Hares the thing…

Hares are nocturnal creatures and can only usually be seen at dawn or dusk. Often they hide in long grassy hollows during the day, keeping as low down as possible and with their long ears pinned back. Many’s the time I’ve zoomed in on a boulder or a pile of dung thinking it might be a hare in a field!

But in Spring time look out for the “Mad March Hares”. I saw them in April this year, very active and looking for or fending off mates. I’d seen a pair boxing before but never managed to snap them at it. Then this year I got very lucky and watched four of them chase each other madly round the bottom of a field before starting a boxing session.

The male hares are called bucks and the females does. They are also sometimes referred to as Jacks and Jills. It was once thought that the boxing was between two males competing for female attention. However, the latest thinking is that it is the female who lands the first punch, either to fend off unwanted attention or to test the mettle of the male before going off to mate.