Hare and gone

There are times when natures stages an event that leaves you gasping in awe. It often happens in surprising circumstances, in unlikely situations and without warning. Each one witnessed is a gift to be held in esteem and treated with the wonder and respect it deserves.

I've been lucky to have witnessed some amazing shows of nature considering I've been city bound most of my life. This one comes to the surface of memory readily.

Picture an early morning drive to work, in the middle of the city. Cutting through a backstreet with a few woods lots, my husband and I drive up a hill to see a hawk swoop down on a snowshoe hare racing across the road ahead. The hare makes a frenzied leap in an effort to gain the cover of bushes alongside the road. It is oblivious to us, as is the raptor.

The bird extends its claws, and with wings beating in slow motion, plucks up the struggling hare in mid leap. Working hard to gain height, the hawk, with kicking rabbit clutched tight, rises right in front of the hood of the car, eye level and closer than I ever thought I could be to such a tableau.

We watch as the desperate hare almost works its way free, but its struggles weaken. The hawk grapples with it a moment longer as it gains height. We see the hare give up, perhaps accepting its fate, perhaps with a vital organ pierced by a wickedly sharp claw. The hawk swoops into a patch of forest behind a well manicured garden and disappears.

It took only seconds, but felt like minutes. There seemed to be all the time in the world to notice things like the way the Red tailed hawk's feathers tipped and curved as it controlled its strike. Its markings were first blurred with speed but at the strike it seemed to stop mid air, and then you could see the speckles and darker rings at the tip of its wings, a ruffle of feathers at its neck pulsed slightly. It was many shades of brown, ranging from a dun colour to a rich warm rust. Some hints of ochre. It made no sound except a rush of air, which I should not have heard in the car, but perhaps my imagination supplied that detail.

There was time to see the expression in the hare's eyes, note the contrast of the white soft fur of its underbelly against the coarser, slightly darker hair on its back. See how its legs dangled, futile and helpless.

The scene was deadly and beautiful at the same time, like so much of nature's wonders tend to be. We stopped in the middle of the road with the sun just over the horizon behind us. We turned to each other and in one breath exclaimed, "Amazing!"

About 4-5 seconds had passed.