Rabbits

Rabbits

At a very early age I learned to appreciate rabbits.  My papaw raised rabbits and I did not know it at the time, but they were some of the most prolific and easiest to keep and raise of all the critters he had on his farm.  He would keep great quantities of them and sell or eat them.  They were much quieter than his chickens and much smaller and easier to house than his larger critters like hogs and goats. 

Getting old enough to start hunting I learned a new appreciation for them as table fare and as very apt quarry in the field.  I learned to love the development of beagles who would pursue them and learned the importance of habitat to keep them safe from their natural predators which have since decimated the populations locally.  I fondly remember the rabbit hunts I used to go on with my dad and my uncles and my cousins. 

Rabbits seem to be a great indicator species for the health of a habitat in an area.  I notice they seem to require just a bit more than other more adaptable animals such as squirrels or even deer.  Though I might have strayed in my interests into waterfowl hunting, or other upland and wingshooting quarry, my heart always brings me back to my love of the pursuit of rabbits.  There’s something special about watching a beagle work a brush pile or hearing and seeing a pack of beagles burn up a rabbit trail.  I hope that the rabbits make a come back around my area and I appreciate them all the more now that they are not as common as they used to be.  The farmers have begun cleaning their fields down into the ditch lines and leave nowhere for the rabbits to hide and escape their predators. 

Rabbits are one of God’s most efficient creations that can eat nearly any vegetation and survive on nearly nothing.  They can even re-process their own waste if need be.  They live in the roughest and nastiest thickets and brush and they repopulate an area quickly when allowed to be left alone.  I’ve heard it said that the rabbit doesn’t have a friend in the world, the coyotes and the house cats and hawks have really worked on them here and the owls have taken a toll at night, but still my nature seems to be naturally drawn to this efficiency.  I for one am glad and thankful that they are out there.  I hope that our farming practices can in the future allow for them to return to their former numbers and that my children and grandchildren can enjoy pursuing rabbits in the future.

Proverbs 30-26