Toby and the Rabbits

When I was a teenager, I had this beautiful wolf-German Shepard crossbreed. He was big, furry, and the most gentle soul in the world! Because my parents, at the time, were into breeding dogs for sale and registering the purebreds, Toby was all mine…a big responsibility, but I loved it.

One fall day, just after Toby had turned two, we discovered that a family of rabbits had moved into our yard. Toby had sniffed them out where they had nested underneath some really thick spreading bushes towards the front of the house. You’d think the wolf part of him would go, “Yum, yum, dinner is served!” But he didn’t. In fact, he took it upon himself to be their protector, keeping everyone, including his people, away from their nest.

About a week later, when Toby and I were heading out for our morning walk, we found several of the young rabbits huddled against the front steps, shivering. Knowing I could trust him to stay where he was, I went off in search of the mama rabbit I’d seen with the babies before.

I found her, in the neighbor’s yard, pretty torn up. Apparently one of the numerous strays that traveled the area had found the nest, and the mama had run off to protect her babies. We hadn’t ever seen a daddy rabbit, so we didn’t know if he was even in the area. I ran back to the house, got some rags, and gently carried the dead rabbit back to where Toby was guarding the babies.

As soon as he saw the bundle in my hands, he knew. My big, fierce wolf lowered his head, and blew out a huge sigh. He looked so sad, I started crying myself. He watched over me as I dug a hole in our little “pet cemetery” in the back yard. Hey, with six kids, you go through a lot of pets over the years. After we took care of mama, Toby stood, shook his fur out, and went back to where the babies were hiding.

One by one, that big goof carried those rabbits into the garage and laid them in his dog bed. There were four in all, at least, that’s as many as we could find. That done, he settled in around them, and took a nap, keeping them warm with his body heat. It was a sight to see…

As the days went on, the rabbits became part of the larger menagerie that was my childhood home. Toby was never far from them, and we each took turns feeding and playing with them. The best part was, if we didn’t do things to Toby’s exact specifications, or if it looked like we might hurt the bunnies, he would bump us out of the way and take over, from attempting to tear lettuce with his teeth and paws, to becoming a furry shield between the rabbits and us clumsy two-legs so no one would get hurt.

I still have several pictures of my faithful hound covered in bunnies, gracefully accepting their jumping and pouncing in what could only be called a father’s love. He never sired any pups, my parents didn’t think it was worth it. But he more than made up for that loss with those bunnies. After they were out on their own, one or two would come by the garden to snatch some grub. If he saw them, he was out the door, running and bouncing and rolling with glee.

My mom, to this day, some 40 years after the fact, still says Toby was worse than any of us kids when it came to bringing home strays. All told, I think there was, let’s see, the rabbits, some birds and the nest, a couple of kittens, and oh yeah, the garter snake that had gotten run over by the lawnmower…that one was a bit much. I can still hear my mom’s scream when she found it on the couch! Apparently, Toby thought it would be safer up there…silly old dog.

When I was in college, a miracle occurred in the city of Chicago: for the first time in, well, ever, a black man was elected to the office of Mayor. Now, keeping in mind that in Illinois even the dead can vote, coupled with the fact that pretty much the majority of folk in the city believed the office to be one of those that was handed down from father to son, this was an astonishing feat! I’m pretty sure that old Richie Daley the first was rolling around in his grave when that happened.

The upshot of this whole thing was, Harold Washington was a pretty upstanding guy, and he honestly ran a clean campaign (also a first in Chicago), so the city itself was pretty much evenly divided over whether or not this was going to be a good thing. And, of course, every nut job who could land TV time was parading before the cameras, and promoting every stereotype known to man. And this was in the early 80’s, so you can imagine just what groups I am referring to.

At the time, I was taking journalism courses as a minor to the degree I intended to get, so when I heard that yet another neo-Nazi group was staging a press conference not too far from campus, I went for it.

Now, it should be told that I was attending The University of Illinois, at the Rockford campus, at the time. Rockford is at least 70 or 80 miles north of Chicago, so far north that it didn’t make sense for a group so vehemently opposed to new Mayor Washington to hold their rally there, far, far away from the contested domain, as it were. Unless they were afraid of retribution, which is possible, I guess.

A little trivia about Northern Illinois. The attitudes there liken more to Northern Ireland vs. the rest of Ireland, in that whatever happens south of us is their problem not ours, and they don’t take too kindly to “those” people coming into our towns and telling us what to do. Pretty much unless you’ve got “state something or other” tacked onto your title and name, you’re pretty much wasting your time talking to them.

The day of the rally was cold, cloudy, and not the kind of weather to make any crowd friendly. So the odds were against these clowns, no matter if there was any soul there that day that might have been open to their way of thinking. It was scheduled to start at 10am, on a Saturday, no less, in the town center. Of course, the idiots had to parade around for quite a while, making a spectacle of themselves, and a nuisance.

Once they finally arrived, (late), the long, rambling speeches began. Most of what was said probably will never be remembered, mostly because none of it made sense, and was primarily made up of old tired stereotypes promoting white supremacy. This is a college town, for crying out loud, not a crumbling neighborhood in the inner city…what were these idiots thinking?

What will always be remembered from that day is what happened during one of those speeches. Another thing about Northern Illinois: they love their ducks. During duck season, all bets are off, but if you harm a duck at any other time, you are done for. Many of the towns have actual ordinances allowing the ducks free range throughout municipal city limits, and even shooing them away with a broom can be considered a felony, depending upon the officer, and the attitude of the offender. Ducks get the right of way, plain and simple.

Well, during one of the hopefully last speeches of the day, a four-bird squad of the feathered darlings decided that they should be center stage that day. They flapped their wings and mounted the stage, two from the right, and two from the left. They strode right up to where the microphone was located, and began honking and squawking so loud they were actually drowning out the skinhead! People in the crowd began laughing and applauding, great fun all around, until it happened….the irate and upstaged skinhead lost it and literally booted one of the birds off the stage, so hard that it wasn’t moving well once it landed.

A hush fell over the crowd. The other three ducks decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and left, hustling their wounded companion along. It was if the crowd was waiting for that cue to attack, bum rushing the stage so quickly after the birds were out of danger, that none of the Nazi wannabes had a chance to raise a single fist or boot or gun against them.

All of the intruders were rousted from the stage, and after a few minor skirmishes here and there that the local PD may or may not have politely ignored for a few minutes, they were arrested and whisked away from the scene. It was later reported that they were charged with public indecency, inciting a riot, cruelty to animals, and aggravated assault against a town or civil personage, and were later transferred back to Chicago’s tender mercies. They never showed their faces in Northern Illinois again.

Sadly, Harold Washington never finished his first term of office. He was convicted of various crimes, which probably endeared him more to the old school politico in Chicago than ever before, and was replaced by, get this, a woman! Shock upon shock! Eventually she was run out of town as well, and a Daley was put in her place. All was well once again on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Ducks still roam unmolested throughout Northern Illinois, and several testaments to their virtues were posted in local literary magazines and the local papers. Several aspiring politicians paid to have plaques posted in various places advising visitors to the dangers of accosting our feathered friends outside of posted dates for duck season.

Last I heard, there were some jokers who campaigned for pheasants and raccoons to receive equal rights, but until they can prove that they can run off trespassers as well as a duck, they don’t stand a chance.