Hares:
A few weeks ago I noticed two hares running around the property, especially when I was in the car. They’d run across the grass and into the bushes to take cover. Only a few days ago when I was out at 7am feeding the birds I saw about five of them sitting in the field. The grass is now so long I could only see their heads and watched with delight as they slowly moved towards the trees and out of sight. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me but I’m very happy to have them living on my property, as for some reason I have always felt very drawn to them.
According to Simon Barnes, who has just a written a book called “Spring is the only season” Hares are the original Easter Bunnies. He says “The hare is said by many to be the special animal of Easter or Ostara, a spring goddess from ancient German traditions”. They were also considered holy creatures in Roman times and as emblems of the Holy Trinity. But somewhere along the way the hare tuned into what we now call the Easter bunny!
Monbretia
Deer
There are three types of deer found in Ireland. These are the Red Deer, Fallow Deer and Sika Deer. The native Red Deer is Ireland’s largest land mammal. Male deer are called ‘stags’ and female deer’hinds’. Young deer are called ‘calves’. Only the males have antlers.
While there are lots of Red deer in Killarney Park they have recently culled 4000 of them. I don’t know if this is overkill (excuse the pun) because I only ever see a handful of Deer on my property, and I l’ve quite close to Killarney National Park. Unfortunately, what few adult deer I do see are often shot and killed by local farmers leaving the young calves to fend for themselves.
The photos below show a couple of vistors that I was able to capture while other visiting deer often walk through the field grazing. I often prefer to sit and watch them slowly walk across the field before they disappear into the trees, instead of running inside for my camera.
