Albino Hare

Here’s a coincidence. Last night I stayed with friends who live in a most interesting house on several beautiful acres just out of Alexandra. it was clear that their land, like much of this region, has a severe infestation of rabbits. Rabbits have changed this landscape, nibbling plants so close to the ground that when the wind blows the topsoil is carried away forever.

Jazz, their cat, caught a young rabbit last night before our very eyes as we sat, alfresco, sampling some of the wine that this region is famous for. It was a gruesome yet riveting sight. I took out my camera but couldn’t find a photo in it.

This morning when I got up, rather late by my standards, there was Jazz with yet another young rabbit laid alongside the previous night’s kill. Again I couldn’t find a photo, I found it hard to watch as she gnawed away at the victim’s neck.

Later this afternoon, three friends from Nelson turned up here at Henderson House. As always, it was a delight to see them. As they were leaving, Tim said that a few days ago they had bought something that he thought that could be interested in. Disappearing into their caravan he emerged with this stuffed albino hare. I took one snap of it. It could be a keeper.

A Puzzle

At a party on Friday night a friend showed me this rabbit that came with this spiral. The idea is to place the rabbit alongside the spiral, stare into the spiral for about 30 seconds and then look back at the rabbit. For some strange reason the rabbit seems to grow in size. What the brain is doing I don’t know.
Apart from that I’m always a sucker for photographing rabbits. When I was young I used to shoot them with a rifle, sometimes for fun, sometimes for ecological reasons, and sometimes for food. As I get older I don’t seem to enjoy killing so much, but I still love firearms although unfortunately I don’t get access to them very often. Like many rural New Zealanders of that time, my father had quite an armoury, and was, upon reflection, remarkably relaxed about me having access to it. We also had compulsory military drill at school in which we were taught how look after rifles (and Bren guns) and were given the opportunity to shoot at targets. It’s extraordinary now to think of schools having firing ranges.