is the title of this post instead of the one I worked up in my head while speed walking through the piney woods of Seale which was “Liars, dang liars and rabbit dogs“.

The “Girls” lined up at the rear of the pathfinder in the warm pre- five o’clock air that had greeted me Saturday morning. Impatiently, Kate jumped up into Dixie’s compartment instead of waiting to be loaded in her own private compartment. I pulled her out, loading her into her plastic box behind the drivers seat. The box was one of Uncle NoPass’s that Brag and I had inherited and use since Kate doesn’t travel well.

As I was making a turn onto a side road, I felt something poke me in the neck. I tensed up until a whining voice said “Turn left here, Boss”
“It’s a right Lucy and what are you doing out of your box?” Tiny had built the box, but hadn’t installed the latches, instead handing them to me when he gave me the box. Tiny probably had other things on his mind at that time. He worked at Charbroil until they decided that the company would be better off having the Chinese make the grills and firing most everybody employed by the W. C. Bradley sub company. I think that W. C. Bradley is going the way of the St. Joe Paper. That is shedding parts of itself that actually make anything and concentrating on being a “development company” of their real estate.
It was, of course, as anybody who knows me a mistake to hand me something that I‘m to install later. I’m a know procrastinator.

Tiny was loading his four-wheeler when I pulled up in front of what we call “cabins” in Seale. Shacks , shanties or hovels would probably be more descriptive of the small cluster of “cabins”. I hadn’t seen a rabbit along the long logging road with it’s gummy red clay ruts from the recent evening showers. The rains are the first we’ve had in a long time. Most around here should thank me. They started shortly after I broke down and bought a new sprinkler, trying to save what was left of my grass.

We decided to run the back and I would go ahead with Tiny following behind in five minutes or so. I pulled into the turnaround in the back and saw something dart into the brush. I put the collars on Lucy and Kate though I haven’t needed them at all this year. A few minutes later when Tiny pulled up, the Girls were in full cry as the pursued the bunny that ran for 40 minutes before finally losing him. In the predawn darkness, Tiny and I heard a shrill cry from the doggs direction. We wondered if the dogs had caught the rabbit or if one of the dogs had been injured. All four dogs picked up the race again before losing the trail completely.

I had bragged to Tiny (and djmed in a recent call) about all the rabbits in the back. About how I saw rabbits just trying to get out of the way of what ever race was going. I told Tiny about how I hadn’t needed the collars all year. Yep, I was puffed up and bragging.

Well, that was the only rabbit we could find until we had walked for almost a hour. Lucy once again announced the rabbit but Dixie came back and squatted at my feet. I started getting nervous and called Lucy off.

A hundred yards or so later, Lucy started talking “rabbits” again. This time it was Julie who showed up at my feet with a rather wild look in her eyes until Dixie joined in with Lucy and the race was on. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it but Julie is storm shy to. When she senses a storm coming, she plants herself directly in front of me regardless of which way I move, always with a rather hysterical look to her eyes that are reminiscent of Sugar. And we did have storms later that afternoon.

The race was the length of a long bottom filled with vines and scrub and back before making a sharp right down BJ’s line. The race sounded less like “rabbit” and more like “sage maggot” as Cuz’s Boy calls deer and naturally, I had left the clicker for the pine limb on the paggenger seat of the Pathfinder.

I moved into the bottom but lost the sound as they topped a hill and dropped to the other side.

Tiny’s four-wheeler started and moved toward where I had last heard the dogs. I was walking fast across the barren pine hillsides, muttering under my breath about getting what I deserved for bragging so much. “Liars, dang liars and rabbit dogs” floated darkly in my thoughts along with a wish for the clicker so I could fire at least two of the “ladies” up. One or two of them I could understand, but all four simultaneously?

I came to the dogleg in the property line and saw Tiny setting on his ride watching what looked to be a clean hillside that actually was covered in brush about five foot high. I sheepishly told him I couldn’t believe it when he interrupted me to say it wasn’t a deer but a rabbit and they were about a hundred yards out running for all they were worth. I still had my doubts about what it was they were running

Since it was now nine in the morning with the heat building, I moved out trying to intercept them. Except for demonstrating my levitating abilities when I noticed a small snake in a bush near my face, the walk in the thick thick undergrowth was uneventful. Dixie and Kate met me and willingly followed me out. Julie came out ten minutes later. Lucy was fifteen minutes after that. Lucy don’t like to quit.

I was a few minutes behind Tiny when I left only to run up on him near the sand pit. He told me if the dogs hadn’t had enough, he had just seen a rabbit run down the middle of the road. I don’t know about the dogs, but after that last race, I knew I had had enough for the day.

Only two months and one week till rabbit season here in Alabama. Don’t time fly when your having fun?

I’m planning to run the “girls” next Saturday. Djmed has indicated he would like to attend. If Mark ever gets back from his jet setting, he’s got an invite to.