Today the rabbits are safe; the gods sent a horny-toad my way instead. It won't make as much of a meal, but it's food, and I got it with the first shot. I was walking across the desert, watching out for snakes, and I saw some movement in the corner of my eye. I turned around, and there was a beautiful horny-toad sitting there waiting. I took careful aim -- from only about 6 feet away, if not less -- and shot. It disappeared along with the bolt. I looked in the nearby creosote bush, and there it was, shot between the head and right shoulder. Took it home, slit its belly, and took out its guts. I probably lost some of the good organ meats trying to get out all the intestines (which were full of ants, and had at least one living parasitic worm), but got what looks like most of the liver and lungs. When I put it into the already-warm pan, it started walking; I was pretty sure it was dead, but the movement was so perfect, I took a knife and broke its spine in several places just to make sure. It still kept trying to walk out of the pan. Go figure.
I've already had enough food today, with the leftover rabbit and a package of pork chunks my neighbor had cooked and shared with me, so the reptile will have to be breakfast. Imagine, my second day of success at hunting and I'm already complaining about too much food. "What, quail again?" The gods can never make us happy.
last updated 2013-01-10 20:57:41. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com
