Rabbits, 4H and Coyotes
I went to my first 4-H meeting the other night with my wife. Actually, it wasn't my first ever just my first as an adult. There was this meeting I attended back when I was 11 (or something close to that) that comes to mind. For me then, it wasn't a "meeting" but just a bunch of kids getting together and something I had to do because I was sleeping over at a friend's house and he had to go.
This meeting was a bit different and the "kids" actually presided over the meeting. They went over some bookkeeping and details which fund had how much money. There was a swine fund, a horse fund and even a rabbit fund. The rabbit fund I found particularly endearing. It had $58.62 in it (if memory serves me correct). I thought of all the neat things I could buy with that money if I were a rabbit...probably lots of greens and carrots.
Despite the stereo type that some may have with such a rural organization, there was only one person there wearing a baseball cap with an up-turned brim and wearing a heavy, long sleeved plaid shirt. It occurred to me that since we were in the desert that wearing a plaid and long sleeved over shirt when it was about 80 degrees outside was quite odd. Well, I couldn't explain the dorky hat either.
It just occurred to me why I found the rabbit fund so endearing! Before we left for the meeting I was outside tossing the horse a couple flakes of bermuda grass and checking the water level of his two big muck buckets we have for his watering. One bucket was over half way down and there was a young jack rabbit that had drowned in there. Poor thing...probably smelled the water and jumped in and it was just too much for it to get out. I could only imagine his distress.
I tipped him out slowly onto the muck rake to hold him but let the water go by. The last thing to fall out of the bucket was a left over piece of carrot that the horse had likely missed and let drop in there. I wondered if the rabbit went for the water and the carrot.
Using the muck rake I brought him out to the nearby wash and laid him under a creosote bush, knowing that the coyotes would find him later that night.
The next day I went to the place where I laid him and there were only my footprints still, the marks of where I laid him and coyote prints.
This meeting was a bit different and the "kids" actually presided over the meeting. They went over some bookkeeping and details which fund had how much money. There was a swine fund, a horse fund and even a rabbit fund. The rabbit fund I found particularly endearing. It had $58.62 in it (if memory serves me correct). I thought of all the neat things I could buy with that money if I were a rabbit...probably lots of greens and carrots.
Despite the stereo type that some may have with such a rural organization, there was only one person there wearing a baseball cap with an up-turned brim and wearing a heavy, long sleeved plaid shirt. It occurred to me that since we were in the desert that wearing a plaid and long sleeved over shirt when it was about 80 degrees outside was quite odd. Well, I couldn't explain the dorky hat either.
It just occurred to me why I found the rabbit fund so endearing! Before we left for the meeting I was outside tossing the horse a couple flakes of bermuda grass and checking the water level of his two big muck buckets we have for his watering. One bucket was over half way down and there was a young jack rabbit that had drowned in there. Poor thing...probably smelled the water and jumped in and it was just too much for it to get out. I could only imagine his distress.
I tipped him out slowly onto the muck rake to hold him but let the water go by. The last thing to fall out of the bucket was a left over piece of carrot that the horse had likely missed and let drop in there. I wondered if the rabbit went for the water and the carrot.
Using the muck rake I brought him out to the nearby wash and laid him under a creosote bush, knowing that the coyotes would find him later that night.
The next day I went to the place where I laid him and there were only my footprints still, the marks of where I laid him and coyote prints.
posted by Cool Water William @ 4:42 PM
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