The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Mad March hares pack quite a punch
Keith Broomfield grabs front-row seats to one of nature’s most intriguing spectacles
Between Dunfermline and the village of Oakley in West Fife lies a wonderful landscape of rolling farmland and patchwork woods.
It is a fine place to be at any time of year but in early spring these undulating fields also provide the perfect backdrop for one of nature’s most intriguing spectacles. I find early dew-laden mornings are best, pick a secluded vantage point and wait.
If the conditions are right, then there is every chance that a small group of brown hares will soon gather by the edge of a field.
They eye each other up, looking and waiting. Then one bounds up to another and they both rear up on their hind legs, their front paws flailing frantically in a boxing match before one gives up and retreats, ready for the next bout.
Nearby, another hare gives chase to its neighbour in an intense burst of blurry-brown speed, before the two combatants suddenly break off the engagement. Peace returns momentarily but it is not long before another boxing match ensues. This is the world of the “mad March hare”.
The reasons behind these boxing matches between brown hares have only recently come to light. At one time it was thought they involved two males fighting for a mate but research has shown that it is normally a female hare fending off the advances of an overamorous suitor because she is not yet ready to mate.
But such confrontations are even more complex than that, with males often squaring up to each other as well. Rather than boxing, their aggressive encounters generally involve chasing. Chases involving several hares may be males pursuing a single female.
In other words, it’s all a bit of a stramash, with each male hare in the group seemingly intent on having a go at his nearest neighbour whenever the fancy takes him. With some males weighing in at three and a half kilos, this is an animal that packs one almighty punch.
The term “mad March hare” is something of a misnomer, given that the breeding season is not confined to spring and the sparring matches will continue well into the summer, although the thickening ground cover by then means that such encounters are not so easily witnessed.
The hare is also a shy animal and largely nocturnal, which is why the best chance of seeing their courting rituals is in the early morning, or just before sunset.
When I lived in this part of West Fife, I was surprised one morning to find a young hare, or leveret, hunched up in a corner of our garden. I thought it might have been injured and even when I got within touching distance it would not move. I left it and soon it was gone.
There was, of course, nothing wrong with this youngster, instead it was simply relying upon its natural instinct to freeze and lie still, so as not to give away its presence.