I could also use some advice on this topic. My husband came home with 2 baby snowshoe hares that he saved from certain death. He watched a bird take off with 2 of them before he realized what they were and when he wandered over to where the bird was snatching them from he found one frozen to death (we'd had a dump of snow the night before) and only 2 left. He picked up the two remaining bunnies (with an angry bird circling above him) and actually had to gently peel one of them off the ground, it had started to freeze there. So now we have these baby bunnies at our house. We've already fed them once. I'm pretty sure we're ok in the feeding, caring for them area. The only time we've even touched them is to move them or to feed them. My question though is...how do I know how old they are??? I want to be able to release them again but I don't want to do it to late or to soon. I have read that snowshoe hares are actually born with fur, eyes opened and ready to hop. So apparently those aren't going to be good indicators. Does anyone know approximately how old a snowshoe hare might be if it's only about 2"-3" from bum to nose?? Please help. :) Thanks.

As a free website's got to have advertising, it's up to us to block them. IMO it's up to a free website to find ways of advertising that don't alienate the people they wish to retain as members. User-friendly is always the best. These annoying pop-ups are not the way. The more difficult they make a MB the fewer people will stay. This MB already has a difficult way to post pics. How many difficulties will members put up with before they leave. I'm on the verge but enjoy 'visiting' with some of the forum members so have put up with these difficulties, so far. There is always the 'straw that breaks the camel's back' tho. Only TPTB know the decline in visits and numbers of posts.

ideefix, I am right there with you. That said, there is no dissuading them. They are older parents who are set in doing what they want to do. All I would do is offend them and I do love these very loving people. I live in the heart of the country where very strange names aren't that uncommon. We have lots of people with Dreadlocks and see names like 'River, Yuba, Canyon, Sierra or Tahoe'. (I can't even remember the *really* odd names I've heard!) In my experience, these kids often change their names when they hit their teens. I've seen it time and again. I know one 'Tahoe' who changed his name to 'Wyatt', his middle name. Then again, my oldest sister's daughter named her girls 'Rocca and Yarrow'. I could see 'Yarrah' perhaps, but it appears they have an 'O' fetish. When she was pregnant, Aimee and I were hoping they would have a boy and name him 'Almond'. Then they would have an Almond and Rocca. LOL!

1. What if we claimed it's for a bed and breakfast? >>> A B&B is a business and requires zoning approval, business permits, inspections, business insurance, and tax considerations on a federal, state, and local levels. The purchase of the home for use as a B&B is a purchase of investment property and also requires zoning approval, business permits, inspections, business insurance, and tax considerations on a federal and state levels. 2. Or would it be better to say it's for 100% personal use to treat it as a primary residence for better interest rates? >>> You can only have one primary residence. Claiming both homes as a primary residence would be FRAUD. Your homeowner's insurance company would also consider this FRAUD. Be aware too that insurance companies share information on homes insured including past claims and homeowners. This would give your insurance company grounds to claim fraud and not cover any claim on either home. 3. Maybe a mortgage broker would give us a break if we do 2 mortgages at the same time? >>> Doesn't hurt to ask. I would expect though that since one is for a principal resident and one is for a rental investment property with differing interest rates it will not be discounted. 4. A friend suggested we officially rent out our own house with a fake lease and move into the other house as our primary home, but that sounds too fishy to me, doesn't it? >>> You would be committing FRAUD against the bank, insurance company, and IRS. 5. We were otherwise thinking of constructing a guest house on our own property (lots are large - it's a rural area). >>> Check your local zoning laws to see if you can and what restrictions there may be. Many areas do not allow more than one home unit on a property regardless of the size of the property. We live rural on 10 acres and it is not allowed. 6. The property doesn't have to be joined officially, in case we in the future want to sell it again. >>> Once officially joined it is doubtful that they would separate the properties. Without the properties being officially joined you can not get a single loan to cover both. The bank will easily determine this when a title search is done. 7. We would use the house for a combination of extended family visits and short term vacation rentals for a few years (we are expecting our income to go up substantially in a few years, so we wouldn't have to rent it out later). >>> If the house is rented it is an investment property with rental income. It may be converted to personal property but when you sell the home you will have to claim recapture of the depreciation taken while a rental. 8. (From another poster) If you were just short term renting it out I don't see why that's fraud it financed with a home loan. All these folks that are renting out houses or vacation properties don't have busniess loans, they have home loans. >>> The may or may not have a home loan but once they rented it out it becomes a rental investment property and they claim it as a rental investment property to the IRS and insurance company. Saying it is a 2nd home and not a rental (and not claiming it as a rental investment property) is FRAUD. There are some very helpful folks here offering some good advice to help you find a mortgage product and keep you from getting into legal trouble. Buying a home (whether your principal residence or an rental investment property) will involve your mortgage lender, credit bureau, lawyer, title company, insurance company, and eventually the IRS since it gets copies of your mortgage interest. I suggest you talk to a mortgage lender to see what options they suggest and then talk to a tax adviser about owning a rental investment property. IF you would actually go talk to a tax adviser you might find out that it's to your ADVANTAGE to claim it as a rental property! Gosh, YOU SHOULD really go see the thread "Principal Residence" on the Household Finances Forum ... it sounds just like what your asking about!