Saturday Morning Picture Show 5-03-11

THE MARCH HARE March! well i guess living out in the countryside there really is only one animal that springs to mind and thats the fantastic hare! Brown hares feed mainly on herbs in the summer, and predominantly grasses in the winter. They also feed on cereal and root crops, and in bad seasons, it has been suggested that they may eat animal corpses. Brown hares rest in a shallow depression in fields or long grass known as a form, where only their back and head are visible. In the image above you will see a young calf playing with a pair of hares, and i would not have said playing had i not meant it as i watched for over 20 minutes as this little gang ran around the field together with the hares waiting for the calf to catchup before then playfully zooming off for 30 yards and turning to wait again for the calf to catch up knowingly too well they could outpace her in an instant. An adult occupies a range of 300 hectares, which it may share with other hares as they are not territorially aggressive. Courtship involves boxing - the traditional 'mad March hare' behaviour. This is actually unreceptive females fending off males, rather than fighting between males. Brown hares escape predators by out-running them - at speeds up to 40mph! Brown hares are the fastest land animals in the UK. Females can have up to 3 litters a year, and on average, give birth to four young (known as leverets).