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May 16, 2006
Twelve-Gauge Gardening
Some may find this piece offensive. To them, I apologize. But, as a friend of mine told me, “You’re in the country now. If you want your land, you’ve got to claim it.”
Rabbits have been the scourge of our garden. The photo shows what was a plum tree last year. This year, it’s kindling, thanks to rabbits chewing off the bark. I’ve tried fences and cages, stinky coleus, and even an ultrasonic rabbit repeller. But if I keep them out of the garden, they move on to the trees, or the lawn, or the tulips. The fact of the matter is, there are just too many rabbits. Coyotes and foxes have been hunted out of the area. The two pairs of well-fed bald eagles headed north for the summer. Without predators, the rabbits have been having a population explosion. Nature is out of balance, and we have to deal with that fact.
As a pacifist and former vegetarian, I have been reluctant to use violence to reduce the population. But enough is enough. When three friends volunteered to address the problem for me, I agreed. Suellen was OK with it as long as they cleaned up their mess. One of them, who brought an AK-47 to the task, said if they did it right there wouldn’t be much mess. Other gardening implements included a 12-gauge shotgun and a .45 automatic.
Yesterday morning, my friends walked our 20 acres and made a measurable reduction in the rabbit population. Of course, I also saw a couple of crafty old jackrabbits sneak around behind the humans, and live to reproduce another day. As the junk food commercial says, “Don’t worry, we’ll make more.” But for now, there are fewer rabbits competing for the tender morsels in our yard.
Posted by DJSueellen at May 16, 2006 02:56 PM
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