in the parenting skills of Penny Sue and Sallie Mae.
Penny Sue is on her second large litter (the first was 13 with 10 surviving) and has a laissez-faire attitude to puppy raising. She tends to wean them as quick as possible.
Sallie Mae, however is a nervous nelly. She wouldn't even let them out of the house till they were three weeks old. Penny Sues were trying to crawling all over her pen when their eyes were still shut.

We just had a thunderstorm and the hard rain quickly filled the "hollow" that the puppies were in. I checked--Penny Sue was dry in a house while the puppies were whining outside in the rain. Penny had a look of exasperation that translated into, "Boy, they're to dumb to come in out of the rain"

Sallie Mae had moved hers from their previous location to a more protected site.
They still look a lot like Dustin's dog and the blue ticking has started to show up on the legs. I know I've said they were rather homely in the past though Dustin tended to disagree. But they must have scared him off, because he hasn't been back to check on them since the first time he saw them

had eight puppies with seven surviving. Unfortunately all of them look like Dustin's dog. I might have to give them away

by way of Samuel P Thumbsucker, had 11. These are NKC



Two Lemons and nine, either dark red or chocolates. I won't know for a few days if they are going to be coppernosed and copper eyed like Penny and Sammie.

Sallie Mae, by way of Dustin's dog whose name escapes me for the moment, is due any day. She is the top dog in The Rabbit Journal's pack
Details on buying pups will be available on The Rabbit Journal in a few days. I'll have both NKC and unregistered pups.

tells me that business is slow. I suppose it's because of the oil leak off of Louisianna.
He tells me to assure you that the oil hasn't reached Apalachicola and the fishing hasn't been shut down.

I'm leaving Thursday morning and won't be back until Sunday night.
Give Brownie a call. You'll have a great time

www.ApalachicolaGuide.com

Brag came by the other evening to feed the dogs just as I was finishing up using the grill. He remarked that I had been doing a lot of grilling lately. And I have. Over the last few weeks, a varied mix of fish, fowl and mammals have found their way onto my charcoal grill. Only reptiles and amphibians are missing from the list. A temporary oversight, I’m sure.

I know some of you people say you’re going to fire up the grill when you actually mean you’re going out, turning on the gas and pushing the electronic ignition button Then you set around waiting for the fake rocks to heat up while your fake meat marinates in fake smoke.

Soy burgers, anyone?

Camp cook, teat supervisor and the builder of two of my dog boxes has passed

Plunker and I saw the pasture rabbit, a big buck, yesterday evening, in one of his usual haunts. I had been seeing him with some regularity, morning and evening, from my back porch.

This morning after tending the critters, I turned the dogs out. We walked the length and breath of the bottom below the horse pond without jumping. Just as I was discussing with the Girls (and Sammie P) about trading them in and getting me a real pack of rabbit dogs, they struck and were off to the races.

I waited at my line and watched as they ran, in full cry, a neck of woods jutting out into my neighbors pasture The rabbit turned and headed in my direction, obviously, making a try for the opposite bottom.
I heard thunk as a animal hit a piece of sheetmetal crossing the line.
I looked in time to see a very annoyed barn cat streak into the barn.



On the plus side, they are into a long race with a real rabbit on the back corner. I'm sitting on the back porch typing and eating a bowl of cereal

Well, turkey season is finally over here in Alabama. We can now run/train the dogs during daylight hours. That's IF the deer hunters/turkey hunters will let you on their place.

It's time to do a little maintenance.
Check the collars for wear and tear.
And fit. The girls have been putting on a tad of weight during the last two months of inactivity.
Shots are coming due. They only get rabies from the vet, the rest I give them.

Oh, we bred Sallie Mae to Dustin's dog, who's "name escapes me for the moment"
And it looks like while I was busy setting that date up, the two coppernosed beagles, Penny Sue and Samuel P Thumbsucker got together.

Oh, and I got to photoshop a new header at the top of the page
And set up some exercises.
And go fishing in Apalachicola before the tar balls hit
And.....

What have ya'll been up to?

that this Saturday is the semi-annual bbq at the Ridge Grove Volunteer Fire Department in Chambers County, Alabama.

GF and I will be doing a pass through since we have to attend her grandmother's 90th birthday celebration in Harris County, Georgia in the early afternoon.

I recommend that you get to the Q and Stew early, say noon eastern (yes, they are on central time), since they sell out early

When I was younger I used to treat the Elder Sportsmen with a degree of respect.
On the last couple of hunts, I suddenly noticed that I Am the Elder Sportsman.
Just how the heck did that happen?
It seems like it was only yesterday that I was “The Kid”

And what the heck happened to the respect I should be due?
On the last hunt, I saw a couple of young bucks on the road while I high stepped it in the briars

in Alabama is over.
I have three posts that will follow over the next three days.
One covers the last hunt at Pookies, one has some personal thoughts while looking for Lucy Lu and one is a planned photo montage of the year

And I was in no mood to listen to any crap about having ran a rabbit for two solid days or out running coyotes all night.
Nor did I show those little legs any mercy on the walk back since I had to hike from the sawdust pile to Bobby Jones’s line.
It'll be a cold day before she leaves the pen again for anything beyond a trip to the vet

Snarl

Lil’ Bit, the newest puppy, daughter of Sammie P and Penny Sue, found her first rabbit yesterday at Seale.

Milestone
Lucy Lu spent her first night since she was a puppy sleeping with the coyotes. She was mad at me for dragging her out of her house and making her go on the hunt. First, she wouldn’t come out of the woods when we wanted to move from Pittsview to Seale. Despite, Cuz and Dustin’s assurances, Brag and I walked for almost two hours with jumping a rabbit or having the dogs run one.
When we got to Seale, little short legged Lucy cut me off twice from a rabbit heading back to his home briar patch. She disappeared on the walk back to the truck before lunch and didn’t turn up on the afternoon races.
Brag and I called and looked till after dark.

The hunt in Seale was good despite the fact there were only three of us, Plunker, Brag and myself. Plunker left early afternoon.
Final score
Brag 3
Plunker 2
And sucking hind teat, Rimfire 1

Brag just called from Seale and no sign of Lucy Lu today either

After our first volley, Brag said “I see him, he’s hit. I’ll catch him” That confused me a tad since I could see the rabbit dead on the ground in front of me. Turned out we were shooting at different rabbits.
Then Brag made an outstanding shot on a zigzagging Fred.
Plunker, later on missed Jimmy as he sprinted down a naked fence line. Jimmy didn’t stop till he got to the front porch of the house. I suspect he wanted to ring the door bell and beg for help.

I’m not sure about the names of the rabbits since none were wearing collars but since they were the yard rabbits in Tallassee, I’m sure that the ladies of the house who were peeking out windows to see what was going on had names for them.



Our host put us on the first rabbits near the old buildings of the property that is used once a year for a civil war reenactment. I understand that the Yankees win the first day while the Confederates win the following day.

but I have to restrict comments to members due to comment spammers.

A couple of things, this is a personal site, not a commercial site. I do Not sell email addys.
If you wish to join, the process is as simple as I can make it and all except trolls are welcome