Mysterious Assemblies

. . . [Norman Halkett] is one of the few people to have seen the mysterious circular assembly of hares. . . .

"No one has ever been able to explain to me fully just why hares do on occasion sit in a wide circle with one or two or even more of their number having a gambols or frolics inside the circle. . . . I have seen it at least three times in my life, from as small a circle as say ten or twelve, to as many as thirty or forty hares, all performing at once. Some standing up . . . bolt upright on their hind-legs, others sitting on their hunkers, as we say, and some actually lying down as though they weren't paying much attention. But it does happen and I would honestly like to know what it really means."

– Excerpted from The Leaping Hare
by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson
p. 53

Image: MajorWildlife.co.uk via WonderfulWorldOfImages.com.