When Cherida Cannon's labrador Teal chased and killed a hare, she set about preparing it for the pot.
But there was a surprise in store. The hare turned out to be pregnant, and its unborn baby's heart was still beating.
A frantic rescue mission was launched -- and today the tiny, helpless creature has grown into a bounding tame hare called Miracle.
Describing the moment when Teal brought her his prey, Mrs Cannon, of Alton, Hampshire said: "The hare was so beautiful, I just couldn't bare to throw her away. I thought she'd make a nice meal so started gutting her."
It was her cleaner, Tina Rhodes, who noticed the unborn baby. Mrs Rhodes said: "I rubbed its chest and blew on it and dried it with a towel, then suddenly it opened its eyes and begun cleaning itself."
The women mixed up baby formula belonging to Mrs Cannon's granddaughter and fed it to the baby hare, known as a leveret, with a syringe every hour.
Mrs Rhodes's sister, Margi Heath, was put in charge of caring for the orphaned creature. Mrs Heath, 57, said: "She stayed indoors with me. I put her in my bra to keep her warm, else she would have died. I slept with her and every time she was hungry she popped her head up."
Following a vets advice, they changed the hare's diet from formula milk to cat milk, which is sold in bottles and normally fed to kittens.
Miracle is now three months old and still growing. Mrs Heath, of Upper Farringdon, Hampshire, said: "She's quite tame now. She has a lead we use to walk her with, and lets people stroke her, though she can tell if someone is a stranger.
"I took her out and about with me so much, and even took her to local schools so the children can see her."
She and Miracle have become local celebrities and the hare may even be adopted as a village cricket club's mascot.
She said: "I often take her down to watch the cricket. I have to put her in a cat cage though, in case she runs away."
Mrs Heath is currently keeping Miracle in a hutch in her home and has bought a rabbit to keep her company.
She said: "Miracle thinks I'm her mummy but sometimes when I put her in the garden and a dog barks, she looks ready to run away.
"I don't know what's going to happen with her yet. We'll have to wait and see. She's not stupid and she may want to mate but she also may not survive in the wild."
Source: The Telegraph
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