64 Behavioural Observations of the Brown Hare Lepus europaeus
17.ii.00 A hare was settled in a third form (C), less than 20m from A and B.
18.ii.00 At 0720, a hare was in yet another form (D). still near to the road. At 0740, it suddenly
got up and ran away down the fields, possibly startled by a yellow digger with flashing
light travelling along the road.
19.ii.00 As yesterday, the hare was settled in yet another location (E). Whilst being watched, it
ran off down the field and out of sight
23.ii.00 On returning home after a few days away at 1630, the hare was settled back in form A.
For the next few days, a person using a metal detector was regularly working the field,
and no hares were located.
28.ii.00 After torrential overnight rain, two hares were seen on the cereal field adjacent; perhaps
the pools of rain water on the bare field meant the forms were uninhabitable?
29.ii.00 At 0705, a hare was seen running up the field directly towards form A, but instead of
settling immediately as usual, it sniffed the form before wandering off towards the hedge.
It then encountered and disturbed a second hare lying flat on the ground; they boxed
and chased away down the field. The presumed 'usual' hare from form A was slightly
smaller than the one it chased away. Boxing is usually between males and females - a
near-oestrus female if too closely attended by a male while she is still unreceptive will
box him off (Corbet & Harris 1991). However, females are generally larger than males,
so this poses the question of who was chasing whom? A dominant male will chase off
rivals, but in this case it was the smaller hare which initiated the boxing and chased off
the larger hare. At 0740, a single hare ran back up the field towards the forms, but did
not settle and soon disappeared. Heavy rain for the rest of the day ensured that no hares
were seen in their unsheltered forms, although two were observed feeding in the cereal
field in the rain at 1630.
1.iii.00 A hare was located grooming itself in the bare field; as it wandered off, it noticed a
second, larger hare in the adjacent cereal field and took off in pursuit, chasing it out of
sight.
5.ii.i00 A hare remained in form A all day.
6. iii.00 A hare was located in form B, facing the house.
7.iii.00 By 0706, a hare was already settled in form B. Until now, I had assumed that most
observations were of the same hare using several different forms, given their close
proximity. However, at 0723, another hare ran straight up the field and straight in to
form A, being watched with one eye by the occupant of form B. The hare now in A
seemed oblivious of the other. Fraguglione (1961) states that, although hares have acute
senses of smell, hearing and sight, their all-rod retinas give poor discrimination of
stationary objects. This would appear to be borne out by these observations. This was
the first time that both forms A and B were occupied simultaneously; although the field
was bare, there were sufficient surface features to pinpoint precise locations, and the
hares' fur was a distinct shade lighter than the earth, especially in early morning light,
so it is unlikely any were missed. While I was still watching the hare in form B, it sat up
and started to lick its hind feet. I n doi ng so it became very obvious, presumably breaking
the skyline from the viewpoint of form A; however, it produced no response from the
occupant of A.
9.iii.00 A hare appeared at 0630, ran around sniffing, and sat without settling into any form,
perhaps disorientated as yesterday a tractor was being driven up and down the field,
along the existing tramlines.
10.iii.00 Potato planting commenced, and there were no further observations in this field.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)