Silver birches wearing their autumn colours, while clinging onto the quarry rock face. Nowadays the steep drop into the quarry from this vantage point is securely fenced, but when we first moved to the area the fence was somewhat ramshackle and insecure, just a couple of wires loosely secured to wobbly fencepost. Tia’s predecessor, rescue dog Breeze, came to us from the local animal rescue centre having been living wild, with puppies, under the grandstand on a racecourse a few miles away. Locals could never catch her, and left food for her, but it was obvious that she had supplemented this dog food. She was a very efficient rat killer, and when we first owned her it was impossible to stop her chasing and catching rabbits. She caught site of a rabbit at the spot where I took this shot, set off in pursuit, and the rabbit headed straight for burrows on the cliff edge. Breeze followed at speed, and disappeared over the edge. I was convinced that she would descend in an unbroken drop to the quarry floor, and that we had lost her, but a few seconds later a pair of paws and a black nose appeared over the edge and she hauled herself back over the top. Like the adjacent rock face in this photo, the face below us had shrubs growing on ledges and presumably Breeze had managed to use these to stop her fall. Fortunately she soon learned that she no longer had to hunt for food, and stopped chasing the local wildlife, becoming totally devoted to @shepherdmanswife. It wasn’t long before the quarry company upgraded its fences following an inspection by the local Council.
What a great story.....love the fact that Breeze survived the rabbit chase down this cliff, but also that she no longer feels the need to hunt for her food!! Beautiful shot, BTW!
