This short story was inspired by my friend William Pence, originally from Rockingham/Hamlet, NC area, whereas he sent me a couple pixs of a rabbit that he had fried and had it smothered in gravy.  William related to me when he was at the old home place, he had 25 rabbit boxes set and one year caught around 70 rabbits.  His grandmother cooked him rabbits twice a week.  Like William, rabbit and gravy on top of a bed of sticky rice is definitely my favorite wild game!

I had some scrap aka unallocated 6 inch wide x 40 inch length treated decking boards and decided to make a rabbit box or two.  I have not made a rabbit box since I was around eleven (11) years old.  Back then, I used a handsaw, hammer, nails and weathered boards to construct the rabbit boxes and did catch a few rabbits now and then.

People in various areas call the rabbit box, a rabbit trap and/or a rabbit gun, but I have always called them a rabbit box.  I have fond memories from the past of making those rabbit boxes and setting them when cold weather rolled around.  I have caught house cats and opossums in them also and the reason for catching the non-targeted rabbit was baiting the rabbit box.  It is best not to bait the rabbit box since normally a rabbit will go in them when it is cold weather looking for a place to get out of the cold temperature.

RABBIT BOX FROM DECADES AGO

When we purchased our home in 1989, we had a neighbor for a few years named Tom Brooks, whereas him and his wife relocated to South Carolina with both being retired.  While scouting out back, I located an old rabbit box that had bit the dust and it was behind the Brooks home up the road and was apparently made by him.

I wonder just how many cottontail rabbits that box caught over the years.  Tom Brooks and his wife were senior citizens when we were their neighbors.

HOLLOW LOG RABBIT BOXES

A block from our home were two brothers, June and John Gaddy who made rabbit boxes out of hollow trees.  The lid was fashioned from a piece of sheet metal aka tin and they used a piece of heavy wire, might have been a clothes hanger wire and bent the upper portion of the lid in a small half circle and placed the wire through the lid opening created.  They folded over the edges of the lid to give it some strength and was fitted to the size opening of the hollow log.  The lid would swing back into the hollow log and at the front of the hollow log, they simply placed a few nails to keep the lid from swinging all the way out of the hollow log.  They used sheet metal also for the back of the hollow log and sometimes would put wire mesh there too.  They used a small dry heavy weed to prop the lid upright and a rabbit when entering the hollow log rabbit box would cause the prop to become dislodged and the lid would close behind the rabbit.

They cut the hollow tree down and into lengths for the rabbit boxes using an antique two man crosscut saw.  I believe they finished the boxes on site where they cut the hollow tree down, but I could be mistaken.

They were very successful trapping rabbits with the hollow log rabbit boxes.  June Gaddy was electrocuted under his home wiring 240 volts and I am sure John is deceased by now.  I lost contact with John Gaddy when he moved out of state many decades ago.

HARVESTED A HOLLOW LOG

The adjacent property owner Bernie Hodges, President of Wade Mfg. Co. here in Wadesboro, NC has a hollow log near our property and I contacted him and left him a voice message concerning cutting the tree down for rabbit boxes.  Bernie called my on 02-02-2024 and gave me permission to cut the tree down, of which I did later in the afternoon.  Bernie and myself had a very good chat concerning my Father-in-Law Henry Adcock who retired from Wade Mfg. Co. about their many fishing trips together on Blewett Falls Lake here in Anson County.

Pix of the hollow tree, however the hollow didn't go up the tree that far and my bad for not checking it further.  I did get one log suitable for making a rabbit box.

I was very surprised the hollow didn't go any further than it did.  My chain saw chain got dull quickly and I will go back later with a fresh sharpened chain and clean the area up.

I will fashion a rabbit box from the hollow log harvested using the swinging door lid technique mentioned above.

Web paged updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-02-2024. 

POP TAUGHT US TO BUILD RABBIT BOXES

It was our Pop that taught us young Porter boys how to make a rabbit box back in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Time really goes by fast for sure.  Pop also taught us how to skin and dress the rabbits too!

