Finished my morning rounds. The babies are doing well, and fledging out fast now. Three out of four have tails, and everything but their heads have feathers. They grow up so fast…
Things were not so heartwarming at Former Neighbor J&H’s. When I made my last visit I saw a new rabbit had taken residence, so this morning I brought my .22.
This will do no good whatsoever. You can’t go anywhere around here without scaring up half a dozen cottontails. But J wants’em shot, so they get shot. In fact the biggest part of my job over there is seeing to the string of mouse and rat traps. He’s got a thing about the Order Rodentia that might almost win Zelda’s grudging approval.
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They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
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Ah yes… job security, at least as long as you can find .22 ammo. I bought a pellet rifle for that very purpose, but the 10/22 and my Ruger Mk II are far, far more accurate, so I don’t use it much.
On the “cant find .22” line, one of these has been my primary squirrel and rabbit getter for the last two years or so
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Pietta-Griswold-and-Gunnison-36-Caliber-Revolver/1167468.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dcolt%2B1851%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=colt+1851
Mine was picked up used at a pawn shop for about $100 and FFFG pyrodex is cheap and lasts, and 000 buck pellets are as well.
Once you lay in a pound of pyrodex, and a box of 000, you have plenty of fun classic target practice, and critter getters that just keep on giving.
Cotton tail rabbits are good eating. Here they are protected by a hunting season. (wink)
I don’t find them particularly good eating, to be honest. And what little there is, you have to work too hard to get. This little guy, for example: A typical size but it’s all fur. He didn’t weigh half a pound.
I’m strongly considering raising rabbits here at the Lair. I’m told domestic meat rabbits are a different animal entirely, and well worth the effort.
And think of the huge amounts of fun to be had defending your meat rabbits from all the other meat loving inhabitants of the desert around you!! Fun, fertilizer, fur for hats and boots and mittens and food all in one. Rabbits and chickens both need greens, so you’d have a reason to also invest in a seed sprouting setup. And you’d enjoy an omlette stuffed with sprouted seeds. Then to cook the rabbit with you’d need garlic, potatoes, cabbage and carrots from your vegetable garden, beer (for fried rabbit) from your secret stash. Raising your own meat rabbits sounds like the start of a whole new set of amusing and entertaining activities.
“whole new set of amusing and entertaining activities.” Yes, rabbit raising would certainly make for some interesting TUAK blog entries.
Having spent considerable effort and time trying to raise meat rabbits in the desert… I wish you luck.
They don’t tolerate heat too well, for starters. Read everything you can find about raising rabbits before you make an investment in it… that’s the best advice I can give.
That’s what I’m in the process of doing, ML. And rabbit-raisers do seem to agree that the desert isn’t an ideal setting. OTOH this isn’t the Mojave. We do get 100+o heat waves, but they’re far from the norm.
As to the investment, monetarily it should be minimal. I’ll need to put up a new shelter, but have been planning to do that anyway. I already have three good cages, probably half of the total need if things go well. A sack of pellets, a new garbage can and some accessories won’t run that much, and I’m hoping to score the rabbits locally. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t.
As for predators, the often very loud chickens haven’t caused nearly the predator problems I feared so I don’t see how some caged and quiet rabbits will make the coyotes any bolder. They can get rabbits any time they want, without running afoul of me or the dogs. In truth, I’m more worried about the dogs. Ghost will ignore anything in a cage, but LB sees rabbits as food.
Haven’t pulled the trigger yet, it’s just something I’m looking into. The chickens are great for eggs, but shite for meat. I’d really like to raise more meat.
Worth a try, I guess. But I suspect you’d be money and effort ahead to simply raise more chickens. If you do decide to attempt raising meat rabbits, invest a little in some good blood stock. Buying local rabbits of unknown history and breeding may be ok… but also may give you inbred individuals which will not breed well or be efficient feed converters. I’m not suggesting you spend hundreds of dollars for pedigree brood stock, of course… but somebody’s unknown culls will hardly be the best to start with. You can improve even those if you buy only does and invest in one good, pedigreed buck. Save some of the does they produce and the next year, buy another buck. Keep records of who is bred to what, and avoid inbreeding as much as possible.
I raised California White giants, for the most part, starting with pedigree stock. They were 5 to 7 pounds each at 6 to 8 weeks from birth – those surviving that long – and the pelts would have been valuable anywhere except the desert. 🙂 Over three years, the entire operation was a net financial loss any way you looked at it, unfortunately. Guess I never cared enough for rabbit meat to ignore that fact. 🙂
Joel, Noooooooooooooo……how about a miniature pig or goat instead of rabbits if you want meat. Both will eat your vegetable scraps – less trash to haul away. Leaf lard from a pig makes wonderful healing hand and body creams and lotions and the best pie crusts (for your chicken pot pie). Pig ears and feet are delicacies. Get a female goat, breed her, and you’ll have goat milk to make your own soap with. Young goat roasted over an open fire is a finger lickin’ good forgotten treat. And you can smoke the meat from either one. Just remember that anything tastes good with enough Jack Daniels in your glass.
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