Rabbits

A lesson in how much power is in ‘No’.

Good afternoon! I’m glad you stopped by for another story. Let us have some tea, shall we?

My partner Jeff and I enjoy listening to audiobooks while driving together. Right now we are listening to the audiobook of ‘Watership Down’. I just love the story told through the viewpoint of the rabbits. We recently hit the spot where the main characters had to defend their littlest one against the attack by a raven. This scene reminded me of a similar scene I had the honor of witnessing not long after I had moved to Mustang Hollow.

I include the story in my book ‘Uranium Warrior’ because it speaks loudly as a metaphor for what I was facing at the time. I felt like the prey of a corporate predator. I had to give it all I had in order to survive.

Nature showed up to teach me. Here’s how….

I had been sitting in my home office where I could look out at the expanse of blue sky along with the rolling hills of the prairie. As I took a moment to enjoy the view, I noticed a golden eagle circling overhead.

I sat mesmerized while watching the circling. Suddenly the bird tucked it’s wings and descended rapidly towards a spot not more than 200 feet from my window.

Down, down, down he came. As he got closer to the ground I saw his target. A cottontail rabbit.

Just as the eagle was within striking distance, the rabbit jumped as though to run. The bunny was too late. The eagle had it in it’s talons and pinned it to the ground.

I sat there in awe. What a gift I was being given.

The eagle did not have a solid enough grip on the rabbit to stop it from attempting to get away. A fight for life ensued as the eagle hopped around on the ground with the violently struggling bunny in it’s tenuous grasp.

My soft heart for all of life was conflicted. The majestic eagle needed a meal to live. The cute cottontail was also struggling for its own life.

The eagle, with wings spread for balance, fought to hang onto his active prey. He hopped with outstretched wings while the rabbit jerked and twitched trying to wriggle free.

Suddenly from a nearby bush another rabbit bolted towards the eagle.  He ran right at the eagle and jumped and kicked at its head. Then he quickly hopped out of the eagle’s striking range.

I could just hear the eagle: “Ouch! You little brat! That hurt!” As he jumped back while he continued to grasp for his hoped for meal and shaking off the head trauma.

The now emboldened rescuer bunny ran in a circle around the eagle, sizing up for his next strike. Then…. Bang! He jumped and kicked at the head of the eagle again. He hopped out of range again to survey his effect.

I wasn’t sure which animal to root for.  The very pure struggle of life and death for each species was palpable.    

The rescuer bunny engaged again. He took up the circle for the third assault and this time jumped and kicked from a couple of different angles. The eagle finally released his grip on its prey in order to jump out of range of this unlikely and yet intrepid attacker.

As the eagle settled on the grass nearby in order to regain his senses the traumatized would be food rabbit lay still.

The rescuer bunny kept a wary eye on the eagle as he tentatively hopped over to his friend for a sniff and then sat and held space.

Time virtually stopped as we all attempted to breath again. After what felt like an eternity the attacked bunny woke suddenly and jumped straight up. He then shook as though to shake the entire experience off.

As his coat settled from the shake, both victim and rescuer quickly hopped into the safety of a nearby bush.  

The eagle seemed just as stupefied over what had just happened as I felt.  He sat in the grass with a dazed look for quite some time.

He then fluffed his regal feather coat and shook his head before lifting off into an aerial circle over the land looking for new, maybe not so bold, prey.

——

What a story, huh? I really did feel honored to have witnessed the scene. Especially so close.

I often consider the meaning that the animals were showing me. I always look for the messages that nature has for me.

The message of how a small and seemingly defenseless critter such as the cottontail bunny was able to defeat one of the largest raptors is quite meaningful for all of us.

One has to look at how bold the rescuer had to be in order to even consider attacking a ruthless predator. And then how the little one just would not give up until his friend was free.

The rescuer had no guarantee of success nor any knowledge of whether his friend was injured beyond help. All he could do was to take the necessary steps of just doing something.

Rescuer bunny could have just run away in fear and cowered as a victim to the whole scene.

Rescuer bunny could have just given up and accepted his lot as prey without any hope of being able to fight back.

But he didn’t. He decided to do something. Anything. Just his taking action, regardless of the success, moved him out of victimhood and into sovereignty.

This is our lesson. Even when faced by seemingly insurmountable and oppressive circumstances we always have a choice to fight back. We always have a choice to say ‘NO’ to the predator(s).

We never know just how powerful our kicks and our no is until we actually make use of this voice.

A good lesson for us all to remember, isn’t it?

Well, thanks for stopping by again. If you like this story and want to read more about how the power of one really is, take a look at my book ‘Uranium Warrior’.

Until next time, remember that you too can say no and kick the biggest raptor off of yourself and those you love.

Thanks for sitting a spell.