Thank you once again for all this interesting comment! =:)

My feeling is that Hazel and Hyzenthlay are one of those couples who really do come to feel they're more two parts of a larger whole, and who really do miss each other badly when they're not around. And I agree about Bigwig, too: he may have this gruff exterior, but deep down he can be quite badly affected by certain things, as is hinted once or twice about what he's seen and heard in Efrafa.

was Strawberry in the original WD?

Yes, he was. He's the rabbit who rushes out to join Hazel's party as they're leaving, after his doe (Nildro-hain, as mentioned here) is killed by a wire, though that happens "out of shot". Vernal is my creation, though.

What I can't remember offpaw though is if there was some connection between what happened to Vernal and Blackavar.

No comment...

The poem they mention that was told by Silverweed... was that in WD or TFWD?

It's in the first book. It's the poem with "Take me with you, stream. Take me on your dark journey" etc, and it's also in the film. There's a sort of version of it in the series, but seriously messed up if you ask me. =:P

Bigwig saying "Hyzenthlay... er... rah"

*Grins* I'm glad you noticed that. One of my long-standing complaints about people's reviews of WD is when they claim that there's no humour in it away from Kehaar, though that really isn't true. So I wanted to add the odd bit of fun here and there, and you're right: Bigwig is a bit too much of a traditionalist to find the idea of a doe as (joint) Chief Rabbit all that easy to stomach. =:P

Hawkbit vs Bigwig

That one is largely from the TV series, though there are hints of it in the book. Hawkbit's whinging and Bigwig's annoyance with him makes for one of the most amusing things in the series.

Despite being the leader, Hazel did the right thing and did as asked

Again, I'm glad you thought that worked. Holly had obviously talked to Clover himself quite a lot (since they're mates) but he wanted someone who he trusted, who was calm and who'd be sensible, and Hazel was the obvious choice.

I shall look for that poem in my copy of the book then

It's in chapter 16 ("Silverweed"). In the standard Penguin/Puffin paperback, it's pp 112-3.

Again, I like how true to the spirit of the original book this is. It's really a nice change from the sort of stories you normally find on FA, largely because you have animals, intelligent as they might be, who are still animals and who think and react to the world in their own way. I think a story like this would be very hard for me to write, even with a long study of how wild rabbits behave. Their way of thinking seems so alien to our own, but it's still clear enough that it's not simply understandable but very emotionally effective. That's what impressed me most about Watership Down, and I really do think you've done a good job at continuing that.

Once again, thank you very much, both for reading and for your comments. I do think that particular aspect of WD is one of the things that attracts me to it. I've noticed that when reading anthropomorphic fiction, I do have something of a preference for the "real animals" type above the "six-foot anthro with clothes on" type. I like both if they're well done, and I think anthro stories work particularly well in fantasy settings, but when it comes to fiction set on our own world and in our own time, something like The Rescuers doesn't involve me emotionally as much as, for example, Garry Kilworth's animal fantasies.