It Sucks To Be Ugly

Recently my son-in-law Ruben did some rabbit hunting. Ruben is a brand new hunter who just completed the safety course. As a graduation present of sorts, I took him to the Murillo Gun Show and bought him a Cooey .22 rifle. It was old as the hills but in great shape. For those who don't know guns the Cooey is an early 20th century classic. Naturally we had to shoot the Cooey so we did a little rabbit hunting on the way home at an old homestead near Hymers where I have permission to hunt.

Ruben managed to harvest his first rabbit - a snowshoe hare - and on the following day harvested two more. We had a meal of rabbit cacciatore later that week. (Try Glen Close's recipe for "Boiled Rabbit a la Fatal Attraction" it's awesome!)

Anyway, both of my daughters were rather incensed that we were hunting rabbits. My oldest daughter, Nicolette, lamented, "Your hunting rabbits now!" "Don't do that. They're cute."

Erin, who is married to Ruben, was also somewhat disturbed that we had harvested rabbits. "What are you doing that for?" She asked.

Incidentally both daughters approve of shooting grouse. Nicolette's husband, Joe, is an avid grouse hunter, but doesn't hunt rabbits.

I can only postulate on this apparent dichotomy, or expressed less formally, "What gives?"

I suspect it's because rabbits are cute. They are fluffy, have long slender ears, big feet and round eyes. Grouse on the other hand are kind of the doofuses of the animal kingdom. They have a tuft of feathers on the top of their skull that makes them look like they have "bed-head" and a ruffle of feathers around their neck that looks like they swallowed an acorn. They blink excessively, move their heads forward in herky-jerky fashion, and incessantly peck at the ground. Apparently they deserve to be shot!

If you're a member of the Northern Ontario animal kingdom - it sucks to be ugly!!