The history of organized hunting in Europe has generally been the story of wealthy people hunting for a sport rather than for food. Contrast that with the common folk of the UK or Europe, poor people who hunted mostly for necessity rather than the enjoyment. Practices such as fox hunting, pheasant or other wildfowl hunting, hunting weekends on estates specifically dedicated to that purpose and all the associated ephemera that goes with all of that, including people who handled the dogs, responsibility for the supply and care of the game, the upkeep of the guns, the sporting clothes that had to be prepared and created, etc. all served to make hunting on that level a large part of social life for the wealthier classes.
There was one particular hunting expedition in the French countryside that went terribly awry in the early 1800s. In this particular case, the hunted game was going to be rabbits. A certain French nobleman by the name of Louis Berthier organized the hunt for a group of fellow aristocrats. Berthier wanted to ensure that his guests would have a good time and a successful hunt. He ordered his servants and gamekeepers to provide hundreds of rabbits for the hunt. Now, most of us would say this was not very sporting; it’s tantamount to almost having the game tied down and then shot. Nevertheless, things were different during that time, and no one thought anything bad about having the prey within an easy shooting distance of the hunters.
On the morning of the hunt, the rabbits were released on the edge of a field, and the hunters moved towards the rabbits. Men moved behind the rabbits, making noises to scare the rabbits towards the advancing hunters. When the rabbits got within sight of the lead hunter of the group, something very strange happened. The rabbits seemed to attack the man who was at the point of the group of hunters. By attack, I mean that they begin jumping on him, running up his legs, and leaping up on his shoulders. The man tried to use his gun to fight the aggressive rabbits off him. He was not successful. Soon, dozens of the animals were covering the man, running up and down his body. Reports at the time said he had a full-blown panic attack. Other hunters rushed to his aid, but there were hundreds of bunnies, remember. Soon, these other hunters also found themselves covered with the rabbits. Somehow, the hunters managed to free themselves from the rabbits, and they beat a hasty retreat back towards the edge of the field from which they had come.
I say, good for the rabbits! And the man who was attacked first was given several stiff brandies before his nerves would be calmed. Interestingly, this man had a reputation for being cool and calm under fire, so it surprised people to see him so upset and discombobulated over several dozen rabbits jumping on him.
Turns out that Berthier’s animal wranglers had used domesticated rabbits and not wild ones for the hunt. All the rabbits were doing was thinking that they were about to be fed by the approaching hunters–a normal thing for domesticated rabbits. The man who was at the point just so happened to be the unfortunate guy that the rabbits attached themselves to first.
And so, on that warm July day in 1807, the great French general, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated not by an enemy on the field but rather by some bunnies on his shoulders.
The Rest of the Story 