The woods had been safe,
they'd been happy and fun
'Til the day that the hunter
showed up with his gun.
"I love the outdoors and
the nature," he said.
But when he saw nature,
he'd then shoot it dead!

And before long the joy
in the woods changed to fear.
And the nature would flee
when the hunter came near.
And since bullets who
miss a young fawn can
hit you,
All the people who lived
in the woods were scared too!

Little Red Riding Hood's
grandmother knew,
That the hunter was wrong,
and he must be stopped too.
But alas! Killing animals
was still allowed.
So last month her
grandmother went into town.

"Oh we must stop this
hunter," she'd said to the
mayor, "For while he's in
the woods, no one
else is safe there."

And the mayor agreed
and was going to give in.
When suddenly our
foe, the hunter, came in!

"Do not heed this old
woman," the hunter exclaimed
"For her mind has grown
weak and her body is lame.
"Without me, all the
rabbits would soon multiply
"And would soon have no
food, and eventually die."
"It is sad, but the rabbits
I kill in turn give
"The rabbits whose lives
I spare more space to live"

And grandmother replied,
"How could he find it sad?"
"With those hunting parties
and contests he's had?"

After that, the mayor
did not know what to do.
And he shrugged and he
frowned and he said to
the two

"We will vote on this
matter the end of the month."
"Until then the hunter
can continue to hunt."

So grandmother, discouraged,
went back to the woods,
Avoiding the bullets
as best as she could.
That was one month ago,
now it was her birthday
And Little Red Riding
Hood would come today!

Little Red Riding Hood
skipped and she hopped.
But when she heard a gun,
to the ground she would drop.
She would lie there in
fear for a moment and then
Skip continuously towards
her grandmother's again.

Little Red Riding Hood
skipped for awhile
When from nowhere, the
hunter appeared with a smile.
His face was unshaven,
his manner was rude,
He said: "My what a
beauty, with all of that food!"

Red Riding Hood did not
know who this man was.
But she answered politely:
"I'm sorry, because
"This food I have made
for my grandmother, Sir."
"I'm going to celebrate
her birthday with her."

"Your grandmother?" he
said (as his jaw slowly dropped)
"Is she not the one
who wants hunting to stop?"

"Precisely!" Red Riding
Hood answered with glee.
"And it will, thanks to
something she'll soon
give to me."

"That's wonderful news!"
he exclaimed wickedly.
"I'm so happy, but say,
what could this something be?"

"A marvelous project,"
Red Riding Hood said.
"How to give rabbits space
without shooting them dead."

The hunter stayed calm
(which for him was a chore).
And he said: "Tell me
where this fine woman
lives, for" "I'd like to help
out with her dreams and
her plans" "And her words
have now made me
her greatest of fans."

"I will tell you where she
lives," she said, "listen
good." "Go over the river,
and then through the woods,"
"You must walk quite awhile,
but don't fret and don't
grouse." "For you'll finally
end up at grandmother's house."

The hunter left quickly.
No thanks did he give.
And he ran to the house
where poor grandmother lived.
He burst through the door
with his terrible gun.
And he said "Now I've
got you! Yes now I have won!"

Poor grandmother shrieked:
what a terrible plight!
And she kicked and she
screamed and she put
up a fight. But the hunter
subdued her and locked
her away.
What a hideous fate
for grandmother's birthday!

The hunter screamed:
"Silence, else you are dead!"
And he dressed up as
grandma and went
in her bed.
With her bonnet and
glasses, he thought
with a grin "I know that
Red Riding Hood soon
will come in."
And she did! She was
skipping and singing away.

She burst in: "Hello
grandmother! Happy birthday!"
"I've baked you some
treats, chocolate cookies
you see."

And the hunter said:
"Come my child, sit
next to me."

Red Riding Hood did
so, but then raised her brow.
For she found that
grandmother was different
somehow.

Could it be her glasses?
The way she was clad?
Then she noticed:
"Grandmother, what big
eyes you have!"

The hunter stayed calm.
He had nothing to fear.
He replied: "All the better
to see you, my dear."

But she wasn't convinced.
Grandma looked very bad.
Then she saw it:
"Grandma, what a big
nose you have!"

A very slight frown on
his face then appeared
As he said: "All the better
to smell you, my dear."

And Little Red Riding
Hood thought "Am I mad?"
Then she spied it:
"Grandma, what a big
mouth you have!"

The hunter got angry.
This game wasn't fun.
And he jumped out of
bed and he brandished
his gun.
And he said "That's enough
now! I've had it with you!"
"I'm rid of your grandma.
Now I'll get you too!"

She shrieked and her
basket fell down to
the ground.
She ran from the hunter,
who chased her around.
And the hunter subdued
her and surely would win,
But to his great amazement,
the mayor came in!

"We've got you now
hunter! You won't get away."
"It is my great pride to
arrest you today."
"You've killed more than
rabbits: You've killed birds
and deer." "And the nature
has suffered since you
have come here."

"Where hunting's illegal,
you didn't care less."
"And we've heard reports
of your journeys of death.
"Where you broke into
places you weren't allowed.
"And killed all the animals,
hunting them down."

The hunter yelled out
and he tried to escape.
But then fifteen police
people took him away.
They freed the grandmother
and then calmed her down.
And Red Riding Hood
smiled, but the mayor
then frowned.

He said: "I am happy
that he's in his place.
"But afraid that the rabbits
don't have enough place.
"I'm scared that the
rabbits will still multiply.
"And will soon have no
food, and eventually die."

But Red Riding Hood's
grandmother quickly exclaimed.
"Fear not my dear mayor,
for I have a way
"To lessen their numbers,
yet keep them alive:
"We must make it so
some of them can't multiply."

"So they can't multiply?"
cried out Red Riding Hood.
"Why that goes against
nature! That cannot be good!"

But grandmother replied
with the utmost of tact
"It is against nature,
but let's face the facts."
"We've unbalanced
nature for thousands of years
"And if nature could speak,
it would burst out in tears.
"All the forests destroyed.
All the topsoil we've lost.
"All the species wiped out:
this is what progress cost."
"And now there's no perfect
solution or plan.
"So all we can do is
the best that we can.
"In this way the rabbits
do not have to die.
"A small price to pay so
that they stay alive."

Red Riding Hood smiled,
and she nodded her head.
"I'd rather some surgery
than be shot dead."

And the mayor and all
the townspeople agreed.
And the rabbits were happy.
The forest was free!

Copyright © 1995-1999 by Mohan Embar. All Rights Reserved

May be used in unchanged form by
avowed Animal Rightists if
accompanied by this copyright
message.

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