Rabbit

If this rabbit looks very content with life it has good cause: it has moved in to our garden, taking up residence, we think, under the large gorse bush at the bottom of our plot.

As I wrote in this post in early November, I wouldn't normally welcome a rabbit but, having been prolific in the fields through much of the summer, they are now only to be seen around the houses. Their leaving the fields has had a knock-on effect: we used to see plenty of buzzards and red kites but they are now scarce.

Sadly, the roe deer are even more scarce. Each day when we walk in to the village through the woods we stalk up on those places where there used to be deer visible. We find some hoof prints, but haven't seen a deer in ages.

I miss these encounters with wild animals. Seeing rabbits and kites and deer and red squirrels may not hold the excitement of walking amidst the animals of the savanna lands of Africa but it's better than a world empty of wildlife.