It’s a golden, early evening on the farm. After heavy rain, the sun is out and the air is thick with humidity. A jackdaw sits on a grey horse, plucking hair from its back. This brazen klepotrichy will help the bird gather the very best nesting materials, and the horse doesn’t seem to mind.
There are rabbits everywhere, grazing on the pastures, and as I walk, I cause a ripple effect along the edge of the woodland. The adults freeze, assessing the risk, before they dash to cover. The inexperienced baby rabbits don’t notice me until I’m close. Then, instead of pausing, they panic and throw themselves chaotically into the undergrowth.
One misjudges its route and becomes stuck in the brambles, all wriggling bottom and white tail flashing.
In the wood, the fading bluebells are still a lilac haze. The earth beneath my feet is pockmarked with hundreds of holes marking an extensive rabbit warren. It’s a complex labyrinth of burrows; nesting chambers, living quarters and multiple escape tunnels.So many prolifically breeding rabbits would once have been the stuff of nightmares here. Rabbits can destroy acres of wheat or barley, reducing them to bare, dusty land. Now, the crops have been replaced with wildflower meadows and grassland, so rabbit damage is negligible.
I leave the warren, but blocking my way is a quivering shape, instantly recognisable as a “myxy” rabbit. I move closer, noting the swollen eyes. It shuffles a few steps away. I should probably hit it with a rock to end the prolonged death that can happen with myxomatosis, but I can’t bring myself to. I stare at it, frozen.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the myxoma virus in the UK. Winston Churchill personally made the intentional transmission of the disease a criminal offence. Yet because of its effectiveness at controlling rabbit numbers, illegal introductions of the disease probably happened regardless.
Until today, I’d not seen a myxy rabbit for a while. Many rabbits have evolved to survive the virus and populations have largely recovered. However, recently, more virulent strains have been found, and, worryingly, hares have been found to be susceptible to a “viral cocktail” which includes myxoma.
In case you are wondering, I left the rabbit alive, hoping it might survive and bring temporary immunity to its offspring.
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