Rascal can't hunt
We had a disaster in the farming: rabbits or groundhogs ate every single one of the baby pea plants down to the ground, so now we're left with no vegetables planted. Got to get to work! Anyways, as a result I'm kind of mad at the rabbits, so when Rascal noticed a couple of them hanging around the yard this evening, and very kindly alerted me as to their presence, I let him out after them. Unfortunately, his pursuit techniques need a little work.
We don't know what breeds he descended from, but clearly he's some sort of hound mix, so he has some hunting genes in him. The problem, I think, is that he can't decide whether he's a sight hound or a scent hound. Or maybe he just needs more practice. He takes off after the first thing he sees (without taking the time to scan the yard and notice that there might be another little fuzzy thing much closer) and when he loses sight of it he has absolutely no idea what to do. On the plus side, he's now grown-up and attentive enough to realize that when I'm calling him back it's to put him on the right line and give him a chance to use his powers of sniffing. If only he could find a way to determine if the animal that left the scent trail was coming or going.
Needless to say, we were oh-for-two on the rabbits. Just as well, because I'm not sure I'd know how to cook one if we got it; absent any fresh game I dined on spaghetti.