This rabbit may look like it's happily soaking up the last rays of Autumn sunshine, looking straight at me through the kitchen window ... but in fact it is soaking up the last rays of the Autumn sunshine completely oblivious to anything except the warmth on it's back and hopefully the beauty of the birdsong as it lives out it's last few hours hoping for a peaceful end.
Myxomatosis has been rife on our hillside this year, beginning in late Spring it seemed to vanish throughout Summer and now it has reared it's ugly head again as we head into Autumn.
The few rabbits we spot like this one, we try relocate to a safe place, away from Ginger and Mavis, to hopefully end their final hours relatively peacefully, those that find themselves away from the shelter of hedges and trees are easy pickings for the birds ... as the sad little piles of fluff we find each morning testifies.
Myxomatosis in rabbits.
In my opinion our wildlife has enough on it's plate to survive the things it survives day to day without also having to contend with the most horrible of manmade diseases :-(
Sue xx
