As we enter July, Viola is in grounds at Gartinstarry. In this entry she describes a ‘strange’ experience with a rabbit.
This experience does involve Viola shooting a rabbit. We have already mentioned in our previous blog posts that Viola is extremely curious about wildlife and eager to find more about why animals react in certain ways.
This is clear when she notes the reaction of the rabbit after she has fired a shot. The rabbit appears to stand completely still for 30 seconds and then move away. She thinks this is either rabbit ‘freezing’ or due to its curiosity. We’re not entirely sure!
Transcript
Made up
Feb 17th Playing Fields Q.E.S. 3.30 pm
Larks singing
July 27. Gartinstarry 7.30 p.m.
Had an odd experience with a rabbit which
was sitting listening on the concrete bed of the
pond at the top of the garden which has now
dried up. I fired and am under the impression
that I hit it, at any rate the shot must have
been very close to it, and must have hit the
concrete, and the gun made a loud report
The rabbit however never moved until a train
passed a few seconds (30?) later, when it loped
off quite slowly. This is the second time I
have seen a rabbit do this. Is it curiosity
or “freezing”?
