Our good friends in Santa Cruz CA gave me a book enjoyed by them and entitled ‘Raising Hare’ by Chloe Dalton. The front leaf promises ‘a moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare.’ Every page had me waiting for the next unlikely interaction with this wild animal that made Chloe’s house its home.
I’m only a few pages off the end but the story sent me to my computer to look back at some of the images I’ve collected over the years. The brown or European hare is a beautiful animal, likely introduced to Britain in or before Roman times and now widespread but endangered. I never tire of watching their antics and Chloe’s descriptive prose is a perfect reminder of the hours I’ve spent with these wonderful animals.
Her book is also a reminder of my relationship with a wild tawny owl that nests in our garden and, each year, feeds its youngsters in our trees. If you would like to meet him, you can see a number of posts throughout my site. His mate is sitting in her nest box right now. He will arrive at dusk when I call him and then the two of them will have a brief meeting in the oak woodland behind the house, before she returns to the nest to resume her duties.
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