A rabbit's counteraction to water thieves.

How do you do? My name is Sweetie. I am a rabbit, a half lop to be precise. "What on earth", I hear you ask,"is a half lop rabbit?" I will explain. A lop eared rabbit has ears that hang down on either side of his face. An ordinary rabbit has ears that stick up on his head. I have one ear that is up and the other is down. So! I am a soft, pale grey with a reasonable amount of white, and a usual rabbit size. I think I look most distinguished.
I live with my owner, a large gentleman with the most enviable set of moustaches; He is what is known as a died in the wool peasant and comes from a long line of died in the wool peasants. His name is Henri.
Our home is on a hillside overlooking the sea. We have a large garden planted with fruit trees, citrus and olive trees and many different varieties of vines. We even have banana trees! We have a big vegetable garden. I am lucky as I have the free run of the place apart from the vegetable garden. This is a great shame as I love the taste of fresh, homegrown vegetables.
My story is about water. This precious commodity is becoming rare. We must all do our best to use it wisely.
However, who says trees, vegetables and vines, says water. Our part of the world is often affected by drought and tap water is expensive. Any alternative to that is welcome. We are very lucky as our hillside has underground springs fed from rainwater, when it does rain, and melting snow from the high mountains above us. Spring water is cheaper than tap water. It is also the object of much rivalry as we are surrounded by other large gardens whose needs for water are much the same as ours.
Mention spring water around here and everyone affects a knowing look. My owner has probably the most knowing look of all!
But I have strayed from the subject!
This spring water is channelled from the springs through an ancient system of pipes and stopcocks, into large concrete water tanks. One to each garden and the size depends on the size of the garden. But, I hear you ask, how do you get the tank filled, Patience and I will explain to you. You are given a time-table! This indicates the times when water will be piped into your tank. This happens twice a week, sometimes in the daytime, sometimes in the middle of the night. The stopcocks are opened by volunteers who each have a tank. These volunteers are very fit as the stopcocks are all over the hillside and accessible by stone staircases that criss-cross it. I am glad that I am a rabbit!
Then there are the tank watchers. I remember seeing one of our neighbours, well over 80 years old, sitting under a street lamp (Yes, we do have a few of those), readingt a well known newspaper while waiting for her tank to fill up. My owner is an ardent tank watcher and ours is the largest tank on the hillside. I like to keep him company as otherwise I'd be tempted to stray into the vegetable garden!!
You may wonder why they need to watch over their tanks in the middle of the night. The reason is water thieves! In the summer, when the flow of water is slow and the need for watering the greatest,they lie in wait, often hidden in the bushes near the main stopcocks. They are waiting for an opportunity to divert other people's allotted water into their own tanks. In olden times the watchers would be armed to the teeth. Nowadays a presence can be dissuasive, but not always. The tales I've heard about spring water are enough to fill a book. I might just write one one day.
As you can see water is precious. Use it wisely and there will be enough to go round for years to come.
When you turn on a tap or water your garden, if you are lucky enough to have one, please think of Sweetie, the half lop rabbit, sitting with his owner on top of a large water tank in the middle of the night - just in case!

Copyright Jacqueline Hastings 2009