Have-a-heart(less)

I'm not sure why they are called "have a heart" traps... because after the dang critter gnaws all the plantings down to the ground - I personally have very little heart left... At all...
I mean - the "cute" little rabbit that took up residence under the new deck this winter was - so we thought - mostly held at bay by Watson's frequent trips outside... sure we would see rabbit prints in the snow but never the little monster itself. But we figured (like complete fools who should have (and do) know better)... we figured the rabbit was what, I dunno - ordering in Chinese every night? Now - I guess it's not so much that we thought about what he was likely eating all winter as much as we DIDN'T think about what he was eating all winter... So - we saw the tracks - made occasional comments about it - and lived life as the snow blew...
But now with the snow melted in the mid-winter thaw - this last weekend we strolled around the frozen yard to look (optimistically) for signs of spring. What we found was acts of botanical terrorism! That little rodent (actually rabbits are not rodents but instead small mammals in the family Leporida of the order Lagomorpha) - but rodent sounds nastier... he chewed every single woody or semi-woody planting around the house down to nubbins. The roses are "trimmed", the shrubs are "clipped" the lilacs are "mulched" - everything.
As - in a rather unceremoniously way - today at lunch - I saw fit to venture (out of season) to the tractor store and fetch myself a 2 pack (what a deal) of have-a-heart traps to see what we can catch...
Normally - I'd dispatch of the property damaging menace with a quick shot - but his ability to leave his calling cards without being seen has been impressive... either way - I smell rabbit stew in my future... heaven knows it should be tasty with the variety of delicacies he has pre-seasoned himself with (read - consumed)...

Comments

[Jeph]

Hossenfeffer!

So maybe you need to be leaving Watson out a bit more to do his job? Hopefully the plants, assuming they survive, will just see this as a challenge to bush out a bit more.

I'm worried because Doogie's actually chewed off a bunch of the bark around the base of my healthiest looking Asian pear tree. Dumbass!

[Andy]

This critter seems to know the patterns of the home - the fact we have only seen him once is a testament to his stealth!

[The short "war" is o]

[...] as I was already a little late in departure for work I remembered the importance of checking the set traps frequently to be as humane as possible… and it was then – of course – that I found [...]