Althouse: Uh oh. There's a rabbit in the yard.

May 28, 2008

Uh oh. There's a rabbit in the yard.

(Enlarge.)

UPDATE:

48 comments:

Alan said...: I found it. Center left, in the foreground. It's a scrunched profile shot. :); 5/28/08, 9:32 AM
MadisonMan said...: Named Waldo?

I had hoped that the family of Great Horned Owls that lives in the cemetery would take out some rabbits, but I've not noticed a dent in the rabbit population.; 5/28/08, 9:42 AM
BJK said...: Annie get your gun?

(Sorry, had to do it.); 5/28/08, 9:44 AM
Original Mike said...: This last winter was absolutely awful for rabbits over by Hoyt Park. They girdled many of the small trees and shrubs in the neighborhood. This spring there are rabbits everywhere. I sat on my front porch a few days ago and could see 6 at one time. Worst year I've ever seen. I wonder how much it would cost to rent a coyote?; 5/28/08, 9:44 AM
Roger J. said...: Original Mike: rather than rent a coyote, let me suggest the Acme manufacturing company which has a large collection of varmit ridding supplies. Do not, however, use these devices around cliffs.; 5/28/08, 9:51 AM
Original Mike said...: Beep Beep.; 5/28/08, 9:56 AM
Triangle Man said...: I don't think I would trade the rabbits in my yard for a coyote, but a nice fox family would be welcome.; 5/28/08, 10:13 AM
Trooper York said...: Fiver: There's something very queer about the warren this evening...
Hazel: Is it dangerous?
Fiver: It's not exactly danger, it's... oh, I don't know. Something oppressive... like thunder.
Fiver: I feel like we are being watched.
Hazel: Well I think that woman who owns the garden is watching us.
Fiver: No I don’t think so, there’s something wrong with her vision.
Hazel: Really, what’s that?
Fiver:Bigwig heard her talking. I think she has the fish eye.
(Wateship Down, 1972); 5/28/08, 10:31 AM
Anonymous said...: What's with all you Lagomorphaphobic freaks. Rabbits are nice.

I had a big, gorgeous Great Horned Owl hopping around outback on the ground looking for squirrels and rabbits in the middle of the day. Spectacular looking bird. But I was glad I didn't see him catch anything.

I don't want to encourage rabbit slaughter but domestic cats are incredible killing machines. Far more effecting than hawks, owls, foxes or coyotes.

What do have against the poor lil fur-bearing, carpetbagger anyway?; 5/28/08, 10:49 AM
Palladian said...: Rabbits are delicious.; 5/28/08, 10:54 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Rabbits are delicious

Especially in piquant lemon sauce.

(Nice to see you posting. I was afraid I had killed you with my blood pudding recipe); 5/28/08, 11:01 AM
Trooper York said...: FUSILLI WITH BRAISED RABBIT- ISCHIA STYLE
Recipe by Mario Batali

When preparing rabbit, ask your butcher to cut the rabbit into pieces or do it yourself with a boning knife or other sturdy, thin- bladed knife.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 2 ½ pound rabbit, cut into 6 pieces
1 cup white wine vinegar mixed with 1 cup water
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 ½ cups dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 ounces Pancetta, cubed
1 cup tomato paste
3 cups water

1. Place the rabbit pieces in a bowl with the vinegar-water mixture and marinate for 1 hour. Then drain and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

2. In a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the rabbit pieces well with salt and pepper and brown 2 at a time on both sides, about 5 to 7 minutes per side. As they brown, remove the pieces and set aside. When the rabbit pieces are all browned, lower the heat to medium-low and stir the onion slices into the pan. Cook until the onion is limp and golden, but don’t let it brown. Add the wine to the pan, bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, then add the rabbit pieces, nestling them among the onions, and cook, covered, for about 30 minutes

3. In a 12 to 14 inch saucepan, add olive oil until just smoking. Add pancetta and render for 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Gradually add the water to the pan and simmer very slowly, stirring to combine the tomato paste. Simmer for at least one hour, or until the sauce has thickened.
4. Once the rabbit pieces are cool enough to handle, shred the meat and add the tomato paste mixture. Return to heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil and add about 2 tablespoons salt.

6. Drop the fusilli into boiling water and cook according to package instructions, until tender but still al dente, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain the pasta well and add to the pan with the rabbit sugo. Place over medium heat and toss the pasta and sauce until well coated, about one minute. Pour onto a heated serving platter and serve immediately.; 5/28/08, 11:12 AM
titustheresnoplacelikehome said...: Go out there and shoot that thing and cook it during a vlog.