Check out my rabbit skinning 101 page which is hyperlinked to the left.

PEEP INTO A RABBIT BOX SLOWLY WHEN LID IS DOWN

I remember back then when a rabbit box lid was down and excitedly opening the lid too fast and a rabbit and/or house cat would exit the box before I got a chance to get hold of it, especially a rabbit and watch the rabbit leaving the area in a zig zag running pattern.  That was a disappointment for sure and the next time, I slowly raised the rabbit box lid to observe what was in there.  Some of the mature rabbits when you put your hand in the box to get hold of his head would bite you, but the bite was worth getting Mr. Rabbit out of the box and giving him a judo chop behind his head to finish him off.

The "possums" caught were sold live to a store on Salisbury Street (Margie Robinson) and brought a good price.  I have never eat opossum and don't plan to either.  I usually kept them in a cage and fed them to clean them out since they eat all kind of dead stuff!  Normally when a opossum was caught in a rabbit box, you had to lightly burn it out, otherwise you would not trap another rabbit due to the smell the opossum left behind in the rabbit box.

RABBIT HUNTING FROM THE PAST

While creating my short story, Memories From The Past, it was related to me that my Grandfather Jesse Mack Coley, Clifford Coley, (his son from a prior marriage) who lived in Concord area, NC would send a letter letting them know that himself and his wife Dora were coming down for a visit and he would go rabbit hunting.  Here is a copy and paste from the short story:

OLE BLUE, MR. COLEY'S HOUND DOG

Aunt Mollie Bowers related to me that Mr. Coley had one ole hound dog that he really loved saying that Ole Blue had a beautiful voice.  Back before refrigeration was standard in most homes, they used an icebox that they kept blocks of ice in to keep the icebox contents cool.  The melted ice would drain out into a bucket they kept underneath the back porch which collected the water and someone would have to empty the contents of the bucket regularly to keep from having a mud puddle under the back porch.  To make a long story short, one of his sons Clifford Coley who lived in Concord, NC would write them a letter and let them know ahead of time that he and his wife Dora were coming down for a visit and Grandma Coley would have some large butterbeans cooked for them along with cornbread since that was one of Clifford's favorite meals.  Clifford, Mr. Coley, Mack and Doug would usually go rabbit hunting and would be back around dinner time (middle of the day) to enjoy a meal.  That particular time, Grandma Coley had cooked a very large ham and had it stored in the icebox on the back porch to go along with the butterbeans and cornbread at meal time.  Now we are getting to Ole Blue's part in the story.  Mollie said that Ole Blue was pretty smart for a hound dog and could open the back screen door latch and come in when he wanted to and also had learned how to open the latch on the icebox and open its door.  Well, while Mr. Coley, Clifford and Mr. Coley's sons were out rabbit hunting, ole Blue sneaked onto the back porch and opened the icebox and helped himself to the cooked ham.  When Mr. Coley and the boys had returned from their rabbit hunting, ole Blue had eaten about half the ham of which the balance could not be used.  Mr. Coley made some comment about what happened and Grandma Coley told Mr. Coley, "Well, Ole Blue is your dog"! 

It was related to me that Mr. Coley, Clifford, Mack and Doug went rabbit hunting down Highway 52 South near Jones Creek Seafood house, hunting to the left side of the highway and harvest a large quantity of Cottontail rabbits using dogs.  The rabbits were piled on the back of a small buckboard horse drawn wagon which nearly filled it.  The rabbits were later skinned, dressed and salted down for later usage.  I am guessing at the year being between 1936 and 1940.

I remember as a small boy riding with Mom and Pop to Clifford Coley's farm near Reed's Gold Mine here in North Carolina, whereas Clifford was a retired Post Master from Concord, NC and rented  the farm mentioned above.  Clifford raised Beagle dogs for sale and would turn the dogs out and in short order a rabbit race would be on.

