To Catch A Snipe

**To Catch A Snipe** is the third episode of the first season of Veggie Animals.

## Plot

It is nighttime on a moonlit night. There is no activity, except for a large flock of birds flying across the night sky, while they are being chased by a dark figure, who is revealed to be Juodas the wolf. One of the birds ends up getting left behind after losing his strength, but luckily, Juodas does not even notice this lone bird as he continues chasing after the flock, but the flock is able to escape before Juodas could get them. Juodas threatens the flock that he'll catch one of them when he sees them again, before leaving once again. The lost bird flies through the dark, but cannot find his flock anywhere, as he gives off a sad-sounding squawk that echoes through the forest.

Junior is awakened while in bed when he hears this loud squawking sound, feeling afraid. His dad comes in the room, asking Junior is everything is all right. Junior tells his dad about what he heard, but Dad is able to assure him that there is nothing to be afraid of, before telling him to go to sleep and that everything will be okay in the morning. Junior thinks about the sound that he heard before going to sleep. The next morning, Junior meets up with Bob, Larry, Petunia, Laura, Mr. Nezzer, Scooter, Jimmy, and Jerry, telling them about the squawking sound that he heard the previous night, which some of the others recall hearing. However, they don't know what made the sound, before seeing a set of bird tracks on the ground. The others don't know what bird made those tracks either, but fortunately for them, Aristotle shows up and is able to identify the tracks as being made by a snipe. This confuses the others, wondering what a snipe would be doing in their part of the forest, while Scooter is not convinced that there is a snipe, thinking that it's nothing more than just a 'snipe hunt'. This gives Junior the idea that they could go look for the snipe, though Bob, Larry, Laura, Jimmy, and Jerry are the only ones who are interested in looking for the snipe.

At night in another area of the forest, the bird making the sad calls is revealed to be a snipe, at the same time that Juodas stalks through the forest, until he notices the lone snipe. Juodas contemplates having this snipe as a snack, but when he tries to pounce at the snipe, the branch the snipe is sitting on is much too high for Juodas to reach. The snipe notices Juodas as he quickly flies away, but Juodas is still determined to catch the snipe. The next morning, Junior is given permission by his parents to go look for the snipe before meeting up with Bob, Larry, Laura, Jimmy, Jerry, and Aristotle, all prepared to go on their snipe hunt. Junior is all excited to go look for the snipe, which Aristotle is able to acknowledge, explaining that determination is one of the important aspects of life. The group set out to look for the snipe, passing by several obstacles such as a grove of saplings, a small stream, and a small hill, before approaching a large log over a small trench. After a bit of apprehension of crawling over the log, Bob is able to go first, followed afterwards by Larry, Junior, and Laura, but when Jimmy and Jerry try to crawl under the log, they get stuck. Even though Jimmy and Jerry insist to the others to go on without them, Junior tells them that they're not leaving them behind, which Bob agrees with. When pulling on the two jackal brothers fails to work, Junior comes up with the idea of digging at the ground around Jimmy and Jerry. After digging for several minutes, the trench has been made bigger, allowing Jimmy and Jerry to crawl under the log, followed afterwards by Aristotle.

With the trouble of the trench put behind them, the next obstacle that the group come upon is a large gorge, but fortunately, they are able to cross the gorge by way of a fallen tree that stretches across the gorge. After traveling for 10 minutes, the group decide to take a little break before resuming their search. Jimmy and Jerry are about to eat some sandwiches since they are hungry, when the snipe suddenly flies out and snatches their sandwiches and eats them, so because of that, Jimmy and Jerry end up biting their paws instead. Junior is quick to notice that the snipe was the one who took Jimmy and Jerry's sandwiches, but when the group are prepared to catch the snipe, they discover that the snipe did not mean any harm, though Jimmy and Jerry insist of teaching the snipe a lesson for stealing their sandwiches. Junior apologizes to the snipe for scaring him, explaining that they went to find him once Aristotle informed them of a snipe being in the area. The snipe then introduces himself as Sterling.

