Hare Today

If the local council get their way, the semi rural location I live in will sink beneath the mire of new housing. It came as something of a shock to find the plans. In a Douglas Adams-esque situation the council had apparently had a couple of meetings to show off the new plans but had neglected to tell anybody of the time or location and was "surprised" to have so little interest shown. In the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams his eponymous hero Arthur Dent wakes up on morning to find his house and Planet about to be demolished. The plans for both events were made almost completely unobtainable to the public. 

Which reminds me of a story involving my Dad and a visit to his local council offices over a plan to develop the ground on which I played Cricket. Dad got himself worked up once he was there. He only wanted to see the plan but found a rather arrogant council official trying to persuade him it was all good without actually showing him anything. My Dad did not lose his temper in public but this official was left in no doubt as to his parental origins!

Where was I? 

I should add the developments are way off into the future, and i shouldn't display too much NIMBYism. IT is not as if the land under question is of scientific interest. The farmers involved stand to make a large fortune from land sales. Farmers make a living (sometimes a good one) and i wouldn't want to stand in the way of such a windfall just because I have an attachment to a middle class rural ideal.

I like to go for strolls in my bit of countryside. I am a towny by birth and actually coming across the flora and fauna i see in books sometimes fills me with wonder and incredulity. It only takes a small detour from the 20th century and I am in a world that, although altered and affected in every way by man is in fact the domain of critters that we are largely unaware of. We can sometimes think we have total control of our world but I can still find places where Nature rules in the raw. Sort of. 

Wondering up a small river I once came across a family of Otters. I see Buzzards, Owls and Herons as well as Lapwings (you have to be a twitcher to be interested in those). I have happened upon Hares too. Supposedly rare these days. 

Just this spring as myself and my daughter went for a short stroll, she stopped me and asked what was it that  she saw in the field. I (blinder than I thought) saw only a tussock of weed in a fast growing corn. As we stopped and looked this "weed" shook it's ears and leapt for freedom. It then found a tractor wheel line and really lengthened its stride and rocketed for the hedge. It was in fact a hare. A large rabbit if you like. Rarer than Rabbits though. 

I passed through the same spot a day later and once again disturbed a hare. A thought occurred to me. Perhaps I could capture it on film? I have a fancy for wildlife photography, partly as proof that I see all these things I say I do. My camera has a telephoto lens, although not a very long one but with it's settings suitably tweaked should be adequate considering how up close and personal I had got on previous visits. 

Last night I went armed with my camera. I had left it a little later in the evening than before. I think that went against me. Bloody pigeons flying out of trees gave my approach away. 

I read a piece by a proper wildlife photographer once. He said you had to be patient and also understand the habitat of the animal you wanted to capture. But mostly you had to be patient. And ready for anything. 

As i entered the field that had previously held my Leporid foe I was all set up for a fast moving long eared monster. What I got was a fox suddenly appearing from a hedge and rapidly trying to slink off in the opposite direction. I was not prepared for this and all I got was 20 or thirty very blurry images of a nondescript hedge area. Goddamn critters!

So i have come across plenty of wildlife but unfortunately I have no proof and you will have to take my word for it, such as it is!