Box clever to catch a mad March hare (From Gazette & Herald)

Box clever to catch a mad March hare

9:50am Thursday 5th March 2009

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EARLY one morning when I opened the upstairs curtains this week, I realised there was a fairly large animal near the top of the field opposite our house.

It was difficult to see because it was squatting in the deep, wintering grass and its colouring almost matched it surroundings. A brief movement betrayed its presence but the visitor wasn’t large enough to be a deer and was too large to be a cat or rabbit.

At first I wondered if it might be a badger crouching in the deep grass and rushed to find my binoculars only to discover it was a massive jack hare. As I focussed upon it, it rose from its resting place and then I realised there were two more nearby. They had also been squatting in deep grass but I had not noticed them.

Suddenly they all began to chase each other around in circles, galloping around a hawthorn tree rather like children might once have played ring-a-ring-o’-roses or tig. I watched through my binoculars but could not determine whether one was a female. I was half-expecting to witness the famous antics of the so-called Mad March Hares where they stand on their hind legs and apparently box one another. Although no-one is quite sure of the purpose of that behaviour, it is thought to be either a courtship ritual or a challenge to claim territory or a claim for superiority.

During this contest, both hares stand on their hind legs and appear to be trying to hit each other with their front paws. It has all the appearances of a boxing match or sparring partners in training. It is uncertain whether both participants are jacks (male hares) or whether one of them is a jill, a female.

There is a theory that a jill will sometimes rebuff the advances of an unwanted jack in this way, although most country folk that I have spoken to favour the idea it is two males competing for dominance.

Those I watched disappointed me because they did not indulge in that curious battle but nonetheless galloped around for several minutes without making contact before squatting once more in the grass. Then, after a rest, they all moved away to separate areas of the field and eventually vanished from my view among the undergrowth. I have not seen them since.

It is not easy to distinguish a hare from a rabbit due to the close similarity in their colour and shape. One clue is the greater size of the hare with its large and powerful hind legs, far longer than those of a rabbit. Its ears are longer too and they are tipped with black, often a quick and easy reference when trying to identify the animal. Whereas a rabbit will often lie its ears back and close to its head, the hare’s will often remain upright and very much in evidence. With long ears and noticeably large eyes, the hare is well-equipped for its life above ground. Unlike the rabbit, it does not live in burrows but spends its time on the surface.

Over the past years there has been a decline in the number of hares and this is probably due to several factors. One is the loss of habitat as more and more fields are used for housing developments, the construction of factories and offices, and the increase in our road network.

The spraying of crops with insecticides or weed killers also had an effect because hares depend upon grass and other plants for their food. There is no doubt they could cause damage to growing crops too, but it has been argued that their weed-eating appetite compensates for that.

Another problem is that leverets – young hares – are often killed by agricultural machinery. These beautiful young animals are born with their eyes fully open and with a full coat of fur but although they are capable of escaping or hiding from predators, they can fall prey to heavy machinery.

An adult hare can outrun almost any other animal and is capable of speeds up to 35mph when pursued. Normally, it lopes along with its tail held down and its ears upright, and this is when motorists might come across one. It will gallop ahead of the car with amazing turns of speed before heading for safety through the nearest opening.

In the past, hares were thought to herald ill-fortune and if one appeared on the path ahead of a person, the person would turn around and go home, fearing the consequences of continuing. Witches were believed to turn themselves into hares too, and could only be killed by a silver bullet.

However, a hare’s foot carried in one’s pocket or purse was regarded as protection against rheumatism.

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