GIFTED RABBITS

I let one of my friend William Pence know that I had not had a wild rabbit in several years and he told me he had a friend Jared Gainey in Ellerbe, NC that rabbit hunted and would let him know that I needed some rabbits.

Jared Gainey contacted me on 01-02-2024 that he had some rabbits for me and would have delivered them to me, but he had to attend a ball game.  My GPS Garmin unit didn't recognized his address and printed off a MapQuest direction, however I must have missed a turn and had to call him on his cell phone and he directed me to his home.  He left the rabbits in a 5 gallon bucket on the back of his truck and it was around 8:15 PM when I got back home and proceeded to skin and dress the rabbits.

There is a dozen rabbits in the pile.

The dressed rabbits soaking in salt water.  I drained them and placed them in my game refrigerator in our basement and vacuum sealed 10 of them and left a couple out to parboil and fry today being 02-03-2024 and serve them with some rabbit gravy, rice and Mary Bs Tee Biscuits.

FRIED RABBIT AND GRAVY

Photo taken with the ole Obamaphone, grin if you must!  I call all cell phones Obamaphones.

The rabbit was "off the chain good" and served the gravy over a bed of sticky rice!

We have not had rabbit and gravy in about 4 years or more and this was a wonderful treat to have rabbits again and thanks to Jared Gainey and his rabbit hunting friends!

GIFTED MORE RABBITS

Jared Gainey called me and had more rabbits for me being 18 rabbits, whereas Larry Dixon aka TBO delivered them to me at Scotty's Restaurant on highway 74 (now a game room) near the Pee Dee River bridge on 02-03-2024.

COPPER GAINEY

Cooper Gainey, son of Jared Gainey with a cottontail rabbit harvested and has a good grin going also.  Those beagles definitely know how to run rabbits.  Pix above taken on 02-10-2024 and it was about 70 degrees.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-03-2024, 02-04-2024 and 02-11-2024.

LETS GET STARTED

The length of the rabbit box will basically be determined by the scrap aka unallocated decking boards that I have on hand which are 40 inches in length and each board will yield 2 lengths of 19.5 inches in length with about 1/2 inch length extra in case I need to square up one of the ends of the boards.  I had an extra board to make the lid and the back board of the rabbit boxes.

I used my miter saw with the length stop block set at 19.5 inches and cut two of the boards yielding 4 pieces for the top, bottom and sides.

3/4 inch width dado set.  Had to make a couple passes to get the width of 1 inch plus for the lid.

I used my dado stacked saw blades to make a 1 inch wide plus slot for the lid to slide into and cut it deeper than needed, but it is ok.  I failed to do a test cut on a scrap piece of wood, my bad!

ASSEMBLY

I used my DeWalt D51275 15 gauge finish nailer to get the bottom and top attached to the sides and then used brass screws to secure in place.

I then used a tapered drill bit with countersink to fit the brass screws used and also a larger drill bit for the outside diameter of the screw in the top and bottom boards.

I had one of the 15 gauge nails to exit one of the sides.  Those nails will sometimes follow the grain pattern instead of going in straight as depicted above, of which I cut the overhanging nail off!

FITTING THE LID

The finished lid size was 4 5/8 inch width and 8 7/8 inch length allowing clearance for the lid to fall freely without binding and allow for any swelling of the wood in the damp weather.

HOLE DRILLED FOR THE CEDAR TRIGGER

I used a 29/32 inch diameter Forster drill bit, however a 1 inch diameter will work fine also, depending on your trigger size.

UPRIGHT SUPPORT FOR THE CROSS MEMBER

The upright support for the cross member is 9 inches length x 1 7/8 inches width x 1 inch thickness.  The base for the support is:  1 7/8 inches width x 2 inches length and 1 inch thickness and secured by screws.

As stated earlier; back when I was in my early teens and younger, I used a forked stick and trimmed the end to fit the hole drilled into the top of the box for the cross member support.

