A Rare Bunny

This picture, of one of West Ardnamurchan's endangered species, was sent to the Diary by the Raptor with the subject heading, 'Definitely the Last One!'

Those who remember the area fifty or more years ago tell of rabbits in plague proportions, with Sanna a heaving mass of furry bodies, and we remember families of them playing on the grass in front of the Ferry Stores when we first settled here twenty years ago.  More recently, there were so many on Canna that they had to be culled.  These days we hardly see any - hence the Raptor's despair.

Why the decline? We've never seen a myxomatosis rabbit here and, while the crofters never loved them, they certainly didn't exterminate them.  There have been suggestions: the rise of the pine marten; the arrival of the sea eagle; the decline of the wildcat.  Whatever the reason, they need to be cherished, as they were when they were first introduced into Britain from Roman times onwards - see bunnyhugga's history of rabbits here. Perhaps there's a business opening for someone to become our local warrener.

Many thanks to the Raptor for the picture.