Any beaver hanging around your yard?

You got quite a bit of bush and foliage in your yard.; 5/28/08, 11:28 AM
Original Mike said...: Rabbits are nice.

Rabbits are the devil's spawn. I hates them, I do.; 5/28/08, 11:37 AM
Trooper York said...: Bud Clay: [points to a bunny rabbit] How old is this bunny?
Employee: Around one, two months.
Bud Clay: What's the longest a bunny can live for?
Employee: 'Bout five or six years.
Bud Clay: Five or six years...
Employee: Yeah.
Bud Clay: That's the most they can live?
Employee: Yup.
Bud Clay: I have to go. The girl from Big Love is going to give me a blow job.
(The Brown Bunny, 2003); 5/28/08, 11:48 AM
titustheresnoplacelikehome said...: That was an awful movie. He is so gross. Chloe on the other hand is royalty and a diva. Loved her in Last Days of Disco.

And she can suck a big cock with no trouble.; 5/28/08, 11:56 AM
titustheresnoplacelikehome said...: Fellow republicans now that I know what the competition is going to be like this summer. I need some help.

Initially I was going to do a cycle of roids, then not.

After this week I immediately called the Roid Dealer and I am on my way to get my 12 week cycle of winstrel.

This should be in good position for the 4th of July holiday in Ptown.

Does anyone want to come to my house weekly, ice my cheek and inject me? I will pay $100.00 a time. It should only take 5 minutes.

Otherwise, I will need to call my girlfriend Nurse Ratchet-she's a pro and looks fabulous.

Tonight I start.; 5/28/08, 11:59 AM
Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/28/08, 12:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Kill the Waaabit, Kill the Waaabit!

Run, Rabbit, Run.; 5/28/08, 12:02 PM
titustheresnoplacelikehome said...: Also you could tell she was kind of into kissing Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. Bet she goes both ways-another plus.

If anyone decided to come over to my fabulous loft to inject me don't even think about peeking at my pussy. I am a lady and demand respect. No pussy peeking.

And you can't touch the rare clumbers.; 5/28/08, 12:03 PM
Palladian said...: "(Nice to see you posting. I was afraid I had killed you with my blood pudding recipe)"

Not at all. I was out of town. I haven't yet gotten a chance to make the blood pudding.

Elizabethan Rabbit via Clarissa Dickson-Wright:

1 rabbit, jointed
plain flour for dusting
55g/2oz lard or dripping
3 Jerusalem artichokes, sliced
2 onions finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
55g/2oz mushrooms,sliced
300ml/1/2 pint red wine
herbs (I used rosemary and thyme.)
2 apples, peeled and chopped
115g/4oz grapes, halved and deseeded
55g/2oz raisins
grated rind and juice of 1/2 orange
150ml 1/4 pint stock
salt and freshly ground pepper

Flour the rabbit joints and brown them well in lard or dripping in a casserole. Remove. Fry the artichokes, onions, carrots and mushrooms in the casserole for a few minutes. Pour over the wine and reduce slightly. Return the rabbit pieces and add all the other ingredients. Cook in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 2 hours.

Wonderful!; 5/28/08, 12:25 PM
Palladian said...: "And you can't touch the rare clumbers."

I suspect Clumber meat is stringy and sour, like other carnivore meat. Keep the clumbers, pass the cannoli.; 5/28/08, 12:27 PM
rhhardin said...: Bunny in backyard October 2005; 5/28/08, 12:33 PM
Original Mike said...: Isn't blood pudding some kind of Klingon dish?; 5/28/08, 12:38 PM
Tibore said...: Okay, everything I need to know in life I've learned from cartoons. One of those things is that hunting the rabbit always goes ill for the hunter. Especiawwy if you'we a pewson wid a 'peech impediment. Huhuhuhuhuh...

Another is that you don't dare stick the shotgun down the hole without looking behind you...; 5/28/08, 12:41 PM
DaLawGiver said...: R A B B I T.

Rapid Attack Brigade of Brush Ingesting Terrorists. RABBIT was a top secret program developed by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney to defoliate the southern portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR.) Genetically enhanced, these furry eating machines can digest anything from lichen to whole Spruce trees and can consume up to 30 pounds of vegetation per day. With a gestation period of 6 days and litters of up to 35, RABBIT was designed to clear the way for Halliburton in Alaska. No ANWR? No reason no to drill for oil.; 5/28/08, 12:42 PM
Tibore said...: Oh... remember Ernst Blofeld's story from your last wabbit thread?

