.  Then he struggled a little, the bow tie had caught up under the fence.  I gasped and…then Mr. Peabody slowed up just a scooch which gave our Easter pal that extra second to squirm his way out, under and off it went.   Mr. Peabody swerved to the left and went on trotting as if nothing had happened.  Hmmm, it almost looked like he LET the bunny get away.  Could it be that my little pooch had a heart after all? 

Truth be told, Mr. Peabody is actually very sweet but he does have an aversion to large men, dressed in red with beards who is technically breaking into our house.  Oh, and he’s not too fond of small flying objects (tooth fairies or quarters and dimes).  And he does love to chase rabbits (but he’s a dog – it’s what they do!).  So I’m very hopeful that the Easter Bunny will consider the fact that Mr. P showed a little compassion and still come back this April 24 to bring Amelia her Easter basket.  And this time…we’ll lock Mr. Peabody up at least until we’re sure the bunny has cleared the fence and is headed safely to your house!



Mr. Peabody