Finally- a dumb one!

Hope was hungry this morning and I ignored her calling to me since it was raining. It was supposed to stop after noon, so I settled back with another cup of coffee to wait.

Around 11:30 it lightened up to the West, so I went out to get her. I think she had decided that I wasn't coming today. She weighed 924 grams.

I decided that I was going to try to kidnap Tami this morning. It appeared that the ranch was a little quieter than usual, so I reasoned that I might be able to tear her away. She has not been able to see Hope at all. Of course she had all kinds of thing to do, mostly school work with the kids, Goats to milk, etc. but I was persistent. I knew that she wanted to go, but was feeling that she shouldn't. I finally broke her resistance down, and we went to milking and other stuff. In 20 minutes we were ready to go.

I went to the pasture by the house that I had been hunting off and on all season. I was quite sure that there were plenty of Jacks still there, and if things got tight for Tami, she was only a few hundred yards from the house. I needn't have worried. Hope was like a coiled spring, and after a hundred yard walk, she flashed off after a running Jack. Tami only got the chance to say, "wow she is fast", when there was a crash and a screaming Jack Rabbit. We started towards her, but there was only one scream. I felt pretty sure that it had gotten away. The Sage in that area is pretty sparse, and it seems to me that she keeps a higher percentage when they stuff themselves into a Sage Bush trying to escape the demon on their butt.  We slowed to a walk, trying to figure where she was since there was no noise to guide us. A Jack scuttled away, and I said, yep, got away. I walked on a bit further looking for Hope, and found her in a bush holding a dead Jack by the head and chest.

I am not sure how she killed it, but it was quick. Perhaps the hind talon of the right foot pierced the brain there in the back where it is thin? When I skinned the rabbit, I could see nothing that I would deem a lethal wound on him.

I pulled them out of the bush and put the tin cup by the Jack's head. Hope reached over, picked it up by the rim and put it in a more comfortable spot for her to eat out of. Of course I was standing there with a dumb look on my face and missed the opportunity to record it. When she finished the tidbits, I gave her a front leg and scooted her off the rabbit. I slipped my handy dandy wally world bag over its head and retired to clean it. I brought the liver back with me and put it into her cup. When she finished that I offered her the fist and the Jack's head to chew on. The whole thing took about 20 minutes.

It was a much smaller Rabbit, and he made a mistake. I thanked the Gods for him and his sacrifice. Sometimes it goes that way.