Brazen Squatters No Longer Fear Detection?

An emboldened bunny at the corner of Westminster and Canterbury (7/21/12).

One apparent byproduct of this summer's stifling heat and humidity appears to be that, in addition to humans seeking the cool confines of air-conditioning, those bunnies that by nature venture out during late morning hours (or afternoons for that matter) are becoming increasingly more brazen. In the past (heck, even a month ago) when one turned the corner to come eye-to-eye with an urban rabbit, s/he would quickly scamper into the brush or beneath shrubs to get out of view only to venture back out once you had safely passed by.

Yesterday while walking my neighborhood, the big fellow pictured above, calmly sat nibbling at grass as I came upon him. This was not the first time in recent days I had been privy to rabbits standing their ground, so, curious to see as to how close he would allow me, I calmly moved closer. It wasn't until I was nearly upon him, that he turned for cover beneath a nearby bush. Given the large number of rabbits out and about this summer, one has to wonder if they're just becoming as acclimated to having us around as we are to having them.

Hopefully, as I observed yesterday while swerving my car on an empty side street to avoid crushing a rabbit under my vehicle, they somehow communicate to one another the likelihood of their winning a standoff with oncoming traffic...