Rabbit, jump
I was at a country fair recently and saw a sign for an event called rabbit hurdling.
It was no misprint, either, because it featured a little drawing of a bunny jumping over a hurdle, something like a horse would.
I thought perhaps it was a joke, but it wasn’t that either. It was a bona fide event. The bunnies varied greatly in size and certainly in energy and eagerness. Some were quite—jumpy. Some dug in like mules and just could not be successfully prodded by their young owners to get off their duffs.
The winner cleared a barrier six hurdles high. Each hurdle looked to be about an inch or an inch and a half, which doesn’t sound impressive until you look at it with bunny eyes. I took no photos, but trusty YouTube has filled in the gaps with video from a significantly more world-class bunny hurdling tournament:
Awwwwwwwwww……. </b>
Where do you get this goofy stuff? Hasenpfeffer on the hoof it looks like. I raised rabbits as a kid but I kept mine in cages, just for pets and they became just big fat white bunnies. Although I liked to hunt and shoot cotton tails for food I would never eat my own little critters and I would have had a lot of fun trying to teach them how to do this.
I also kind of wonder if you could bring in a ringer, a West Texas Jack Rabbit who could clear the whole batch of those hurdles in one jump. But Jack Rabbits are really hares so never mind, just let the cute little bunnies do their hurdles.
Rabbit jump, high hurdle damn you, across the gully.
There is food and water and protection so jump thee
high and far and from the hour that takes and ends thee.
It’s my life, rabbit, so live and love and jump the gully.
Hussein: Jump or else.
Darth Vader: You have disappointed me for the last time, bunny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV2DLkDPwM8
What a horrible thing I am about to do.
I was at the Belmont when Charismatic lost to The Lemon Drop Kid, and there was absolutely no mistaking after the race how upset and disgusted Charismatic was. A human being could not have given a more unmistakable reaction to defeat.
My younger brother had a dog named Lucifer who lived in those glorious free days when dogs had a life of their own, just like Americans back then. One day when my brother was walking Louie in Delaware Park, he (the dog) spotted another guy who called him (the dog) “Jack,” and Lucifer/Jack ran with glee to the other guy.
Turns out, Lucifer/Jack led a double life. Lucifer in our home during the dinner through breakfast hours, Jack during the day on the other side of a very big (Olmsted) park. Everyone was happy but not surprised given Lucifer’s exuberant and liberty-loving personality. A dog a lot like my brother.
We kids teased the animals mercilessly out of genuine love. Lucifer was purposely fed peas, which he hated, and hilariously pretended to chew them before he spit them out secretly. That is true.
My goldfish Arturchik and Paulchik could not be more different. The exemplify the decisive influence of IQ, and are both lovable. I just get annoyed when they bother the snails (Speedy III and Speedy IV).
Here is the horrible thing I am doing, commenting on a “bigger” issue while being delighted by jumping rabbits.
We are no longer allowed to simply enjoy our animals.
The related Leftist organizations, PETA and SPCA, are immensely wealthy organizations who have long since come to use animals
as yet another weapon against America.
The doe-eyed dogs and cats, with their wretched suffering, are used to raise funds to finance a war against normal, average Americans who offend the Leftist sensibilities. It is a war against farmers and the food supply, it is a war against private property, it is a war against the very notion of being free in your own home.
This is a “for the children” type of political campaign, relentlessly waged day by day (assisted by local news broadcasters who love the appeal of suffering animals) but whose goal is the destruction of freedom and privacy, and above all another facet of teaching average, normal, middle-class Americans, that they will be criminalized one way or the other.
The Left had a satori moment a couple decades ago, when they realized they were getting trounced by the issue of criminal law enforcement.
What they did was to transform the issue into a broad and comprehensive attack on Americans, giving them (Americans in favor of prosecuting murderers, rapists and robbers) a taste of their own “narrow-minded, racist” medicine.
A mother and daughter who get into a bitter argument and call each other names and slap or push each other, are now subject to Domestic Violence prosecution, Utterly Prosecuted For The Danger They Present To Society.
And so it goes with absurdly disconnected driving while intoxicated laws and prosecution, having nothing or very little to do with actual safety and risk, and everything to do with making Americans feel fearful and intimidated by their governmental masters.
The last thing Leftists would consider is the fascinating implications of animals, how they so miraculously mirror our humanity in some respect or another.
That is what the rest of us are doing.
For the Left, animals are yet another aspect of life to be exploited for political gain.
My county fair only has pig races – which are a lot of fun. But, thanks Neo, I now have a new favorite thing to look for at the county fair. I hope they bring them to us soon.
Tonawanda, now everyone walks around carrying bags of their dog’s poop and no one thinks it’s weird.
I can see Lucifer politely chewing his peas and then spitting them out on the sly. He was a good dog.
Science, esp. animal psychology/ethology are increasingly learning that many animals are much more capable than was believed only a dozen years ago or so. Tool use was believed to be the prerogative of man when I went to school. Then some primates were grudgingly credited with foresight and tool use as well. then it was elephants (who also recognize themselves in a mirror). Recently it was some crocodiles who place twigs on their noses to attract birds who collect material for nest building. Next will be bunnies.
Very cute!
When I was a kid I attempted to put a collar and leash on my pet bunny once and she screamed. If you’ve ever heard a bunny scream, it’s frightening.
Some years ago my husband and I happened on some wild rabbits during a night-time walk on Nantucket (near one of the lighthouses). They were sitting perfectly still to avoid detection, but when we got too close, the propelled themselves straight up (high – at least as high as the ones in the video) and made this sort of “Ooof!” noise, then scampered away.
Neo Neo, I love you! Jumping bunnies! I read you for your intellectual honesty, your “groundedness,” your analytical sharpness — and your sense of whimsy. Jumping bunnies! Your take on what is happening in our country, in the world, is always rich with thought, a moral construct, perspective and a sense of history and culture. You are a very complete person. The daily news would feel like a fall down the stairs if it were not for the respite of your thoughtful commentaries. And just when we needed it — Jumping Bunnies! Thank you.
Ralph at 5:35 —
Neo’s “groundedness” is an amazing thing. Is it found elsewhere?
And how does one get it?
Nice to have on our side.
Which reminds me of the Bunny Hop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmC1KyxhEJU Ray Anthony original
Our dog didn’t like peas either, although he liked just about everything else. Once we put a pea inside a biscuit and gave it to him. He started wolfing it down per usual, chewing away. But then he paused for a second and, plop, the pea, intact, dropped out of his mouth. Then he finished the biscuit.
P.S. I have no larger point.
What Ralph Kinney Bennett said.
And kcom, I’m still laughing. What a great little vignette. Right up there with jumping bunnies.
To give an idea of what they think of those who turn their backs on their own country to assist Russia, consider what it is doing to Ukrainian soldiers captured in Crimea who decided to join the Russian military. Their Russian military records bear the notation: “Prone to treason.”
Sorry, wrong rabit.. (snowden)