TRIGGER

The trigger is 11 inches length x 7/8 inches width x 3/16 inch thickness with 3 3/8 inch protruding inside the box and centered and a 11/64 inch diameter hole drilled in the end adjacent the cross member.   The trigger and lid is secured to the cross member support by plastic ties.

CROSS MEMBER

The cross member was made from scrap cedar aka unallocated wood as follows:  15 3/4 inch length x 5/8 inch thickness x 7/8 inch width with a 11/64 inch diameter hole 1 inch from the ends.

FINISHED RABBIT BOX ON 01-25-2024

I used plastic ties instead of nylon braided string, of which the adjustment was much easier with the ties to get the lid raised to the proper height.

FINISHED RABBIT BOX ON 01-24-2024

This rabbit box is more high tech than the ones I made back in the late fifties and early 1960s.  I used my miter saw to cut the boards to length, etc., and used the table saw to cut the drop lid to the proper width.  All the wood was scrap aka unallocated wood.  I used the air finish nail gun to to assemble the sides, back, top and end and used brass screws to secure in place with pilot and counter sinked holes drilled to keep the wood from splitting.

I used the table saw to cut a slot into each side for the lid and that gave more room for the rabbit to enter the box.  The first box I made yesterday, I used a couple small vertical runners to track the lid, but it used up entry space.  If a rabbit can get his head in a hole, he can squeeze the rest of his body in also.

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE RABBIT BOX

As a teenager and earlier, for the upright members of the trigger mechanics, I used a forked stick and fitted it into a hole drilled in the box with a brace and bit and used a pocket knife for the final fitting.  This was also done for the trigger itself; the proper notch cut into a stick and secured to the top cross member which was a stick also and secured with string; usually nylon masonry line.

The rabbit boxes were set and piled some leaves and straw around the sides and back to help conceal them some.  Normally, rabbits don't go into boxes made with new wood, but they will weather in time if someone else wants them more than myself, grin if you must! 

Those rabbit boxes are serial numbers 378 thru 381.

Even a blind hog will find an acorn and I just might get a "wabbit."

I haven't had wild rabbit in a few years and maybe will get lucky before the season goes out.

AGED RABBIT BOX

I got the propane torch out and aged the last rabbit box made.  This box just might catch a rabbit soon when the weather gets cold again.  A week or so ago, it was in the teens and currently it is 75 degrees F.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 01-26-2024.

SQUIRREL CHEWED A HOLE IN RABBIT BOX

I checked the rabbit boxes the morning of 01-31-2024 and noticed one rabbit box lid was down.  It was very evident that a squirrel had been in the rabbit box since he chewed him an exit hole where the trigger hole was at; enlarging it.

I cut a patch to cover the hole chewed by the squirrel and drilled a hole for the trigger and attached the patch to the rabbit box with a couple of brass screws.

I made another trigger and the box is ready to go.  I will age the box with the propane torch before resetting it.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 01-31-24. 

NO RABBITS BOX TRAPPED

Today is 02-29-2024 the end of rabbit season and I did not catch a single rabbit.  My game camera showed a couple rabbits near one of my rabbit boxes, but they did not go inside.  I guess the new lumber did not appeal to them, grin if you must!

PS:  I am glad I was gifted enough rabbits to last a year or two.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-29-2024.

THINKING BACK TO MOM AND POP

Our Pop William Porter (now deceased) set rabbit boxes and was successful in catching rabbits behind their home on Highway 742 N.  Mom would cook rabbit and gravy for Pop, herself, my bride aka Joyce Porter and myself and serve over a bed of rice with some home made buttermilk biscuits.  This was our Pop's favorite meal and mine too!

Rabbit, gravy and rice served by Ann Porter many years ago.

I sure do miss Mom and Pop!  I still wear the Members Only jacket above and think of him often.

Web page created by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 01-24-2024 and updated on 01-25-2024.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be attained.   

Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Open this link about faith in the King James Bible.