Shhh, Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, I'm Raising Rabbits

Aput and Xa Ju'ua (lunch and dinner), my breeding pair

How often do you eat meat? Assuming you're not a vegetarian, I'm willing to bet the number is somewhere around 7 times a week...an average of one meal containing animal protein per day. In my village, as in most villages across Senegal, we're lucky to get meat once a month, and that would be one chicken shared between 9 adults and 12 children. A lack of protein in the diet isn't as big of a threat to people's health here as a lack of vegetables since most of our meals contain dried fish (literally just a fish, dried to leather in the sun), but it is certainly a threat to my tastebuds. That's where Bugs Bunny comes in.

The hutch built by my counterpart and I.
I was feeling patriotic on painting day!

I had been toying with the idea of raising chickens, but I couldn't stand the thought of adding more noise to the cacophony that is our compound. My newest rule is "if it crows, it goes," one feathered 4am alarm clock is enough. After rejecting the roosters I turned my mind toward other readily-available sources of protein. Cows are strictly for Pulaars to herd. Goats and sheep require too much space and food, and as I've been waging war against my aunt's goats for almost a year trying to keep them out of my garden I didn't fancy adding to their ranks. Rats and monitor lizards are another option here if you're a good trapper, but although I've got a seemingly endless supply of rats invading my yard and hut I don't fancy trying to cultivate them and monitor lizards, although delicious, don't provide much meat. That leaves just one option: Rabbits. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Rabbits don't moo, crow, bray or baa. They are one of the most efficient animals and produce an astounding amount of meat for every kilogram of fodder. Rabbits aren't picky eaters and its easy to find something for them to eat year round, even in the desert. Best of all they reproduce like, well, like rabbits! Two rabbits today quickly becomes twenty rabbits tomorrow, and so for a small initial investment I have guaranteed myself a steady supply of meat for the rest of my service. If things go really well I might even consider writing a grant to extend rabbit husbandry to other compounds in the village. We'll see how it goes.

 

My brother Samba with Xa ju'ua