Silly rabbit, tricks are for squids
Tim Kreitz
summer. I've never seen anything like it, and the ride some members of
my motorcycle group and I took last night was food for thought on just
how bad the problem -- if it can be called that -- has become.
My friend Jimbo, his wife Tami, and I met in Midland around 10:30 last
night and headed for the Starbucks in Odessa, where we met some other
riders. Our plan was to ride far south into northern Crane County, and
find a place in the pitch black of the desert to watch the
(http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27267642.shtml)
Perseid meteor shower, which we did -- eventually. Our journey ended up
taking much longer than expected, because just south of the Ector
County line, the ride quickly became a 30-mile-per-hour swervefest as
we entered a strange, surreal world where the clouds had apparently
rained down bunnies by the literal thousands onto the roads and into
the fields around us.
I personally hit three rabbits with no damage to my bike or bodywork
before we finally reached our destination. My buddy Jimbo wasn't as
lucky. He hit a gigantic Jack and ended up with a cracked lower.
But the story of of our sojourn through the great Leporidaeic
pestilence of the Permian Basin does not end there. We then headed east
and north into Midland County, where the destructively numerous influx
of rabbits subsequently became a sad comedy of flying, spinning,
whirling carcasses claimed by the merciless ingress of our flight of
sportbikes. In some spots, little grey bunnies of every size and shape
were collected into groups of up to 100 on the roadsides. As we
approached, they would -- quite amazingly -- sprint from the safety of
the bar ditch right out in front of us in a crazed, irrational panic
that left a gaggle of them quite dead at our hands. Mean as this may
sound, I at one point found myself laughing at the acrobatic flushings
of the little dumbasses into all directions and contortions as they
glanced off of our front tires.
By the time we made it to Warfield, we reckoned that we had run over
somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 rabbits, and that we had seen in
excess of 1,000. It was an absolutely unreal experience of the highest
order.
Best wishes,
Tim Kreitz
2003 ZX7R
2000 ZX6R
http://www.timkreitz.com
http://www.myspace.com/timkreitz
http://superbikeblog.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/dingosanctuary
RL
news:1155532802.7...@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> West Texas is literally infested with Jackrabbits and Cottontails this
> summer. I've never seen anything like it, and the ride some members of
> my motorcycle group and I took last night was food for thought on just
> how bad the problem -- if it can be called that -- has become.
>
> My friend Jimbo, his wife Tami, and I met in Midland around 10:30 last
> night and headed for the Starbucks in Odessa, where we met some other
> riders. Our plan was to ride far south into northern Crane County, and
> find a place in the pitch black of the desert to watch the
> (http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27267642.shtml)
> Perseid meteor shower, which we did -- eventually.
<snipped report of apocolyptical plague, for brevity>
Where are the coyotes when you need them? Oh yes, that's right... they've
all been shot and their carcasses hung up on fences, like trophies.
More coyotes = less vermin
Less coyotes = more vermin
We have infestations here too, except most of our vermin are much bigger and
some of them have antlers. No, I'm not talking about jackalopes.
I'm glad y'all escaped unharmed.
Btw, I thought the Perseid meteor shower was somewhat blah, this time.
Though we have a clear view from our front porch, it seemed there wasn't as
much celestial debris, as I had hoped for and certainly not as spectacular,
as in recent years.
Upcoming meteoric events for 2006:
Orionids- Oct. 21, Leonids- Nov. 17, Geminids- Dec. 14.
The Orionids and Leonids will be in New Moon Phase and the Geminids will be
in Morning Crescent, so viewing should be easier.
The Leonids have always been my favorite. :-)
--
Sunny Williams
sunny will at tx vets period org
IRPK, ISRA #7123, Deerslayers
Director/Webmaster for
Texas Veterans Assoc., Chapter 3
http://www.txvets.org/
"... if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place
shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor
defeat."
~Teddy Roosevelt
Turby
wrote:
>West Texas is literally infested with Jackrabbits and Cottontails this
>summer.
Ah, yes. The Prairie Insurgency. Suicide Bunny Bombers, hoping that
eventually, if they wreak enough havoc, the Evil Satan Bikers will go
away forever.
