ANIMAL PETS, IN AND OUT OF DOORS 6 3 



tended and power of continuous locomotion greater, whilst its love 

 of the free, unfettered wild and a terrestrial rather than an under- 

 ground citadel, make a strong appeal to my innate love for all things 

 that live out of doors. 



It is a question very largely of one's environment, as it were, and 

 the associations that are linked up with the same. Ever since I was 

 a boy I have regarded the Hare as a typical representative of the 

 wild countryside; it has always been indelibly associated in my 

 mind with wide-spreading fields across which the wind of heaven 

 finds neither barrier nor anchorage. I could even to-day make a 

 pet of a Leveret (a young Hare), and it would afford me considerable 

 amusement and charm me by its winning ways; but in confined 

 quarters I feel sure the animal which I have for so long associated 

 with fields and meadows would not make such an irresistible appeal 

 to me. 



It is a good thing we do not all see or think alike. What 

 appeals to one makes a poor impression upon another, and whilst 

 some people I know regard the Wild Hare as a creature devoid of 

 understanding and possessed of madness — especially during March 

 — it is its weird nature and protracted wanderings that have for so 

 long made an impression upon me. My country pilgrimages would 

 be considerably lessened in both pleasure and interest if my wild 

 companion did not entertain me with his mad scampers and engag- 

 ing frolics, and my stalking adventures in the country would be far 

 from complete if the subject of this eulogium did not invariably 

 become associated in my mind with a good deal of mystery. I love 

 and appreciate his roving disposition and his positive enjoyment of 

 a wild, untended solitary life. There is a fascination in watching 

 him because observation of his home life is so difficult, and there is 

 always a craving on the part of the enthusiastic field-naturalist to 

 get on more intimate terms of acquaintance with him. 



There are some animals around us which we have come to learn 

 about and recognize as part and parcel of our existence, as it were. 

 These cold wintry days, as I write, would be peculiarly dismal 

 without the jocund note of defiance uttered by a Blue Tit, or the 

 bugle-call of a Hedge Sparrow as the well-groomed bird searches 

 for food in the naked hedgerow. 



There are still other familiar wild friends with whom a close 

 acquaintance is more difficult, common though they may be. Their 

 life and habits are such that nought but the free, unfettered wild 



