FIELD NOTES
MARCH 2005 continued....
Are March Hares really that mad?
 Mad March Hares - Archibald Thorburn
March is the month that makes us think of spring, new growth and of course Mad March Hares. It is breathtaking to watch hares go through the gymnastics, boxing and running battles that accompany mating - but what are hares doing the rest of the year? The answer is, pretty much the same. The female comes into oestrous as early as the end of December and may continue to breed until September if she is undisturbed by harvesting or ploughing, so she has plenty of time to practice her boxing skills.
We can best observe their behaviour when the crop growth is new and grass is still short. When the winter moves into spring and mornings become lighter, hares become more visible to us as they are still active in early daylight. We are able to see them chasing and boxing before they settle down to rest and watch during the day. However, in reality this is just what hares do for much of the rest of the year. A male hare is very persistent, tacking a zigzag trail across fields on the scent of females coming into oestrous. When he finds her he patiently puts up with her lashing out at him until she feels ready to accept him, and he also has the bother of keeping other interested and equally persistent bucks away.
It can be quite touching to watch hares that are paired up, grazing together, resting together, him giving her such close attention. Once mating has taken place the buck will start to look for another mate leaving the pregnant doe to get on with the serious task of finding a safe place to give birth to her young.
A female hare is very diligent and will choose a site to drop her litter with such care that she will return to the same site over a period of years. When choosing a site the doe may lie low and watch the area for two or three weeks until she is sure of its safety. The leverets are born fully furred and able to see but the doe will not stay with them. They are fed once a day by the doe and she will then take up a position in the area where she can keep an eye on her young without giving their position away. If a fox locates the leverets it will take one and come back to seek out the rest of the litter. Once weaned leverets like to spend time in groups and are a pleasure to watch. The youngsters do not mate in their first year and so spend time chasing, grazing and play-learning together away from the adults. It is possible to get very close to groups of leverets if they have had no contact with other humans, they are so inquisitive that they may even run up to get a closer look at you. Long after the adults have settled down to rest for the day, groups of leverets are still involved in the serious business of learning what is good to eat and what might eat them.
Crows are not tolerated by hares and with good reason, as they are a real threat to small leverets. Adult hares will fearlessly charge at a crow until it rises and lands a distance away, quite a brave act considering the size of the bird and its huge beak. Pheasants on the other hand seem to provide sport for hares. An unsuspecting cock pheasant is harassed from either side by a couple of hares until it takes flight protesting noisily as it goes. During the months from harvest until early December hares seem to become scarce. Generally considered nocturnal feeders, they are less likely to be seen during the dark months and until there is snow on the ground it may seem as if they have gone away. The footprints on snow covered ground shows us that they are still around and in good numbers feeding on open ground during the night, before melting back into woodland and hedgerows by daylight.
Other aspects of hare behaviour are equally fascinating. The first time I saw a fox among grazing hares I wondered what I was about to witness. The fox scratched and yawned and although he was aware of the hares and the hares of him, there was an air of complete indifference over the whole scene. The fox was obviously not hunting hares and the hares were not expecting to be pursued by the fox. Adult hares are more than capable of out-running a fox and I believe both the fox and the hares have more sense than to waste energy proving this, but the young of both species must go through the motions. If a fox chooses to cross an area where several litters of leverets may be secreted, the adult hares may stand on their back legs and stare at the fox, making sure that it knows it is being observed. If necessary the hares may run toward the fox to draw its attention away from the leverets but generally foxes seem to be pointedly ignored by grazing hares.
No, despite the traditional view, there are no Mad March Hares. The order of their complex lives repeats itself throughout the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter year after year and generation after generation. Just one aspect of our natural world - and well worth going out early in all weathers to observe and record.
Gill Turner
Brown Hare recorder and observer
Gill writes: -
"I have been aware of hares in my area for the past 16 years and gradually started to watch them more seriously over the last 10 years. I am in my fourth year as a Volunteer Recorder, working with and encouraged by Hertfordshire Biological Records Centre. I spent a year in contact with Tony Holley, one of this country's most respected specialists in hare behaviour.
It was a great privilege to discuss my observations with Tony. Sadly he died after a short illness last year.
My observations of Brown Hares are made in Balls Wood and the surrounding farmland - for twelve months of the year. The area is west of Hertford Heath. Balls Wood is an area of old coppiced hornbeam and a good mix of mature trees including areas of conifer plantation. The rides are kept open and clear and the area of woodland is 55.4 hectares. There is however, increasing use of the site by cyclists and sometimes motorbikes which now add to the disturbance of the area."
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