When Jimmy and Jerry wonder if snipes taste like chicken, Bob elbows them to get them to be polite, while Junior apologizes to Jimmy and Jerry for being always hungry, which Sterling sympathizes with. Aristotle reminds Sterling not to take things that don't belong to you, which Sterling understands. When Larry asks Sterling why he's out in the forest all by himself, Sterling explains that the night before last, he and his flock were chased in the darkness by a black wolf, and that they flew as fast as they could to escape, but Sterling ended up getting left behind because he couldn't fly fast enough. Sterling also adds that it was lucky he wasn't seen, but he doesn't know where his flock is, because he misses his mama, which the group all feel sorry for. Bob then reminds the others about what Sterling said about a black wolf chasing his flock, before the group realize that Sterling is talking about Juodas, before Aristotle tells Sterling that he'll be in grave danger if he gets caught by Juodas.

After a bit of discussion, the group decide to help Sterling find his flock, going by the rule that God would want them to help others in trouble. The group then resume through the forest, this time, to help Sterling find his flock again. Jimmy and Jerry acknowledge the beautiful scenery in the forest, before deciding to lead the others in singing in order to pass the time. Juodas looks around for where the snipes have gone to, when he hears the group approaching while they are singing, as he decides to take this as a chance to catch Sterling at last. Sterling is excited, admitting that he didn't realize how fun it was to travel and sing with such good friends. The group have not found Sterling's flock yet, but Aristotle is able to remind them not to give up, as long as they have determination on their side, which Sterling agrees with, saying that he's determined to find his flock soon enough. Despite this, Aristotle goes off alone to look for Sterling's flock, while the others stay behind.

Aristotle has soon left to look for Sterling's flock while Sterling expresses his desire that he could have gone with Aristotle, since it is his flock that he's looking for. Junior tells Sterling that Aristotle wants him to be safe because he cares about him. However, the mood is ruined with Juodas shows up, thanking the group for finding Sterling for him, since he still wants to eat Sterling, something which Jimmy and Jerry consider an insult, much to Sterling's surprise. Despite the group's best attempts to escape Juodas, Sterling ends up crashing into a tree branch, leaving him as an open target for Juodas. Junior is able to save Sterling by sticking a branch between Juodas's jaws. However, Juodas removes the branch from his jaws, but before he can pounce on any of the others, Aristotle shows up with a huge flock of snipes, which Sterling is happy to see when he sees that Aristotle had managed to find his flock. Juodas finds himself overrun by the snipes, who begin pecking at him rapidly, which causes Juodas to retreat from the fight.

With Juodas defeated again, Sterling is happy to be reunited with his flock again, especially his mother, Mama Snipe. Mama Snipe is equally happy to be back with her son again, all while thanking the group for helping to find Sterling again. Because of this, Aristotle quotes, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me", which confuses Sterling, until Bob explains to him what the verse means. Sterling is amazed once he realizes that there's a lot more to God than he thought. Mama Snipe tells Sterling that it's time to leave, but Sterling tells her that he has to say goodbye to his new friends first, which Mama Snipe allows him to do. After saying goodbye to Bob, Larry, Junior, Laura, Jimmy, Jerry, and Aristotle, Sterling is now ready to leave with his flock, as the snipes all fly into the sky and leave. While leaving, one of Sterling's feathers comes loose and flutters down in front of the group, which they all decide to take back as proof of their having found a snipe. Once the group have returned to the forest once again, telling Petunia, Mr. Nezzer, and Scooter about having found the snipe, Scooter still remains resolute about not believing in the existence of a snipe, until Junior shows him Sterling's feather, much to his surprise. When asked about the feather, Junior replies that it's a gift from a good friend. In the sky, Sterling and his flock fly happily in the sky, happy that Sterling has been found again.

## Fun Facts

* The verse quoted is "Philippians 4:13".
* The episode's title is taken from "To Kill a Mockingbird" written by Harper Lee in 1960, and was adapted into a feature film in 1962.
* Character Introductions: Sterling, Mama Snipe