"I used to work with some crusty old former Marine NCOs. We also had a sweet little 19-year old girl working as a secretary straight out of high school.

One day they were eating their lunch outside near a field that had been overrun by rabbits. A few of them took the lettuce off their sandwich and tossed it out on the ground. The cute little fluffy bunnies hopped up, sniffed the lettuce, and started nibbling on it. The secretary thought this was cute.

All of the sudden, out of the clear blue sky, a hawk swooped down, seized the bunny in its talons, and flew off. The bunny gave a little screech before becoming bunny sushi back at the hawk's nest.

The girl was horrified. "Did you see that? The hawk grabbed that cute rabbit while we were feeding it!"

The crusty former Marine NCOs looked at each other. Finally one said "We weren't feeding the rabbits. We were feeding the hawks."

So, Ann, perhaps if you could put some lettuce out in the open and let nature take its course. Hawks have to eat, too."; 5/28/08, 12:45 PM
Tibore said...: Palladian:
Rabbits are delicious.

Dust Bunny Queen:
Especially in piquant lemon sauce

Trooper York:
FUSILLI WITH BRAISED RABBIT- ISCHIA STYLE
Recipe by Mario Batali...

Palladian:
Elizabethan Rabbit via Clarissa Dickson-Wright...

Haha! Reminds me of Shiskabugs!

"Cook! COOOOK!! Where's my hassenpfeffer??!!"

------

Digressive note: Overly cute bunny alert! :D

http://audictive.ofadam.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/bunny1.jpg.

Tripped over that while I was looking up the cartoon episode's name.; 5/28/08, 12:55 PM
Original Mike said...: The crusty former Marine NCOs looked at each other. Finally one said "We weren't feeding the rabbits. We were feeding the hawks."

I caught a rabbit in a live trap this winter, though not before he destoyed the nice, old yew in front of my house :(. When I went to collect the trap and let him go elsewhere (I'm such a sap) I found it was frozen to the ground. It was suppose to be warmer the next day, so I left him for the night. When I went to the trap the next day, it was empty, turned on it's side, and there was rabbit fur and parts everywhere. I'm not sure what I was feeding, but whatever it was saved me the trouble of moving the critter elsewhere.; 5/28/08, 1:02 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Kill da waaaa-bit.
Kill da WAAAA-bit.

Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh.; 5/28/08, 1:17 PM
Bissage said...: [E]verything I need to know in life I've learned from cartoons. One of those things is that hunting the rabbit always goes ill for the hunter.

That's what I thought, Tibore.

But then I saw this: LINK

I don't know what to believe anymore!

It's all so confusing!

Signed,

Perplexed.; 5/28/08, 1:22 PM
former law student said...: 1 cup tomato paste

A CUP?!? Of Tomato PASTE?!?

Tomato paste tastes nasty; burnt and bitter. Why use it if you're adding water anyway? If you're going to the trouble of getting a rabbit and some pancetta, Six-In-One is the only tomato product I would use here.; 5/28/08, 1:27 PM
Trooper York said...: Batali always makes a heavy sauce. The concentration of the paste should be whisked into the liquid to give some body to it. It's a heavy hearty dish not a light one. Personally, when making a sauce I use fresh plum tomatoes that I ripen myself in a paper bag and make into a light sauce which we much prefer. But this is a peasant dish which was often made with old “preserves" that were put up by grandma. So the consistency is more like that of tomato paste, not a puree or other commercial canned tomato.; 5/28/08, 1:33 PM
KCFleming said...: BUGS: (Mouth full) Say, Doc (chew, chew), are you tryin' to get yourself in trouble with the law? This ain't wabbit-huntin' season . . .
ELMER: It's not!?!
BUGS: No! It's duck-huntin' season!!
DAFFY: That, sir, is an inmitigated frabication!! It's wabbit season!!
BUGS: Duck Season!
DAFFY: Wabbit season!!
BUGS: Duck season!!
DAFFY: Wabbit season!!
BUGS: Duck season!!
DAFFY: Wabbit season!!
BUGS: Wabbit season!!
DAFFY: Duck season!!
BUGS: Wabbit season!!
DAFFY: I say it's duck season and I say Fire!! (Elmer fires. Daffy's bill is blown askew.)

