Last weekend I was sat in the wood at the bottom of a tree catching my breath and having a chill out. Out of the corner of my eye I see a Hare coming towards me from my right hand side. The rifle is on may lay with the barrel facing away from me. The hare walks right in front of me no more than 8 inches from my barrel and I give him a psst. He stops, looks into my eyes and then slowly carries on the way he was going off to my left. He was about 2/3 grown and in tip-top condition.
Later on in the day my pal arrives and we decide to do a bit of practice and set up a few targets with us in the barn shooting out into the field. I need to take a pee and nip round the corner to do so. Who is there but the Hare again about 4 yards away. He moves away this time but only about another 5 yards (all the while eating) while I complete the task in hand. We practice shooting for about half an hour and then I have a look again to see if Hare has gone. No, he is back in his original place next to the side of the barn no more than 6 feet away from where we have both been shooting albeit separated by a thin sheet of aluminium.
By all accounts the 'resident Hare' as he is now referred to is pretty much a feature of the farm. He's on the drive, on the lawns, in the grass, in the barns and pretty much always close to the farmers house. I wonder how long before he goes indoors!
The farm used to have a healthy population of Hare but many have been poached at night from the fields. Maybe the 'resident' has twigged that he is safer nearer the buildings. Lets hope he's right|Mark
.
