A Year of Blogging: September 24, 2011

September 24 was 'International Rabbit Day'. It is a day to protect rabbits, both as pets and in the wild. As a mom to two beagles, I have to say, rabbits are not something protected in our house. Before all the animal rights people jump down my throat, let me clarify. I do not encourage my dogs to hunt rabbits. I haven't trained them for hunting. However, I can't undo hundreds (thousands?) of years of breeding in which beagles were bred to hunt rabbits. We regularly have rabbits in the yard. They are cute sitting in the yard munching on the clover patches. They are not so cute when they hop into the garden and strip the young plants of all the leaves, thus killing the plants and our money. One year, in frustration, I did an Internet search looking for ways to keep rabbits out of gardens. The number one way? Get a beagle. So yes, when the rabbits were devastating our garden, I turned the hounds loose. And I will say, the rabbits won. The beagles chased them, but never caught one. In fact, in their almost ten years, the beagles have only come close once- when they caught a bunny's tail as it was going through the fence. There was another time they discovered a nest of bunnies, but thankfully Erich discovered it about the same time they did and we were able to get them away from the nest. Beagles are my favorite dog. That is why I am Mommy to two of them. I'd have a whole pack if "Someone" would allow me to. I love their sounds. I love the 'beautiful baying of the beagles' as they call it on the dog shows. Except when I have a migraine. But most of the time, their barks and yips and howls are delightful. I especially love it when they are on the trail. A non-beagle person might think their yip was a yip of pain, but beagle owners know it is excitement. They are on the trail of something great: maybe a rabbit, maybe a squirrel, or the stray cat in the neighborhood or a bird. Their foreheads wrinkle as they put their noses to the ground and the little white flag on their tail goes straight up in the air. Noses down, tails up- it's beagles doing what they do best. If you have more than one, they talk to each other through a series of grunts, snorts, and yips. For me, it is funny and cute and wonderful all at once. Not all beagles are rabbit hounds. My aunt owned a beagle, Rusty, who made friends with the rabbits. He never tried to chase them. In fact, Rusty would crawl up under one of the trees and the bunnies in the yard would curl up next to him. Together, hound and bunnies napped in the Florida sun. Rusty was a weird beagle! My beagles believe the best way to celebrate International Rabbit Day is to eat some rabbit. Since this is the complete opposite of what is supposed to be done this day, you will forgive us for not celebrating it in our house.