Raising Hare: A Memoir

During a period of isolation in the British countryside, Chloe Dalton discovered an orphaned leveret and began a meticulous process of hand-rearing the wild creature. This memoir documents the daily rhythms of nursing a hare within a domestic setting, detailing the specifics of its growth, the instincts it retains despite human contact, and the observational patience required to understand its non-verbal communication. Dalton tracks the animal’s evolution from a fragile infant to a resident of her garden, juxtaposing the fragility of the natural world against the encroachment of human development.

Readers of nature writing and personal narratives find in this book a study of interspecies connection and the logistical realities of wildlife rehabilitation. It attracts those interested in the boundaries between wildness and domestication, offering a granular look at the seasonal shifts of the English landscape. The reader finishes the book with a technical understanding of hare biology and a quiet perspective on how witnessing the life cycle of a single animal refocuses one’s attention on local ecology and the environment.