Cane-cutter

Swamp rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus. Photos by Jessa. (Almost all of our photos from this trip, in fact, are Jessa's. Girl just doesn't like to share the camera.)

I caught one of these once, back in Georgia, or rather my hawk did. It was well over twenty years ago, and I can't quite remember whether it was Watauga or his successor Pocomoke; both were tiercel redtails flying at about 32 ounces, and accustomed to hunting grey squirrels. Occasionally, mostly at field meets down around Statesboro, we'd get a slip at an eastern cottontail. But one day, while hawking the wet back woods of a cattle ranch somewhere between Athens and Jefferson, my two-pound tiercel latched onto the hind end of a five-pound swamp rabbit, and the rodeo was on. The rabbit dragged the hawk around a small clearing, changing directions a few times, and I was sure it was going to throw the hawk before I could join the fray. But when the rabbit tried to duck under a log, the little tiercel let go of the cane-cutter with one foot and braced it against the log instead, stopping the rabbit in its tracks and gaining control long enough for me to make in. I can still remember how heavy that rabbit felt in my game bag, and how proud I was of that tenacious little hawk.