Running in Circles: A Lesson from a Rabbit

Those of you who are hunters will learn as much as they can about the strengths and the weaknesses of their quarry. Whether youre a deer hunter or a pheasant hunter or a duck hunter, it helps to know the habits of the game we are hunting.

Any of you who like to go rabbit hunting have more than likely learned that a rabbits biggest weakness is that they always tend to run in circles when they try to escape. One can be sure that all successful wild predators have also learned this weakness. While hunting with dogs, if a rabbit is jumped, the hunter can be quite certain that in a short while the pursuing dog will bring the rabbit right back to the area it was jumped.

Some hunters mistakenly give the credit to their dogs as being such great hunters that their dog somehow maneuvered the rabbit back within the hunters sight. In reality, the dog is only chasing the rabbit - the dog has no way of knowing where the rabbit will run. Once a hunter realizes that a rabbit runs in a circular pattern, common sense tells us that the dog will bring the rabbit back again.

So then, why do rabbits run in a circle anyway? If rabbits could talk maybe wed know that answer for sure, but in reality the answer is pretty simple. Rabbits pretty much live their entire lives in a limited area - probably not more than one or two acres in size. We can be sure that those bunnies learn every tree, bush, pothole and escape path within their stomping ground. The rabbit then ...