Saturday, June 9, 2012

Searching the Stubble


Today, with vast areas producing a single crop and with the use of modern agricultural techniques, there is less variety of plants for hares to feed on. On some large arable farms all the crops are harvested within a matter of a few weeks. The fields suddenly become bare, resulting in vast areas being devoid of suitable food. Hares may be seen searching the stubble for spilled grain or emerging growth from weeds or germinating corn that has been left behind by the combine.

– Jill Mason
The Hare
p. 69

Image: Photographer unknown.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

my perception of the Hare is that is a shy and elusive animal
in March this year I saw this young animal, which initially i considered was a rabbit in the yard outside my house but after a few sighting i realised it was a young hare
Every March and April spend on an ancestral farm taking care of the sheep as the give birth to lamb, some sheep give birth to 3 lambs and if the mother sheep does not have enough milk to suckle its 3 lambs , a law of nature triggers in , it will suckle 2 lambs adequately and ignore one lamb and leave it to starve to death. This year I had 5 such incidences , I bring these little lambs in from the fields and place them in a pen in a farm building. I feed these lambs from a bottles till there are 3 months and then they can rejoin the flock.
It was on the occasion of the 7.am feeding the lambs that I was followed into the house by the young hare a few mornings , and it would go about the house /farm building about 30 ft by 25ft and check it out and sit while I fed the lambs from their bottles .( i regret that i did not have a camera to catch some photos, i had left my camera out one night in the rain and it ceased working and i had not got another) I was surprised but happy with the happenings , I always liked and respected the Hare. I enquired of people of the hills of the behaviours of this Leveret but this was a novel incident to them. I googled ''leveret'' young hare on the www and found your blog -- i had been thinking of doing post grad studies on sexology. I find the blog unique, sensitive, holistic , enlightening, explorative in this space. - thanks and continue your contribution to the evolution to humanity. Shane
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