We managed to have a good time in spite of the weather, but decided to pack up a little earlier than we might normally have done on Sunday. We chose to paddle close to shore to avoid the wind as we made our way back to the cars. As we neared one of the designated campsites on a point of land that juts into the lake, we noticed a flurry of motion. As we got closer, it became apparent that a Pine Marten (a large member of the weasel family) was chasing a rabbit and both were traveling at full tilt. The chase would disappear from our sight occasionally as the rabbit frantically tried to shake the pursuer. For no reason apparent to us, the rabbit seemed to want to keep coming back to the clearing.
At first Kyle thought it was a game that he was watching and the animals were playing. Knowing that the chase could come to an end in the clearing, we explained to Kyle and his brother why the Marten was chasing the rabbit. The kids had seen the outcomes of animal chases on TV, but we wanted to make sure they understood the reality they might be witnessing. We tried not to portray the Marten as "the bad guy" , he was simply trying to get a meal. We pointed out to the boys how cold it was getting and that hunting animals needed to eat lots at this time of year to be able to survive the winter. When it seemed clear that they favored neither animal as the winner, we paddled closer to get a better look.
The chase disappeared out of sight for what appeared to be the last time. We took the opportunity to paddle to shore so that we could get out of the canoes to stretch our legs and look around. Within a few minutes, we heard the rustle of leaves and soon the rabbit was back with the marten in hot pursuit. We froze in our tracks as we were afraid that our presence would have an impact on the outcome of the chase. Either the rabbit might be startled and stop long enough that the marten would catch it, or the marten might notice us and give up the chase. Either way would have had consequences for the lives of the animals involved in the chase.
As it turned out, we needn't have worried. Our presence was completely ignored and on one occasion, both animals ran right over the feet of one of the spectators without seeming to notice them at all. Now that we were so much closer, the chase became more personal to us and we could notice things that were not as apparent from a distance. Most remarkable was the marten's ability to follow the rabbit. Because we were so much taller standing up, we could watch where the rabbit was going but the marten couldn't see the quarry because of obstructions. The only way that the marten could know where the rabbit had gone was to be following the scent trail. It was amazing to see this being done with pinpoint precision at a dead run. It gave us a little insight into the animal's ability to perceive their world in a way that we can't even imagine.
Eventually the rabbit began to slow down and it looked like the chase was almost over. In a final, desperate attempt to escape the danger, the rabbit ran down to the water near where the canoes were. Then, with one last glance over the shoulder, it slipped quietly into the water and started swimming towards the opposite shore. Within moments, the marten was at the spot where the rabbit stepped off the shore, but it didn't notice the rabbit in the water. Instead, it ran in circles, trying to pick up the scent of the missing rabbit. Eventually, it started following the scent trail back in the direction it had come.
Though the rabbit had just escaped the fangs and claws of the marten, it had exchanged a fast violent death for a slow peaceful one. Since it was near the time of freeze up on the lakes, the rabbit was in great peril from the cold because its fur was not designed to provide insulation in water. The numbing cold would be robbing the rabbit's strength at a very fast rate, making it unlikely that it could reach the opposite shore without drowning.
We waited long enough to be sure that the marten could no longer find the rabbit, then our sympathies for the poor creature that had endured so much got the better of us. We quickly got into the canoes and headed out to rescue the swimmer. It took but a moment to catch up with the rabbit and scoop it into a canoe. It was exhausted and accepted its new fate with resignation; either understanding that we meant no harm or too exhausted to care. After toweling the wet and bedraggled rabbit off, we let Kyle bundle it up to keep it warm. We continued on our way back to the car and after we were sure that the rabbit was warm and dry enough, we looked for a good place to set it back on shore.
As we set the rabbit down, we talked to the boys about the implication of what we'd just done. It was obvious that the rabbit would have died in the water if we hadn't rescued it. By saving the rabbit, we had meddled in nature's ways and we should be very careful about doing that. The new location that we gave the rabbit was as similar as we could manage to the place where we'd found it. We pointed out to the boys that we might have unknowingly created a problem because we had put the rabbit into another rabbit's area.
Still, even after looking at what we might have done wrong, we all had to admit that if felt good to have given the poor creature a second chance. As we paddled off, we wished it well.