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Yesterday I was out walking with my daughter when we happened across an injured rabbit. The rabbit stood there in the sidewalk and did not want to run anywhere, despite our English Setter Coco pawing at the ground around here. My daughter, 6, was concerned for the rabbit.
Upon closer inspection the rabbit suffered some nasty wound just below its right eye. Perhaps it was a dog or a cat that caused it? I told my daughter we should keep going as there is not much we can do for it (at least I thought).
No luck. About twenty feet along, she started bawling. She desperately wanted to help that rabbit. She told me I should put it in my hat, take it home and let her mom put some disinfectant on the wound. Her tears convinced me I should give it a try.
"Okay," I said, "You hold Coco's leash, while I do this... I can’t' carry this rabbit and have Coco pulling on the leash at the same time..." She took the leash from my hand.
I walked closer to the rabbit and the poor thing wouldn't budge. It simply stood there with a fairly gruesome laceration under its right eye. I put my hat down and was ready to scoop up the poor creature. However—like the jaws of a T-Rex descending upon some helpless creature—Coco's large snout entered the picture. And the rabbit was snatched from the hat!
My daughter screamed. I was gobsmacked.
Coco had the entire rabbit's head in her mouth. Breaking free of our hold on the lesh, Coco bolted while the rabbit’s body flailed wildly from her mouth. Coco ran in circles and dashed into the street.
I desperately tried to catch her. Besides Coco’s safety, I was afraid Coco was going to bite the rabbits head off right in front of my daughter. Finally, I got hold of Coco's leash and she let go of what was left of that poor lifeless rabbit. My daughter was in tears.
I was able to console my daughter and explain to her there is a life lesson to be learned here: Nobody did anything wrong. We wanted to help that rabbit. We wanted to do the right thing. Coco was doing what is in her nature. The rabbit is now out of its suffering. And such It is the way of the world. She finally calmed down enough that we could complete our walk. She appreciated the life lesson and it made me think if I ever told her the tale about the tortoise and the hare. It probably didn't make much sense now. Though it was left unspoken, there was another lesson she likely learned today: If you don't keep moving in this world, you might get your head bitten off! |
