Wildlife rescue wasn't on the agenda today

Usually when we let Bindi out in the morning during the winter she wants to do her thing and come back in almost immediately.  For being half husky this dog is a baby in the cold.

 Nanny-boo

I opened the door and called for her.  I couldn't see her at first but she walked toward the door from the far corner of the yard by the garage.  She hesitated, then ran back and started tugging at something in the fence.  It was pitch black and even with the neighbor's light I couldn't see what she was doing.  I had to call her three or four times before she came inside, and when she did she had fur sticking out of her mouth.  I pulled it out, expecting to have a limb come with it, but it was just a chunk of fur.  Looked like rabbit fur.  Crap.

She was whining at me to go back outside.  When she whines like that it can only mean one thing: there is an animal to chase or a carcass that she wants to roll in.  Crap.  I'm sick and I don't need to be giving any funky carcass-smelling dogs any baths this weekend.  So I kept her inside and went out to investigate.

That part by the garage is hard to navigate in the middle of summer and almost impossible in the winter.  I went out with my camera because it was 5:45 AM and I didn't think to bring a flashlight.  But if I took a picture with the flash I would be able to see the whole area clearly.  This is what I saw:

Keep in mind that I'm looking at this on a 3"x2" camera screen.  I could sort of make out a pile of fur in the corner.  A little closer now...

I still can't tell what that is.  Something is hanging from the fence.  I could see it when Bindi was trying to drag it back through.  I have to walk around to the neighbor's driveway.

Poor bunny!  I thought it was dead but when I got close enough to pull it out of the fence it moved.

I ran inside and got a towel.  I don't need any bunny bites at 5:45 AM.  Its back end was bloody and furless but I didn't see any gore.  Its legs didn't look broken, or if they were they weren't twisted in any kind of unnatural position.  I tried maneuvering it through the fence from both sides.  It was stuck inside a single hole in the chain link and I don't have the slightest idea how it managed to get its entire front half through in the first place.  Evidently bunnies are stretchy.

We just bought a pair of heavy-duty tree pruning nippers.  Turns out they work almost as well as bolt cutters on a chain-link fence.  I finally managed to get it free without too much damage to the fence or the animal.  It didn't appear to be actively bleeding.  I put it in a dog crate in the garage where it won't get attacked by cats, dogs, or large birds.  I saw a great horned owl on my way to work this morning and I'm feeling pretty good about this.  I left the poor bunny with some veggies and some water.  It was absolutely exhausted and didn't fight at all while I was handling it.  When I came back with the food and water it showed a little more life by moving to the very back corner of the crate.  I'm not super optimistic about its chances, but at least it's safe for now.

So how was your morning?

UPDATE: RIP, bunny friend.  Sorry about my dog.