driving home  the other night thru the paddocks we spied one rabbit and a mob of kangaroos.

once the rabbits  were thick thru the farmlands and now we see one. the toll of a concerted campaign to eradicate them with trapping shooting the introduction of  myxomatosis followed by the calicivirus.

the other night it was shooting central on the farm next to us .  it started when we sat down to eat our dinner – boom boom boom –  and continued until I went to bed. the shotguns were loud penetrating our house and our hearts. this is not an offence under law here in this country but still it upsets me and I wish it were otherwise.

run I whisper, hide if you can,  run run as fast as you can.

whenever I see the kangaroo the wallaby the wombat the rabbit the fox I tell them,  stay away from warrens, do not go there it isn’t safe. I like to think they know that I care about them and want them to survive and flourish.

the  humble rabbit has been a food of the people for a long time.  they have been a source of wool and fur  becoming gloves hats and coats.

remember this rhyme:

 bye baby bunting

daddy gone a hunting

to get a little rabbit skin

to dress his baby bunting in.

nowadays bunting applies to gaily coloured flags outside markets and shops when once it was a hooded sleeping bag for babies.

here in Australia they are despised devalued and made wrong. It should not be surprising that as we treat the rabbit so too we treat the refugees washing up on our shores seeking asylum. oh the cruelty of this government makes me weep.

this land was stolen and settled by the british crown who sent their unwanted – outcasts , convicts and trouble makers . in other words refugees. they also brought out the rabbit the fox and  the blackberry all of which are actively pursued with the weapons of genocide.

our refugee policy allows little humanity preferring to incarcerate men women and children in detention camps  more commonly these days on neighbour islands. the conditions are appalling  the treatment is inhumane and the cost to our souls is high.

here is a story of a couple of asylum seekers that had a holiday with us :

three men two rods and a packet of pilchards

https://faeriembassy.wordpress.com/2013/09/

symbolically the rabbit is an innocent but also clever besting brer fox at every turn. it is a symbol of fertility and prosperity and linked with the moon. a rabbits foot was considered good luck and made into brooches . my mother had one.

on the one hand a revered respected creature of intelligence and immense usefulness to humans and on the other villified as vermin except at easter, when bunnies leap into our shops dressed in chocolate with bright paper wrappings or as fluffy toys carrying baskets of  chocolate eggs.