I'm hunting wabbits

I find these observations about hugging very interesting. From a baby to an animal, it's a good thing to do...but as adults, so many people take issue with being hugged. Kinda ridiculous!
(a little off topic...sorry!)

For people (at least for me) I think it depends on who is doing the hugging.  If it's someone I don't know well, then yes, I'm uncomfortable with it.  But if it's a close family member, or a very close friend, then it's okay. 

Kathleen

Oh for sure! I can understand that. I dunno how true it is, but someone I know who used to visit France often told me that the peck on the cheek thing was a fairly common place thing, greeting wise; but hugging was considered too personal. I've never been to France, so I don't really know. Oops...getting really off topic here. Sorry!

I have been racking my brain and the answer may be rabbits!!  My new room mate loves animals and loves/harasses my dogs.  I can get  a bunny or two for her to love and train as pets.  Then (an this was my delima) they can be orchard grazers.  We have a strict no mow policy here.  We do mow and trim now but hope to less and less in the future. 

CurrentWave I loved the photos, do you have more?  I made a lawn and garden album on facebook to share...

Geese also mow lawns, btw.

They're territorial and messier than rabbits, but I wanted to mention them in the interest of covering all options.

Geese were my first thought but the mess.  I would like my little dogs to be able to play in the orchard.  They like to sleep on my bed... see why the racking of my brain???  Rabbits would be much better.  I have also considered a mini horse or a sheep... still considering my options.

Sheep will bark a young orchard as quickly as goats will (and I've heard that geese will, too, when the trees are still small).

Kathleen

There are large numbers of geese at my workplace, and I haven't seen any barked trees, even small ones planted this year.  Could be the breed of geese, or the fact that there's more than enough lawn, or any number of other reasons, I guess.

I am a bit late to this thread.....

but its easy to cleanly dispatch a rabbit.

You need about 1ft of heavy iron pipe.

Stroke the rabbits back and hold its ears in one hand then reach underneath and get hold of *both* its hind legs (this is the hard bit) and swiftly lift the rabbit up so its hanging upside down by its legs. At this point the rabbit is completely incapacitated. If it insists on struggling take your free hand and place it around its neck and gently push down, like you are stretching it. This makes the animal freeze. Quickly take your iron pipe and strike a short blow to the back of the rabbits head.

This all sounds a bit complicated but in reality you can do this in just one fluid movement. The rabbit wont know what has happened.

Hang the rabbit up by its feet until rigormortis has passed then continue with gutting and skinning.

This is the method for domesticated rabbits. Of course you are not going to be able to do this with wild rabbits.

Rabbit meat is really tasty. Stronger than chicken with a fine grain. The meat feels kinda sticky to the teeth. They cook up great in a crock-pot with lots of root veggies. Yummy.

Oh and the iron pipe has a name. Its called a Priest. Honest.

Thomas

Thomas when I kept rabbits that's exactly how I did it !

We have plenty of wild rabbits here now that the dreaded myxomatosis is almost gone so we don't need to keep them fenced in - we shoot them in the fields with the dogs' help. We ate loads of rabbit thanks to this little Poodle/Yorkie cross Didi - our best rabbit dog ever.



We had our first rabbit of the season just a few days ago. 

I used my favourite recipe Lapin à la moutarde. This is how I made it.

I Cut the rabbit in pieces and fast fried them in big wok with a little duck fat until they were brown on all sides.
Added half a cup of sweet white wine (just to finish the bottle off- I normally use dry) and fast boiled to get all the juices from the side of the wok which is new and still sticks a bit.
Then added two big tablespoons of mustard and mixed it in well to cover each piece and left the rabbit to simmer gently.
Meanwhile I cut a large onion up in big pieces and a few herbs, a tiny bit of rosemary, some sage and oregano.
Then added a bit of honey and fast fried the rabbit again to burn a bit all over then added the onion and herbs and half a bottle of dry white wine.
Covered the wok and left it to simmer very gently for about an hour, checking and turning it a bit from time to time. This is it it before the final simmering.

Yum.... I can almost smell it!

I'm going to keep this recipe - thanks for sharing.

~Jami

how long does it take for rigor mortis to pass? for chickens I gut and pluck and throw it in the fridge till I cook it...usually the next day and rigor is gone by then....

That does look yummy! I think it's very interesting that a poodle/yorkie cross is a useful dog for hunting. Nice to know that the characteristics that poodles and yorkies are bred for these days can be undone, so to speak. I would never have thought of those breeds useful for hunting, even as a crossbred. Learn something new every day!

I am not sure how long it takes for rigor mortis to pass. We would kill and hang overnight (from the hind feet) outside in a shed. You dont want a rabbit to cool inside your home since any fleas it has will quickly vacate and try to find more accommodating quarters.

You are not supposed to hang the rabbit in a very cold place during this time otherwise the meat becomes permanently tough, so refrigeration is not recommended.

Yum, that recipe sounds goooood.

All the best,

Thomas

I thought that rigor would pass even at a bit less then 40* (speaking only from chicken and goat exp. here). but that could be the food safety police promoting that and trying to discourage people from leaving food out at room temp........never thought about the fleas business. that wouldn't be fun........just curious I anyway, don't plant on wacking any rabbits soon!

Decades ago I knew a peace corps worker who worked with rabbits.
He told me if you coud produce an Ugly rabbit you could feed the world!!!
His problem was people made pets of the rabbits and did not view them as food animals.
But rabbits can adapt to so many different ecosystems that they make an ideal source of protein.
Last I heard he was raising rabbits for market somewhere in one of the south western states.

Steve Nicolini wrote:When I see a rabbit commit suicide.

http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Bunny_Suicide_Comic_Pics_226_2007.php


enjoy