--
Turby the Turbosurfer
Rayvan
Tim Kreitz wrote:
<snip>
>
> By the time we made it to Warfield, we reckoned that we had run over
> somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 rabbits, and that we had seen in
> excess of 1,000. It was an absolutely unreal experience of the highest
> order.
Lucky! (Or maybe I'm un-lucky?)
I hit *one* rabbit 25 years ago with my foot while riding a dual sport.
I'm still in pain...
--
Rayvan
BryanUT
"Tim Kreitz" <timk...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1155532802.7...@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> we entered a strange, surreal world where the clouds had apparently
> rained down bunnies by the literal thousands onto the roads and into
> the fields around us.
>
Excellent post.
Bryan
Joe Schmuckatelli
wrote:
>By the time we made it to Warfield, we reckoned that we had run over
>somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 rabbits, and that we had seen in
>excess of 1,000. It was an absolutely unreal experience of the highest
>order.
Reminds me of the time I was riding to Arizona on I-10, and somewhere
in the Mojave desert, I ran into a largish butterfly migration. The
bike and my helmet were covered with them by the time I made it
through the swarm.
LittleJohn
>>West Texas is literally infested with Jackrabbits and Cottontails this
>>summer.
>
> Ah, yes. The Prairie Insurgency. Suicide Bunny Bombers, hoping that
> eventually, if they wreak enough havoc, the Evil Satan Bikers will go
> away forever.
lol.... That's funny! You think maybe they go to Moslem heaven and
get their 83 alloted virgins?... If so, methinks that shortly their
heaven is going to be overrun with bunnies and there are going to be some
disappointed Moslems.... Along with disappointed bunnies too, if
they are female.
Which brings up another question. Do female martyrs get 83 studs? 'Real'
Bikers who qualify by virtue of the 420 mile rule, perhaps?
--
LittleJohn
Madison, AL
LittleJohn
> lol.... That's funny! You think maybe they go to Moslem heaven and get
> their 83 alloted virgins?...
Or was that 72? ... I doubt if it would make any difference to the bunnies
if the number was rounded up to an even 100. And I would imagine that when
they get past the first dozen or so, it would cease to be an exciting
reward.
--
LittleJohn
Madison, AL
Joe Schmuckatelli
<littl...@DeleteMe.knology.net> wrote:
>Or was that 72? ... I doubt if it would make any difference to the bunnies
>if the number was rounded up to an even 100. And I would imagine that when
>they get past the first dozen or so, it would cease to be an exciting
>reward.
Not bunnies, but check this:
http://carcino.gen.nz/images/index.php/42e23aa3/48b9a820
What got me was the last sentence. :-)
David Steuber
If that isn't a reason for full face helmet and full gear, I don't
know what is.
--
The lithobraker. Zero distance stops at any speed.
This post uses 100% post consumer electrons and 100% virgin photons.
At 2.6 miles per minute, you don't really have time to get bored.
--- Pete Roehling on rec.motorcycles
Tim Kreitz
> Where are the coyotes when you need them? Oh yes, that's right... they've
> all been shot and their carcasses hung up on fences, like trophies.
> More coyotes = less vermin
> Less coyotes = more vermin
That's generally true. But actually, we seemingly have lots of coyotes
on hand and quite a few bobcats, too. The thing is, there are so many
rabbits in a plague like this, that the predators just can't eat that
much.
Nature will correct the problem before long. When the summer rains
stop, the majority of them will likely starve.
Tim Kreitz
> Ah, yes. The Prairie Insurgency. Suicide Bunny Bombers, hoping that
> eventually, if they wreak enough havoc, the Evil Satan Bikers will go
> away forever.
Heh-heh. Yep. I guess that's what we get for invading Crane County. ;-)
Tim Kreitz
> Lucky! (Or maybe I'm un-lucky?)
> I hit *one* rabbit 25 years ago with my foot while riding a dual sport.
> I'm still in pain...
Ouch. Well, I suppose that another of the advantages a sportbike offers
-- high footpegs.