Harvest time is a very stressful one for the brown hare. Even though there is no food shortage, hares can find this time of change hard to bear. One minute there are golden flowing acres of crops, the next the combine has shaved them away, and soon after cultivation and drilling bring great areas of bare earth.
Every year at this time, the GWCT receives reports of hares found dead but, on the investigation, they are usually found to be in the good physical condition and not emaciated or starved. However, it seems that the stresses of a rapidly changing world make them prone to disease flare-ups, and the hares’ own personal type of coccidiosis has often been implicated in these sudden die-offs.
It always strikes me that hares live their lives on something of a knife-edge – they are such hyperactive animals. Even the hare ‘frozen’ in its form is fully alert and wound up like a coiled spring ready to burst into action if its strategy of not moving to avoid detection looks likely to fail.
Everyone loves hares, and I guess that their crazy springtime frolics are part of that. For a long time, boxing hares were assumed to be rival males, but we now know that the scrap is actually initiated by a female who is telling her suitor that he is pressing home his advances when she is not ready. This also explains why there can be three or more hares in a row when they follow one another closely; the female in front is being followed by two or more hopeful males.
Mad March hares
この記事は Shooting Times & Country の August 05, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Shooting Times & Country の August 05, 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside