Steve the Cardboard Rabbit

 So this is Steve the rabbit, I’ve given life to him (a slightly oxymoronic statement given that it’s a painted cardboard image)…I’m guessing you are ahead of me now! I’ve looked on the net at the colouring of a wild rabbit and it’s actually quite hard to nail and the pics you see here are Steve mk1 because I’ve pencilled in some darker flecks. I’ve looked at him from my bedroom window and I’d swoop down to investigate that’s for sure. 

It’s early days (and the suggestion of purchasing a trail cam has fallen on deaf wifey ears), but almost literally the moment Steve hit my back lawn I’ve hardly seen the kites overhead which doesn’t help. I’ve found what I think is the ideal spot for Steve and if I have washing out I use it as impromptu screens. It’s vaguely encouraging that flies have landed on him but I’m crossing fingers that a kite comes down to have a look.

I will need them to come back over on a regular basis and have to be in when I put Steve out, but I was encouraged by the red kite piece on the recent Springwatch and the fact that one family has them nesting in a tall conifer in their garden, and the camera that was hauled up to the nest revealed that they had come into the garden and taken a small cuddly toy and used it to line the nest!

I’ve persevered and made Steve mkII. 

Many years later I've finally cracked getting the Kites in. I switched to using chicken carcasses and eventually worked out that if I put it on a foldable table it made the entry and exit angle for the birds less and this short video captured a couple of shallow dives.