"Briar Rabbit"

It was a really glorious fall day in Minnesota on Sunday, 11/15.  Sunny, high 50s.  After a 5-day stretch of work, I was ready for a few days off.  After a little nap, I took my A Team out to hunt down the street, on a neighbor's property.  It looked really good, and would prove to be good exercise for all in the field (especially me), at the end of the hunt Sassy brought bunny #7 to the bag.

The whole area is very overgrown with raspberry briar.  Being a warm day, I wasn't wearing a jacket, so my arms are all scratched up from moving through that mess, moving the bunnies.  Sassy was hot, and several times sat over a thick patch, looking into the bramble, being able to see her quarry, but knowing she would not catch it.  Instead she just voiced her opinions on the matter, perhaps mumbling fighting words, "talking shit" at the bunnies.  Like Brer Rabbit, of Uncle Remus' tales, the bunnies know they are safest inside the briar.  However, there was a big, clumsy human crashing through, and pushing the bunnies along out of their safety.

 

Sassy and I worked together (again, Flint came along but wasn't really doing much other than flying to keep up with Sassy . . . he doesn't make any catch attempts, yet).  We pushed the bunnies around on the new property, we moved a few off to the next neighbor, the one who lives just South of me, and just when we crossed over the barb wire fence onto my own patch of raspberry, a bunny busted forward, and Sassy took it.  Yeah Sassy!  The picture above is not as clear at indicating how thick the briar is, but believe me, it is very hard to move through.  The canes are long and grab at your clothes, and scratch.  Frequently they lock up and you can't tear through them, and have to step up and over.  It's hard to hunt in the stuff.

I extricated her, her bunny, and myself and went over the next fence, into a harvested field, open and walkable.  Flint joined us at this time.  Instead of leashing everyone up and parsing out some food, I just picked up the bunny and both birds, walked along the fence and came to my own yard, and put the birds into their weathering yard, then cut up portions.  Leaving them to eat, I unloaded myself of all my gear, and then walked back down the street to pick up my car.

So glad I didn't have to walk back THROUGH the briar patch, with both birds, to get my car.

I really need a dog on my team!  I wish Sassy would let me add one, but she just hates Brer Dog!