March On

[Sweder]

I bypassed today's Lewes 10K, choosing a leisurely recovery run on my usual route in an effort to flush out the rust from yesterday. Snow, hail, mizzle and sunshine all made an appearance during the forty-five minute leg-loosener.

A mile or so out from home we encountered a family out for an Easter Monday stroll. The parents lead the way, well wrapped in bobble hats and scarves. The children, aged around seven and ten, stood still, staring at something behind me and to my left. I glanced round to see Tess, my aged Whippet, emerging from a gorse bush with small furry corpse in her mouth. A quick glance confirmed a) that the rabbit was dead and b) its eyes were welded shut by disease, a tell-tale sign of myxomatosis. I hurriedly explained this to the parents and jogged on, leaving them to tell the horrified children.

I let Tess carry her prize for a mile or so, finally taking the still-warm creature from her and placing it deep inside a thicket. The dog reluctantly followed me as I headed for Wicker Man Hill, glancing back as if expecting the rabbit to come racing after us. Ten minutes later I heard a yelp, looking up to see white whippet hindquarters sticking out of a thornbush. She backed out and raced around to the other side, reappearing moments later with a much larger rabbit hanging limp in her jaws. What's going on? I thought. Once again the creature showed sign of advanced infection. Tess carried this one, about half her own body weight, up Blackcap, around the summit and halfway home until finally she gave up the struggle, leaving the corpse a mile from home.

These were true mercy killings. Introduced after initial testing in Australia to control numbers, Myxomatosis came to Britain in the 1950s. It takes an average of thirteen days for the infection to kill a rabbit, starting with eye trouble, a sort of conjunctivitis that results in blindness. Those not taken by foxes - or dogs - are left to die in agony, eventually contracting pneumonia. Once again Man has proved himself to be a highly effective killer; well done Man!

As usual the important part of this recovery effort came at the end - a darned good stretch. As I strained tired sinews against the side of the house huge snowflakes fell from the leaden sky. Unlike yesterday when snow and ice were driven into the ground - and us - with ferocious power, these large slices of ice descended like paratroopers, gliding in to settle momentarily on the damp ground before turning invisible.