Page 8 - Wildlife News Dec 2017
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Species spotlight faaRcnebtbtdsahbrdaweWoobmmwwaoatnotucbn.rh-tooethbrxaamfgrianvro.seuigowdcskiraenn/etoah?toainrfegs
Brown hare
Hare today, gone in a flash! Introduced by the Romans, 2017 WHEN TO LOOK Early spring is the time to catch so-called ‘mad
the brown hare is Britain’s fastest land mammal thanks
to its long, powerful hind legs. It can reach speeds of March hares’, when the unreceptive females fight off or ‘box’ over-
45mph while zigzagging erratically to outpace and
outwit its predators. Hares shelter in forms, shallow amorous males.
depressions in the grass, and graze on a range of WHERE TO LOOK Open fields and meadows offer the best
vegetation, including bark. Aside from their longer
legs, hares are generally larger than rabbits and have chance to see them bounding through the landscape. Try your
longer, black-tipped ears. luck at Chimney Meadows, Woodsides Meadow or the open
areas of Warburg Nature Reserve (Oxon), along the rides of
CONSERVATION STATUS Not currently threatened (CITES) Finemere and Whitecross Green Woods, or haring across the
wide expanse of Bernwood Meadows (all Bucks).
( GARY K SMITH/NATUREPL.COM)
8 Wildlife news / December 2017
