Enough to make a grown man cry

Royse · Aug 3, 2012

Found a nest of baby rabbits on the shady (west) side of my house.
While mowing the yard.

All but one got away unharmed, but that one didn't make it.
I don't mind hunting rabbits and eating them, but I really don't like to see them go like that!
Just didn't see 'em.
Gettin' soft I guess.

bo · Aug 3, 2012

Nope, not soft, human. I'd hate it also.

Vito · Aug 3, 2012

That has happened twice to me.Always feel terrible after it happens.

Vito

bison · Aug 3, 2012

I had a fawn go trough the hay bine last year,..not a pretty sight either :shock:

Tom in TN · Aug 3, 2012

Royce,

Last year, on two different occasions, I hit a fawn with my sickle bar mower while cutting hay. Both times, I had to go to the house to get my rifle to put them out of their misery.

In both cases, I actually felt sick and thought that I might lose my lunch. I can still see the little guys and I still feel bad about it.

Really soft.

Tom in TN

GordoSD · Aug 3, 2012

I was at the desrt survival school in Nevada. I saw an adult rabbit run into a hole by some rocks. I started digging and finally way back I could see it, and, about 7 babies. I tied my survival knife on a long stick and just as I was about to have rabbit stew she darted out of the hole and past me. The instructor had come up and was watching.
So I decided to go for one of the babies, which was real easy to do and I pulled it out of the hole on my spear. The instructor said "You should leave the rest of them alone" I said, "Look pal, I'm the one that hasn't eaten much for three days, you're out here and eating at a 4 star in town at night." No way, they are going in my pack. He said," we'll give you a can of spam and you leave them." I said "can of spam each!" Which we shook on and so each guy in my "platoon" got a can of spam, and 1/7 of a small cottontail.
Some tree huggin, city boy, USAF sargent, LOL.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 3, 2012

Gotta watch spring rabbits, they could give you rabbit fever. Even
cleaning the guts off'n a lawnmower, around here, could make you
sick enough, to sh!t your brains out, or become a nnalert
politician! If I hit a nest, I use rubber gloves, when cleaning up the
mower, and throw the gloves into the fire. But that's just me, the
survivor, talking,LOL!

Harry J. Case · Aug 3, 2012

Will a Momma rabbit take care of her babies after they have been licked by a 120lb. Red bone hound? Rex found a nest and had to pull the babies out and inspect them. We put them back as best as we could but do'nt know if the Momma will accept them.

JRSutton · Aug 3, 2012

Probably.

I have a young daughter - which means I'm constantly extracting baby bunnies from the jaws of our cats.

The bunnies (judging by their population) seem to do just fine.

GeneMO · Aug 3, 2012

I ran a bird dog up into the grain head of a Gleaner F.

Frank was a good ole Dog.

Gene

Royse · Aug 3, 2012

Years ago I can remember the fawns laying so still in the tall grass that you
couldn't see them, then they'd jump up just in time for the sickle bar to catch
their legs.
Didn't like it then, don't like it now.
I had the Z-turn cranked right up, 50,000 ft/sec blade speed, so I'm sure
there was no suffering involved, but still...
Grandfather taught me never to kill anything without a reason.
Pests, something to eat, protection/preservation, out of its misery, but a reason.
I live by that.

Royse · Aug 3, 2012

Appreciate the story Gordo, pretty funny actually, even when true!
I did a few tours and duties that wouldn't fit into my normal lifestyle.
USN Special Boats.

Tom in NE · Aug 3, 2012

I was mowing alfalfa years ago with a sickle mower and hit a hen pheasant that was setting on a nest of eggs. I can still see her flying past the tractor, minus her legs...and the blood pouring out. Sure makes a guy feel bad.
Tom

JMOR · Aug 3, 2012

(quoted from post at 23:00:52 08/03/12) Years ago I can remember the fawns laying so still in the tall grass that you
couldn't see them, then they'd jump up just in time for the sickle bar to catch
their legs.
Didn't like it then, don't like it now.
I had the Z-turn cranked right up, 50,000 ft/sec blade speed, so I'm sure
there was no suffering involved, but still...
Grandfather taught me never to kill anything without a reason.
Pests, something to eat, protection/preservation, out of its misery, but a reason.
I live by that.

ust be one noisy lawn mower with a blade tip speed equal to 31 times the speed of sound!!!!!Wow!!!
The feds will be coming to get you, since they have 290fps limit on lawn mowers.

Aww crap, its late, it may be 45 X speed of sound. A bunch

dcarp · Aug 3, 2012

I mowed over 4 baby bunnies with the lawnmower this spring, guess I found the smart & lucky ones. None of them moved & none of them were hurt. Saw them on the next pass. I'm like you would have felt terrible if they had gotten hurt.

dcarp · Aug 3, 2012

I mowed over 4 baby bunnies with the lawnmower this spring, guess I found the smart & lucky ones. None of them moved & none of them were hurt. Saw them on the next pass. I'm like you would have felt terrible if they had gotten hurt.

oldtanker · Aug 4, 2012

Never seen a bunny when mowing but a few years ago a hen turkey flew up right in front of the haybine! I stopped right away and got off and looked. Found a nest with about 8 eggs in it about 3 feet in front of the cutter bar! I cut hay around that nest.

Rick

Roy in UK · Aug 4, 2012

Many years ago whilst cutting hay I hit a mallard with a disc mower sitting on her eggs. Of course the duck was mincemeat after that but all the eggs (13) were unharmed. I put them in my lunchbox, placed it by the tractor gearbox to keep them warm then took them home and gave them to a neighbour of mine who put them under a broody bantam hen. Every one hatched!

Royse · Aug 4, 2012

You are correct sir, it was late.
That is blade tip speed in feet per minute, not ft/second.
And, it should be 20,000 not 50,000.
Huge difference.

JMOR · Aug 4, 2012

(quoted from post at 09:24:05 08/04/12) You are correct sir, it was late.
That is blade tip speed in feet per minute, not ft/second.
And, it should be 20,000 not 50,000.
Huge difference.

ep, units, decimal points & memory eat our lunch !
Have a good one! :wink:

Royse · Aug 4, 2012

Not to mention fat fingers!
The 5 and 2 are too close together on a 10-key pad.

buickanddeere · Aug 4, 2012

Feel that way about the deer, turkeys, frogs etc
too. We don't use the rotary mower on the pastures
and other areas to weeds down. Until end of summer
when the wee creatures can clear out in time.

JerryS · Aug 4, 2012

Many years when my summer job was cutting hay, and many years ago when we had quail here, there were lots of times when momma quail would wait until almost the last second before flying up ahead of the sickle bar. I would immediately stop and kill the engine. In a few minutes momma would start whistling from nearby, and the babies would begin peeping. I could then see tiny movements of the grass as these little brown cotton balls, about an inch high, would begin heading toward momma. Sometimes I had to herd momma into a safe area, then wait about 10 minutes until all the biddies had time to scurry over to her.

Kippster · Aug 4, 2012

Just about every year I run at least two fawns
through the discbine. I always feel bad and I have
tossed my cookies a few times. Hate it when that
happens. I'm a softie. Wife raised 9 baby wild
rabbits with barely any hair and with the eyes still
shut, when I got momma with the mowing machine.
Every last one of them lived. On the other hand I
love to hunt, but only kill what Mrs. Kippster and I
will eat. Woodchucks and other destructive pests
being the exceptions to that rule. Kippster

Enough to make a grown man cry

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