My Dad loves to hunt, but I
have never really understood it.
That is, until last night…
I was up late working on the
computer when I first heard the wild catlike screams and distressed calls of a
compound chicken.
After taking a quick look
around the field where I thought the fighting was coming from, I woke up Marafo
and let him know that there was a wildcat on the compound. Humoring me, he got up and followed me over to
what had suddenly become a silent field – wouldn’t you know it.
Thinking that the cat had
finally left (or that there had never been a cat there in the first place), we
both went back to bed.
However, just as I was settling back in, the commotion started up again.
Though I was tired and
wanted to ignore the noise, I knew that I shouldn’t, as even one wildcat can
decimate a population of chickens in a single evening.
Rising again, I found Marafo
in the field behind our house. He was
standing over the 16 foot hole that will someday be a long drop toilet. The noises which I had been hearing were coming
from inside the hole where not only one, but two, wild badgers and a frightened
white rooster were trapped!
While I stood ground over
the hole, Marafo ran off to collect his bow and arrows, a spear and machete.
He returned, grinning from
ear to ear, and quickly shot his first arrow into the long drop.
Now, don’t get me
wrong. I am certainly no Katniss
Everdeen, and though I earned 12, count them, 12 archery badges at Camp Sweyolaken
in the 6th grade, I am no marks-woman. However, can I just go out on a limb here and
say that it may have been Marafo’s unabashed giddiness which seriously impaired
his aim. He somehow managed to miss all three of the stationary animals, which were trapped in the very small hole,
right below us.
After this first arrow was
lost, Marafo picked up his spear and forcefully threw it into the hole. Though the spear failed to hit its target, it
certainly must have done something because no sooner than it was released, the
first badger – the really, REALLY BIG one!!! (now, I must sound like a real
hunter!) – mustered the strength to run up the 16 vertical feet and out of the
hole, turning the tables on the now terrified hunters.
Up until this moment when a crazed,
wild badger managed to escape what I had naively believed to be a pretty solid
trap, I had really been enjoying my first glimpse into the hunting world. However, it did not take me too long to
discover that big animals, trapped in deep holes is one thing; while big
animals, not trapped in deep holes, is a whole different story...
Nevertheless, I was very
brave.
Squealing Marafo’s name, I
ran as far and as fast as I could away from that hole and the now free and
provoked badger, while frantically, though aimlessly, waving the machete around
in the darkness.
After this minor setback, I
was instructed to stay way back and
to hand over the machete.
Eventually, once we realized
that the smaller badger could not escape, I was granted permission to re-approach
the hole.
While Marafo bravely did the
real hunting, I “helped” with such glamorous jobs as holding the flashlight,
collecting rocks and trying to keep both my squeals and giggles to a minimum as
to not wake the whole village.
In the end, the white
rooster lived to see another sunrise, while the wild badger did not. We were successful!
I never thought I’d say it,
but Dad you win. Hunting is sort of fun…
No comments:
Post a Comment