Plague

I had a bit of a shock today. As I was collecting the eggs in a biting wind, I looked down the lane and saw a familiar limping figure hopping towards the gate. I was convinced I had locked Albert up in his cage, but obviously he had escaped in some way.
Terrified he would re injure his now slightly deformed leg,I galloped down the field, vaulted the gate and with my wellies clacking on the frosty ground I ran to where I first spied him, only to find out that what I thought was our Albert was indeed a medium size rabbit.
The poor little chap had the familiar milky stained eyes and staggering gait of rabbits I remembered seeing during the Myxomatosis outbreaks of the late 1960s and it was sad to see him blunder into the gate, obviously blinded by the conjunctivitis which is typical of the disease.
I got on with my jobs as he found some errant crusts of bread in Bunny's run and wolfed them down.After drinking from the water feeder, he then slipped unseen from view into the long grass.
It's sad to think that the field population of rabbits which I have enjoyed watching over the past couple of years will probably be totally wiped out by the arrival of this terrible disease. I hope this will not be the case, but I suspect most will perish