Where do the rabbits go?

Last night one of our cats proudly brought a young rabbit to our back door. I made her release it but sadly, it did not survive. I held it between my warm palms and comforted it as it died, apologizing over and over again to it; and I cried. I ceremonially wrapped it in a small cloth and buried it beneath a beautiful tree in our backyard. 

I will never forget the sweetness of that soft, beautiful little rabbit, or the sound of its fearful screams while in our cat's mouth, or the pain in my heart as I saw the blood on my fingers and realized it was going to die.

It got me thinking (again) about life and death, comfort and safety. Are these things random? Does one creature's existence supersede another's?

I live in a small neighborhood that includes three streets encircled by an outer loop. I have been here four years. In 2012 when my partner and I moved here, the neighborhood was surrounded by fields on all four sides. It was one of the reasons we selected this neighborhood as opposed to the many others we looked at.

Today three of the four fields have been or are being developed. Where there were once quiet acres of wild grasses, flowers and brush, there are now parking lots and neighborhoods with streets, sidewalks, driveways, homes, lights, noise and activity. It seems almost everywhere I look these days, I see this kind of transition happening. 

I used to hear coyotes howling on occasion, but that stopped three years ago when the first development came in nearby. I used to be able to see the night sky fairly well from our backyard but that, too, has faded as the area around us is developed. I used to see rabbits hopping about the fields, but no longer. 

And I wonder: "Where do the rabbits go?"

They need and deserve a place to live in comfort and safety just as we do. This planet is their home, just as it is our home. Earth does not belong to the Human Race; it belongs to all species here. But where do the others go when we Humans destroy their homes? And what gives us the right to do so over and over and over again?

If someone came and destroyed my home with complete disregard for me and my family, I would be livid. I believe any human with a clear conscience and a beating heart would be. But what about the animals? Are they livid too? How would we know if they were? We don't speak their language.

But not speaking their language does not give us permission to disregard their existence. Any fool knows this would be an act of barbarism. 

Is that what the Human Race has become...Barbarians?

The small rabbit that wondered into our yard last night was just trying to live its life, to survive just like the rest of us...only its entire world is changing uncontrollably into something unlivable for it. Instead of the comfort and safety of brush-covered fields, it has to deal with manicured lawns, fences, people, dogs, cats, concrete and cars. 

It would be the equivalent of someone bulldozing your entire neighborhood and turning it into a wild jungle overnight. Where would you go? How would you survive in such a foreign world?

The life of one small rabbit may seem trivial to some of you, but not to me. Any life disregarded is too many. It is LIFE, after all, that belongs to every single creature here. 

We - the Human Race - get no special privileges in that regard. We are creatures too; we live and die with the rest of them. Let's be conscious and kindhearted in relation to our fellow creatures rather than Barbaric, because conscious and kindhearted are the high road.

It is time for the Human Race to embrace the high road and shift from barbarism to conscious kindness before we destroy all things dear and beautiful in life. Thank you.