Burdock
Arctium lappa – so says my guidebook on plants and herbs. Apparently a nutritious plant, when harvested in its first year, before the thistles have formed. And also, by a search of the Internet, a most useful medicinal plant, with root, leaves and seed all being beneficial.
Well . . . to the interested person . . . they are welcome to my allotment of this noxious weed! Unfortunately, it is also a common plant often found in places where bunnies like to hide. And I always seem to find it!
This past Saturday, I was out with Dave and Bill, and Bill’s second cousin, Tim, to hunt our birds. This would be Abby’s first true hunt, away from my yard, and with people around. She weighed in at 38.2 oz, and she was very focused. We started in the Sparta area.
We flew Dave’s bird, Giddy, first. And in very short order, she smashed a rabbit that we had chased around a bit. We then changed locations to fly Abby. My new girl is still not real clear on the whole process, but she’s learning. I had to resort to casting her off by her jesses towards the trees to get her to go take a perch. She kept making short flights from me to the ground, and wondering when I would give her something to eat. But once we had her up the tree, and we started to work the ditch (that was horribly clogged with burdock) she saw the rabbit flush, and followed it up the ditch to another perch. Now she was catching on. She moved a couple times, following the progress of the rabbit as we moved it. However, when she had come back to my fist and wasn’t watching, I saw the rabbit go up the side of the hill, onto the road, cross across the bridge, then down the other side, and into a large brush pile. Well . . . this bunny certainly knew its territory. So we moved over that way. I held Abby up on my fist on the bridge, facing down at the pile, as Dave went and stomped on the pile. Bunny bolted, and Abby was after it. But at the last moment the bunny changed course, and Abby missed it. It proceeded to run under the bridge, and onto the other side, where the ‘No Tresspassing’ signs kept us from following. Well . . . she certainly showed that she knows her business. I’ll just have to keep trying to flush game under her.
In the meantime, while chasing said bunny around this ditch, I picked up a massive number of burdock burs . . . . all over my clothes, and worst, in my hair. Now I have mid length hair, which was recently permed, so its wavy and tangles easily. Introduce burdock into it . . . and what a mess. The guys stood around helplessly as I yanked and pulled the burs from my head. Fortunately, I did have a comb to use, and it helped, but I really needed to see what I was doing to make progress. So we took a break, and went to the local Kwik Trip, and I used their bathroom to work the burs free. Unfortunately, I also ended up pulling a hunk of hair out with the worst bur, that had tangled itself down next to my scalp. OUCH!! I also picked up multiple splinters on my arms. I’m going to have to get some kind of canvas coat, like my coveralls, to protect my arms while in the field.
After my ordeal with the burdock, we moved back to the Tomah area, in search of more bunnies. We tried a couple fields, and did flush a rabbit or two, all of which Abby did chase, but she never got a good slip on them. And while at one of these fields, she managed to knock her antenna off of her transmitter. Without the antenna, it doesn’t work. Dave was kind enough to let me use his. I’ll have to buy a new antenna!
By the end of the day, and having changed fields again, Abby had several opportunities to take her first head of game. Dave scored her an A for effort . . . but withheld an A+, as that would only have been earned if she had caught a bunny. The day was getting late, so I called her down to the lure, to which she responded very quickly. She had a really good workout . . . and we had covered a lot of territory. The bunnies are just all winter survivors, and a bit more cunning. I’ll keep trying until she gets that coveted first kill.
In the meantime . . . I’m recovering from burdock punctures. After much Caladryl, and some time spent pulling barbs from my clothing . . . I have come to the conclusion . . . that I HATE BURDOCK!!
Well . . . to the interested person . . . they are welcome to my allotment of this noxious weed! Unfortunately, it is also a common plant often found in places where bunnies like to hide. And I always seem to find it!
This past Saturday, I was out with Dave and Bill, and Bill’s second cousin, Tim, to hunt our birds. This would be Abby’s first true hunt, away from my yard, and with people around. She weighed in at 38.2 oz, and she was very focused. We started in the Sparta area.
We flew Dave’s bird, Giddy, first. And in very short order, she smashed a rabbit that we had chased around a bit. We then changed locations to fly Abby. My new girl is still not real clear on the whole process, but she’s learning. I had to resort to casting her off by her jesses towards the trees to get her to go take a perch. She kept making short flights from me to the ground, and wondering when I would give her something to eat. But once we had her up the tree, and we started to work the ditch (that was horribly clogged with burdock) she saw the rabbit flush, and followed it up the ditch to another perch. Now she was catching on. She moved a couple times, following the progress of the rabbit as we moved it. However, when she had come back to my fist and wasn’t watching, I saw the rabbit go up the side of the hill, onto the road, cross across the bridge, then down the other side, and into a large brush pile. Well . . . this bunny certainly knew its territory. So we moved over that way. I held Abby up on my fist on the bridge, facing down at the pile, as Dave went and stomped on the pile. Bunny bolted, and Abby was after it. But at the last moment the bunny changed course, and Abby missed it. It proceeded to run under the bridge, and onto the other side, where the ‘No Tresspassing’ signs kept us from following. Well . . . she certainly showed that she knows her business. I’ll just have to keep trying to flush game under her.
In the meantime, while chasing said bunny around this ditch, I picked up a massive number of burdock burs . . . . all over my clothes, and worst, in my hair. Now I have mid length hair, which was recently permed, so its wavy and tangles easily. Introduce burdock into it . . . and what a mess. The guys stood around helplessly as I yanked and pulled the burs from my head. Fortunately, I did have a comb to use, and it helped, but I really needed to see what I was doing to make progress. So we took a break, and went to the local Kwik Trip, and I used their bathroom to work the burs free. Unfortunately, I also ended up pulling a hunk of hair out with the worst bur, that had tangled itself down next to my scalp. OUCH!! I also picked up multiple splinters on my arms. I’m going to have to get some kind of canvas coat, like my coveralls, to protect my arms while in the field.
After my ordeal with the burdock, we moved back to the Tomah area, in search of more bunnies. We tried a couple fields, and did flush a rabbit or two, all of which Abby did chase, but she never got a good slip on them. And while at one of these fields, she managed to knock her antenna off of her transmitter. Without the antenna, it doesn’t work. Dave was kind enough to let me use his. I’ll have to buy a new antenna!
By the end of the day, and having changed fields again, Abby had several opportunities to take her first head of game. Dave scored her an A for effort . . . but withheld an A+, as that would only have been earned if she had caught a bunny. The day was getting late, so I called her down to the lure, to which she responded very quickly. She had a really good workout . . . and we had covered a lot of territory. The bunnies are just all winter survivors, and a bit more cunning. I’ll keep trying until she gets that coveted first kill.
In the meantime . . . I’m recovering from burdock punctures. After much Caladryl, and some time spent pulling barbs from my clothing . . . I have come to the conclusion . . . that I HATE BURDOCK!!
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