A Close Encounter with a Scrub Hare

I have been focusing my photography on the various species of birds found in the West Coast National Park of late, but every now and then you get a brief glimpse of a scrub hare as it bounds off into the bush.

Those of you who are familiar with a scrub hare’s behaviour will appreciate just how special these encounters were - let’s get to it.

1ST Encounter

It was just a week earlier when on a foggy morning in the Park I decided to take the road towards one of the bird hides when all of a sudden movement on the ground to my right caught my attention.

The fog was so thick that I struggled to make the subject out but as soon as my eyes adjusted I noticed that it was a scrub hare! Despite the thick fog I tried in vain to snap a few photos as I know how skittish they are.

I decided to approach the hare on foot hoping to get better photos whilst conscious of not upsetting the hare as an animal’s well being is always first priority for any nature lover!

I slowly edged my way closer taking photos as I went and could not believe my eyes when the hare was very comfortable with me being just 6 feet from it - UNBELIEVABLE!

There we sat for a few minutes staring at each other, a feeling you can only really experience and not put into words.

The hare decided that our time was over and gracefully bounded off into the thicket - what a moment!

The photographer in me wished for better light but I thought that the hare had obviously felt safe under the cover of fog and hence let me creep as close as I did - in good light I assumed it would switch back to it’s normal skittish behaviour.

2nd encounter

A week later I was back in the park remembering the magical encounter when on the side of the road in PERFECT light a pair of scrub hares sat quite contently soaking up the first rays of sunlight. Within a few seconds one of the hares took off into the bush, however the other one appeared relaxed so I quickly pulled over a safe distance from it as to not scare it off.

I quickly took my camera out with my 400m lens attached and dialed in my settings - I wanted a shutter speed fast enough should the hare decide to bound across the road.

The hare was completely relaxed and the light perfect for photography - conditions I had wished for a week earlier!

I could not believe my luck - nature has such a strong grip on me and hope it never let’s go!!!

Till next time…