:: hunting

Bertie's having such a great time at the moment -- there are rabbits and hedgehogs all over the place. The grass, clover and weeds in the big field up the road are nice and high, so the rabbits can't see him coming and can't speed away. The most exciting part -- from his point of view -- is that if he leaps through the grass he can literally jump on top of a rabbit. Today he did just that. The rabbit got away, of course, but he then became convinced there were more, exactly where that one had been. He was leaping along like an antelope, bounding over the grass in long flights with all his legs tucked up.

Last night it was a hedgehog: he carried it round for about ten minutes, dropping it every now and then to try and "open" it with his feet. No luck -- it stayed tightly rolled. It was a big one, not quite as big as one he caught a couple of years ago -- that was a monster -- but strong enough to survive Bertie. I'm hoping it didn't have ringworm. While he was messing with his hedgehog I came across another one hustling along the path. I rolled it away into the long grass.

We also go hunting at night. The other night he was rushing around sniffing out rabbits and I heard a twig snap in the trees. I shone the torch in that direction and sure enough, a pair of eyes lit up like lamps. A deer. It stood dazzled for a minute, then ran for it, crashing through the trees and down the bank, and landing with a barking cough before fleeing down the old railway track. Bertie was oblivious until I called him round to it had hit the footpath and he smelt it -- "hey! a deer!" No, you think so? While he was busy searching the area where the deer had been, I stumbled on a hedgehog, literally. I rolled it away into the long grass. See, I am a friend to wildlife! Bertie is such a madly inefficient hunter he mainly just gives them exercise.