"Did I say something wrong?" Jimmy, like a cowboy who barely knew his duties on the ranch, a worker with the brand, looked to Rip for help, but he completely ignored him.
Ryan, who was smiling, approached and said, "Jimmy, when plagues of this size move near large pastures like this, it means only one thing—they're going to absolutely ruin everything."
"I didn't know that." Jimmy was telling the truth, and that was probably the only reason no one here had broken his face in two.
"The rabbits..." Lloyd murmured, spitting to the side as he crouched to inspect the gnawed roots. "A plague that can leave a man without grass for his cattle and without food for his family."
As the oldest cowboy on the ranch, Lloyd had lived a life that could easily fill ten books. Of course, he knew about the curse of these plagues. He turned to Jimmy, a man learning with every fiber of his being to be a cowboy, and pointed at the small holes in the ground with his shotgun.
"Look, here and there—tunnels where they crawl like thieves in the night. Each one of these damn things can eat its weight in alfalfa in a single day. Do you know what that means for a rancher?"
Jimmy shook his head, and Lloyd let out a sigh.
"It means the cows go hungry. Without alfalfa, there's not enough forage, and the cattle start to weaken. Milk production drops, the steers don't fatten up, and when winter comes, we find ourselves without reserves. A single burrow hides dozens, and in a matter of weeks, hundreds of them can devastate entire acres of crops."
Jimmy frowned, grasping the seriousness of the situation. "And how do you control it?"
Lloyd gave him a grim look and said, "Before, when the land was young and predators still roamed freely, foxes and eagles kept these plagues in check. But now... We've changed the balance of this land. Traps, fences, even trained dogs—but rabbits learn and adapt. And when their numbers get too high, some resort to poison, though that's a risk in itself."
"This is bad, brother." From a distance, Kayce showed him the first burrows he had found and said, "This is just one of the entrances I found. Walk thirty meters, and you'll see the second one. I suspect there are more. Their burrows can't be this simple."
Dante nodded, naturally agreeing with his brother's judgment. He knew there was nothing wrong with what Kayce or Lloyd were saying.
It wasn't that Lloyd and the others were being pessimistic. It was just that they all knew the habits of rabbits, which is why they reached this seemingly grim conclusion.
Looking at Lloyd, the most experienced among them, Dante asked, "If I set a trap at the entrance of the burrows, what do you think the chances are of catching these bastards?"
Lloyd immediately gave his own judgment and reflections. "I think it's unlikely to work. They're extremely cautious. It's said that in winter, these little ones will only follow their own tracks back to their burrows."
Rip pointed at the rabbit burrows and said, "Their tunnels are also huge. If we tried to dig them out, it'd be a massive project, which obviously isn't worth it."
Naturally, Dante had no intention of digging up rabbit burrows. He knew that was completely unrealistic. Perhaps, for now, they could only defend themselves passively and try to find ways to minimize the losses caused by the rabbits.
But Dante wasn't ready to give up. He looked at Kayce beside him and asked, "What can we do? Can we hide around here and find a way to shoot them?"
Kayce looked helpless and told Dante, "It seems like that's the only way. We can only ride around the ranch. If we see rabbits, we shoot them immediately. That's what most ranches do."
Of course, everyone wanted to take the initiative. But many times, there was no better way—no more efficient way to deal with these rabbits.
Dante, his face dark, also remained silent. For a moment, he didn't know what to say or what other way to handle the situation.
I never expected that the first real challenge I'd face in managing a ranch would be these rabbits!
What made Dante feel even more helpless was that, in the face of these destroyers, Logan had no other choice and felt a sense of powerlessness and frustration.
Seeing his brother's frustration, Kayce tried to reassure him, saying, "I'll carry my rifle everywhere. If I run into them, I'll take care of them. You should do the same—carry a gun, be ready, and kill those bastards the moment you see them."
This might be the best approach, and perhaps the only thing ranchers and cowboys could do when facing rabbits.
Kayce could only nod. It was clear he couldn't think of any better countermeasures at the moment, so he had no choice but to accept these seemingly inefficient and passive methods.
Even though he felt extremely helpless and powerless, Dante had no choice but to accept this outcome. Solving the problem once and for all was simply impossible at the moment.
Kayce obviously understood this and told Dante, "Many ranchers face these problems. There are too many rabbits, and their range of activity is too vast. No rancher can guarantee that his land is completely free of rabbits."
Dante nodded slightly, feeling even more powerless, and wondered if he should bring some of his soldiers to help solve this problem. "My ranch is thriving. All these rabbits know there's high-quality grass here, so they're all coming."
Naturally, no one opposed this statement since they were well aware of the difference between the alfalfa cultivation in other parts of Montana and what Dante was doing here. The grass here seemed to have been growing for only a short time, but as veteran cowboys, they could clearly see that it was of exceptional quality.
This meant that the newly discovered burrow was probably just the beginning. There was a high chance they would find more rabbit holes in the coming days.
It could be a rabbit, a marmot, or even some insects—any of these scenarios were highly likely.
The good growth of the alfalfa not only gave Dante more confidence in his own abilities, but it also represented great economic potential. It could provide abundant food for many animals and insects, so it was no surprise that they were all flocking to the ranch in search of a better life.
Those animals and insects probably didn't have any other plans; they were simply following their instincts. Dante had to think carefully. To protect his own interests, he certainly wouldn't show any mercy to these pests and animals.
It was obvious—neither rabbits nor marmots were cute to Dante. They were a plague and an absolute menace to the ranch!