Title: Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton
Book Beginnings quote:
Standing by the back door, readying for a long walk, I heard a dog barking.
Friday56 quote:
The leveret, I learnt, was a European brown hare one of more than thirty species of hare in existence today.
Summary: "A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare" (Publisher).
Review: Count me among the majority of folks who didn't know that rabbits and hares aren't in the same family and that they have very different living habits. For example rabbits, who are generally about half of size of hares, live in burrows they've dug underground and they live in family groups. Hares, live out in the open, preferring shallow indentations in the grass or the dirt to sleep. Newborns even have different names -- newborn rabbits are kits or kittens, newborn hares are leverets. Hares frequently experience superfetation, which means they can conceive when they are already pregnant. They often have have very small litters of one or two leverets, and then deliver another litter just a few weeks later. This is a very rare occurrence in other mammals but fairly common in hares. I knew none of this before I read Chloe Dalton's memoir, Raising Hare. Dalton learned these facts herself after she rescued a newborn leveret from a dog and ended up forming a friendship with the creature.
After my fascination with learning new facts about hares wore off, I found myself focusing on Dalton's insights on natural world. Dalton lives in an old covered barn near working farms in the English countryside. Since hares do not reside in burrow underground they are especially susceptible to harm/death during typical harvesting practices where big machinery is used. Also the farming practice of planting right up to the edges of the property leave no room or buffer for safety. After one particularly gruesome of experience where Dalton walked a field after harvest, finding many dead and mutilated animals, she was happy to learn that the new owners of the land were going to employ organic farming practices which involved biodiversity and allow room for weeds and wildflowers to regain a foothold. All practices which help the native animals to survive. Once again, I've spent zero time contemplating the effect of modern farming practices on native animals until this book came along.
The book is easy to read and doesn't come across as too preachy. I like the word the publisher uses to summarize the book as a "meditation" on our natural world. I did find myself meditating on what I was learning. The illustrations of hares, beautifully rendered by Denise Nestor add to the sense of wonder I felt as I meditated on the book.
My rating: 4.25 stars.
Reading challenge: Raising Hare is the 12th book I've read for the '20 Books of Summer Challenge.'
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