The Last Laugh: Dumb Dogs and Rabbit Season

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ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
Members of the Plumtree Crossing Debating Society often engage such weighty topics as dumb dogs and rabbit season.

“If you pickup a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.–Mark Twain


Well sir, they jist ain’t nothin’ like a spring evenin’ to put folks in a philosophizin’ mood. What with the frogs an’ bugs singin’ fit fer a concert hall, an’ ev’rything so lush and new that the air gits to smellin’ green, I s’pose it’s only natural fer the mind to dwell on weighty thoughts.

Which, I reckon, is why the conversation over at the Gen’ral Store t’other night turned to the subject of dumb dogs and rabbit season … although I must admit that Clarence Smithers’ blue tick, Belle, did have somethin’ to do with bringin’ up the topic.

Y’see, that hound strolled over to the assembled loafers with the clear intention of occupyin’ her usual spot right under Clarence’s chair, but jist awaitin’ fer one of the old boys to vacate a cozier position. On this occasion, howev’r, she was greeted by a barrage of corncobs, popsicle sticks, an’ cussin’ that didn’t let up till she was well downwind and distant.

  • Published on May 1, 1979
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