TheBanyanTree: The Silence of the Rabbit

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I got up at 4:30 am this morning.  Not because I’m an early bird, but
because I was planning to into work for a while and wanted to get my workout
in before I went.  

I let the dogs out, and then I heard Axel’s “rabbit” bark, he’s a beagle,
bred to hunt rabbits, a high pitched baying.  He never barks like that
unless he sees a rabbit.  I saw Axel and Shadow chasing the rabbit while it
was frantically looking for a place in the chain link fence to escape.

But the dogs were too fast and I heard the rabbit scream as the dogs began
to play tug-a-war with it.

Then the screams stopped.

Shadow, the lab mix, went on with his business, because he loves the chase,
and only the chase.

Axel loves the kill and the meat.  I think he dragged the rabbit carcass
under the deck.

The cats were watching all this drama from the kitchen’s patio door.  I
noticed September, Ray’s cat, who he let outside all the time, and a veteran
hunter and killer of his own share of baby rabbits, watching intently.

It was like he was saying, “You go, dog!”

Well, this was a great way to wake up this morning.

When I got home from the gym, and by then it was light, I saw that Axel
dragged the rabbit’s half eaten body out from under the deck.  I used that
as an opportunity to pick it up and throw it out.  Ewwww.

Joe told me he would never own a beagle.

You would never think that such sweet and lovable dogs are such serial
killers, would you?

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
www.linkedin.com/in/margaretkramer

Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind.       
-Patanjali