JESSE MURPHY: Worms, dirt and rabbit traps

Boys will be boys, and I couldn't be more proud of mine.

All parents are proud of their children, as it should be, but I think my pride may stem from a different place than most.

Perfect example, the five year old boy has an obsession with digging for worms to go fishing.

Yes, random holes in the yard are irritating, and his operations get the kibosh when he's caught in the act.

But that won't stop his desire to discover bait and other dirt-based life forms.

While many kids are focused on various forms of entertainment (most of which require no imagination), my boy has no problem with a stick and some dirt.

Growing up, I spent a majority of my free time outside doing exactly what he does now. TV and video game time were at a minimum.

As every generation since the dawn of man, I have grown up in a different world than that of my parents, as my children will grow up differently than I did.

That being said, I try to encourage my son to be the same way, and let me say, he is taking to it like a bee to honey.

He absolutely loves the outdoors, and is in the midst of a frog/toad kick.

But that's not the story this week.

A number of peaches on the tree mentioned in a previous column were ready to be picked last weekend, and luckily I had some help grabbing the ones less than four feet off the ground.

So the boy and I braved the heat to go get our peaches.

And what do we see?

A rabbit, up on its haunches, eating a peach right off the tree.

My first thought was of Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's garden. But since this rabbit had no clothes to make a scarecrow from, I had to take a different approach.

I calmly approached the tree, hollering at the rabbit to get out of my yard.

But the thing barely moved, it just sat there and gave me a "what are you gonna do about it?" look.

Not letting my emotions get the best of me, the answer was to just keep trying to shoo it away.

Refusing to move from the tree, I literally had to kick it in the rear before it left the yard.

These must be some good peaches.*

We spent the next few minutes addressing a barrel of questions ranging from "why do rabbits like peaches?" to "why didn't you just throw a rock at it?"

After the question barrage and gathering a few bags of the juicy goodness, I went back inside while the boy stayed out to play.

I went out to check on him a short time later, and he was in the midst of an intricate plan to keep rabbits away from our peaches.

Using his power wheel, a stick and some rope (taken from the tree braces), he had built himself a rabbit trap.

Curious, I asked how it worked, and the answer was painfully simple.

Rabbits would walk around the tree and trip over the rope until they were tired of tripping and would decide to leave the tree alone.

Why didn't I think of that? He even used some of the peaches with bug damage as bait. He’s too smart for his own good.

A few days removed, the trap hasn't yielded any Flopsy's, Mopsy's or Cottontails. But I did notice that the peaches have barely been tampered with since the placing of the trap.

It could easily be explained by saying that the presence of human scent and human-related things play a factor, his trap acting as a scarecrow is keeping them away.

Or, there could be something more to it.

What if, just maybe, a five-year-old's imagination has more power than I would normally give credence to?

What if the rabbits do keep tripping over the rope, and have decided there are more convenient meals close by?

The thought of the day on this one is that maybe we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss things that seem like nonsense.

Yes, a majority of things children say and do are silly, but every once in a while you find a diamond amongst the coal.

I think this new-fangled rabbit trap just might be that gem.

*The peaches were good, we had some pie that first night, the rest will be going to the freezer. I doubt they will last long.

Jesse Murphy is a managing editor at the Maryville Daily Forum. He can be reached at jmurphy@maryvilledailyforum.com