October 14, 2024 — 4:27 p.m.

By late afternoon the storm had turned the drainage channel running through the apple orchard into a fast, brown torrent — and on its crumbling muddy bank, just above the rushing water, sat a small white rabbit, soaked to the skin and too exhausted to move.

The rescue was captured on a responder’s chest-mounted bodycam at 16:27:38, among rows of apple trees still heavy with red fruit. Fallen apples lay scattered through the wet grass, the eroded banks were collapsing into the current, and dark storm clouds hung over the misty forested hills beyond the orchard.

Found at the Edge of the Current

The footage opens with the rabbit already supported in the rescuer’s black-gloved hands, held just above the muddy bank. Its white fur is plastered flat with rain and streaked with mud, its long ears are upright, and its pink nose twitches as it stares toward the camera with wide, frightened eyes. Muddy water rushes past only inches away.

The rescuer, wearing a bright blue waterproof rain jacket, black waterproof trousers and a rescue harness, does not hurry. He carefully adjusts both hands beneath the rabbit’s chest, belly and hindquarters so its full weight is supported. The rabbit blinks, its ears shift gently, and rainwater drips from its fur.

A Dry Carrier, Right There on the Bank

Rather than carrying the rabbit any distance in the rain, the rescuer keeps it held low and secure while a rescue carrier lined with a soft towel is set on the ground directly in front of him. He then lowers the rabbit slowly downward into the carrier, keeping both hands under it until it is fully settled on the towel.

Inside the carrier, the rabbit sits up on the dry towel, ears raised and nose still twitching, looking around with calmer eyes while the floodwater continues to rush past the bank behind it — close, but no longer a threat.

Small Animal, Dangerous Water

Orchard drainage channels are easy to overlook after heavy rain, yet for a small animal they can become a trap: steep muddy banks that crumble underfoot, fast-moving water and no way to climb out once exhaustion sets in. This rabbit was reached in time — cold, filthy and frightened, but unhurt, and now warm, dry and safe.

The entire rescue was filmed in one continuous bodycam shot, with only the natural sounds of the orchard in the storm: rain on apple leaves, rushing floodwater, wind in the trees, and the quiet breathing of a very small survivor.