Best Laid Plans

Originally, my plan for today's post was to talk about some of the ideas presented by Toby Hemenway at his presentation "Agriculture, Horticulture, Permaculture" at the Mother Earth News Fair this weekend. However, while I was typing away here at my desk, I noticed a white rabbit standing outside my window.

No, really. A white rabbit.

I got up to take a closer look, and then saw a few more rabbits... MY RABBITS... out in the yard.

Oh, Crap.

So... I threw on my boots and ran outside for 2 hours of rabbit wrangling fun. First, I had to locate the escape tunnel, to make sure no one else could get out. Took me a while to find it, but hidden in the bushes about 6 feet away from the enclosure was their little Hogan's Heroes-style escape hatch. Very interesting, indeed.

The rest is a bit of a blur, but it mostly looked like this...

... with me close behind, swearing and muttering under my breath. 

Makes you want to raise rabbits, doesn't it? Pro-cage folks, I get it. I really do. Once the litter of kits that's underground comes up, we're going to move everyone into a temporary enclosure for a day or two while we re-do the colony floor. It'll either be poured concrete or a whole lot of wire fencing buried underneath. Maybe both, the way I'm feeling right now. 

I've actually been trying to sell some of our rabbits off, for a few weeks now. I guess rabbits aren't moving these days- although I was happy to sell Smudge a couple of weeks ago to a nice young guy who was looking to start raising his own meat rabbits. He's a nice buck, and should do well in the offspring department. 

Instead of a little extra cash in my pocket, however, I'll be processing three, maybe four rabbits today. Once they've all calmed down from their excitement, that is. I rounded everyone up and put my escapees into a portable pen (with a wire floor) that they can relax in for a while. It's definitely not the way I'd hoped to spend my day, but the weather is on the cooler side this morning, which is good for processing. Plus, we've clearly hit a critical point with these gals- if they're digging out, they're overcrowded, regardless of how well they all get along. 

So, it's time. I'm off to gather my supplies and set up my processing station. I won't be taking any photos while I work -too messy- but I will post some links to information I've found helpful for folks who are looking for more info.

Have you had a morning like this, where things start out one way and then everything goes a little sideways? In hindsight, the stories that end well can be pretty funny, so please share- either here or over on our Facebook page!