Bunny Tails

Birna was in a predicament. She was hungry but at the same time she was warm and cozy curled up beneath a large pine tree. She yawned and stretched knowing that she'd need to get up and get busy regardless of the weather. It was summer but a cold wind had come down from the north, dropping the temperature farther than she expected though it wasn't uncomfortable. At least the sun was out and the wind was gentle. Birna decided to set up a snare and see if she could catch a snowshoe hare. It would be a decent meal and take much less effort if she could snare it versus trying to chase after one.

Now and then Birna examined the rabbit runs near the pines and once again she padded closer, eyeing the prints in the mud and the worn down areas of foilage. Winter had toppled the weaker pines leaving nice brush for the rabbits to run and hide under as they flitted down their pathways to forage.

Birna stepped carefully around the rabbit trail, eyeing the brush piles on either side as she debated where best to set her trap. She picked an entrance into the nearest brush pile and carefully set a loop of leather up at about the height of a rabbit's head. With her ravens assistance she looped it in such a way that if a rabbit pushed through the loop would close around its neck and strangle it.

Once that was done she then broke off fine twigs with her teeth and carefully set them up around the loop. Her goal was two fold. First she wanted to hide some of her handy work and obscure the loop with the foilage she put around it. She also wanted to do what she could to encourage an unsuspecting rabbit to lift its head and try to leap through the loop. Her final touch was to lay a few more springs to make it seem easier to go through the loop and discourage a rabbit just going around.

Once that was done Birna wandered back over to her pine tree to lay down and take a nap. She awoke a little time later and decided it was time to go and check her snare. She wandered down to the rabbit trail and where her loop was there was a snowshoe hare. She carefully approached but the creature lay still, fresh for the taking.


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