It’s a long story, so I will let Lora and Kelly Hucks give you the details. My story is that I was looking for a pumpkin late Sunday afternoon, when I pulled into Hucks Produce Market, at 819 Folly Road. I was getting out of my car when I heard a rooster crowing. A strange place for live poultry, in this urban area, I thought. Then I looked up and saw a nearby tree full of hens that seemed to be settling in to roost for the night. On the ground below were many young chicks, cheeping away anxiously.
And then I saw the rabbits! Some hopping about. Some sprawled on the ground like sunbathers. Others munching on dried corn that had been thrown out to them. Rabbits everywhere.
I asked Lora Hucks what was going on here and she gave me a weary, frazzled look, like the old woman who lived in a shoe and had so many children etc., etc. Only she had rabbits.
It seems that her neighbor — the one with the chickens — had freed his domesticated bunnies and they had taken up under Ms. Hucks’ produce stand. And now they were multiplying like, well, you know. Rabbits are cute and cuddly, but they are voracious eaters, a real problem when you are in the produce business.
She and Kelly Hucks had recently bought a large net and were catching them as fast as they could. They had two cages of baby bunnies, but they seemed most intent on getting the net over the big, white male who lounged in the parking area near the shed. They seemed to think that he was the source of most of this problem. Lora told me they had contacted Pet Helpers about spaying and neutering the little critters, but mostly they just wanted help finding homes for them. So if you know anyone who would like a rabbit — baby or adult — this is your chance. It’s a shame this opportunity came along at Halloween, rather than Easter, but you play the cards you are dealt.
Surely there are homes and classrooms and nursery schools in Charleston that would love to take in a rabbit or two. Drive by Hucks Produce and pick one out. Surprise your children! Surprise your spouse! Surprise yourself! Get a bunny for Halloween.
Contact Hucks Produce at chaspers1967@aol.com or (843) 452-2117.
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