DAFFY: Hmmmmm . . .
DAFFY: Let's try that again!!
BUGS: Okay . . .
DAFFY: I'll start it this time!
BUGS: R-right.
DAFFY: Wabbit season!
BUGS: Duck season.
DAFFY: Wabbit season!
BUGS: Wabbit season.
DAFFY: Duck season. Fire!!! (Elmer again fires, displacing Daffy's bill)

DAFFY: (Grimly) Okay . . . This time you start it!
BUGS: Whatever you say . . .
BUGS: W . . . abbit.
DAFFY: Duck! Fire!! (This time Daffy's head and bill are upside down); 5/28/08, 3:07 PM
Roger J. said...: Pogo: IMO, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies are the highest point of cartoon animation; my kids keep me in DVDs as they are released! IIRC there was one Wagnerian looney tunes (Kill the wabbit) and a Barber of Seville loonie tunes. Great stuff.; 5/28/08, 3:36 PM
blogging cockroach said...: as a cockroach i am all in favor of eating rodents
especially if they're rats
unfortunately it's usually the other way around
rats will devour you just like that
damn

anyway i'd really like to visit trooper's kitchen
sounds like a competitive foodie and their kitchens are the best
mom here at the house where i live is also a foodie
she can't help it--she's french
but she's not competitive just hard pressed
what with a kid and a career and all
but she's still french so she has to have a nice dinner
every night even if it's 10pm
which it usually is
even if it's hard on poor tommy--he's the boy whose computer i use--
tommy has to get up at 6am to go to his fancy exam school
mom forgets this is boston not paris where nothing happens until 9am
which is an early hour for the french
poor tommy has an educated palate but i think when he grows up
he will eat nothing but mcdonalds having been traumatized by food as a kid

anyway mom makes rabbit which grosses tommy out
doesn't bother me one bit though
her fave quick recipie is lapin a la cocotte
rhymes with a certain feminist blogger's name
it's real easy
you just saute quartered rabbit with bacon onion garlic
of course garlic
sprinkle flour on the cooking rabbit pieces and cook for another 5 minutes
add beef broth red wine
of course red wine
add parsley and thyme not to mention 2 bay leaves
cover and simmer for an hour or until tommy falls asleep on the couch
curse under your breath in french and wake tommy up and get dad away from the computer
serve sometime before the 11pm news with enough mediocre bordeaux
to make the adults happy if not totally functional at work next day
be sure to spill some for me; 5/28/08, 3:56 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Funniest dead rabbit story ever, from Althouse commenter Eli Blake about a year ago.; 5/28/08, 4:09 PM
Revenant said...: I have some rabbits living in my backyard. I like them. They're very relaxing to watch.; 5/28/08, 4:46 PM
KCFleming said...: Cook!
Bring me my hossenfeffer.
Where. Is. My. Hossenfeffer!?; 5/28/08, 5:07 PM
Sigivald said...: Holy chromatic aberration, Batman.; 5/28/08, 5:22 PM
titustheresnoplacelikehome said...: You republicans know food and cooking.

I don't cook shit. I go out for every meal.

I never turned on my oven once-true story.; 5/28/08, 5:31 PM
rhhardin said...: Ohio today is filled with airborne Cottonwood seeds.

Cottonwoods breed like rabbits.; 5/28/08, 5:54 PM
Trumpit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/28/08, 6:06 PM
Trumpit said...: Jeffery Dahmer's "rabbit" stew recipe:

1 Palladian/DTL/Titus, jointed
plain flour for dusting
55g/2oz lard or dripping
3 Jerusalem artichokes, sliced
2 onions finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
55g/2oz mushrooms,sliced
300ml/1/2 pint red wine
herbs (I used rosemary and thyme.)
2 apples, peeled and chopped
115g/4oz grapes, halved and deseeded
55g/2oz raisins
grated rind and juice of 1/2 orange
150ml 1/4 pint stock
salt and freshly ground pepper

Flour the "rabbit" joints and brown them well in lard or dripping in a casserole. Remove. Fry the artichokes, onions, carrots and mushrooms in the casserole for a few minutes. Pour over the wine and reduce slightly. Return the "rabbit" pieces and add all the other ingredients. Cook in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 2 hours.

Wonderful!; 5/28/08, 6:10 PM
rhhardin said...: Backyard rabbit-attracting-clover removal project.; 5/28/08, 6:57 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I have some rabbits living in my backyard. I like them. They're very relaxing to watch.

Same here. The neighborhood is full of them. I like them and look forward to seeing them every year.; 5/28/08, 11:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Bunnies!; 5/29/08, 3:52 PM
Revenant said...: Plus, Watership Down is one of my favorite books. :); 5/29/08, 5:53 PM