Moon gazing with the hares

Do hares really gaze at the moon?

My story

Now 4am isn’t a time I often see, but I did this morning. For some reason I was wide awake too.

It was still dark outside but the moon looked incredible behind the illuminated clouds. I popped outside to try and take a better photo of it, and crept to the top of the garden, where a dozen surprised bunny eyes shone back at me in the torchlight. I don’t know who was more shocked! So I apologised for disturbing them and headed back in.

I got dressed, grabbed my camera and decided it would be a shame to waste such a wonderful morning – especially given how mild it was, so off I went for a walk.

A shared moment with a wild hare

It was all quiet until I reached the top of the hill, when I looked by chance over the wall next to the road. There was a hare! 

It was still that dusky morning light where the sun hadn't quite breached the horizon on one side, and the moon was low on the opposite side. The hare was sat, staring in the direction of the moon as it was heading down to greet the horizon. 

So on my left I had the rising sun, on my right I had the setting moon, and in the middle was this beautiful creature.

We caught sight of each other and I greeted them gently.

Once they were happy with my presence they proceeded to bathe in the moonlight, then just as soon as they’d appeared, they were gone.

And another hare!

Then another appeared! A smaller, fluffier one who was running right towards me.

She stopped, lay down a moment before getting back up and running closer to me.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! She too decided to have a wash before settling down to gaze at the moon, which by this point was much fainter and opposite the sunrise.

I agreed with her that it was indeed a beautiful morning as we stayed there in peace, in each other’s company. 

I asked her why hares always seem so fascinated by the moon, and she told me it was to do with the lunar cycles, and how linked they are to them.

10 minutes we remained this way together, before some idiot in a car decided that he would honk his horn as he drove past, and that was the end of that.

at the interruption but incredibly grateful to have had the experience I headed home for breakfast.

My conclusion

Hares have always been surrounded by mystery and intrigue.

Folklore would have us believe that witches were able to turn into hares. But then they also believed that nailing a poor old Barn Owl to the front door would ward off storms.

But there really is something mysterious about hares. Rarely seen and able to fall pregnant whilst already pregnant, they’ve long been associated with fertility.

As has the moon. When you think about it, both have natural cycles so it makes a lot of sense. Maybe by gazing at the moon, hares are figuring out their own cycle.

All creatures are greatly in tune with the natural world around them, so why not? It’s only really us humans that choose to ignore our nature and fight against our wild instincts.

Or maybe hares just find the moon beautiful - after all, it’s their night light, illuminating their world of darkness.

I, for one, hope that there’ll always be mystery surrounding hares.

See my hare sculpture collection

Click here if you'd like to see the making of Vincent the Ceramic Hare. or to read about the Patron Saint of Hares click here

There's more hare encounters here too in case you can't get enough of them!