JDog Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 I have never seen so many as this year. Three quarters grown ones are everywhere around here. Fantastic creatures the hare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Let hope they don't attract the wrong sort. My GF and I got to within a couple of feet of a sleeping leveret last year, it was stretch right out enjoying the sun. We stood next to it a few minutes before it woke, realised we were there and took off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 I have never seen so many as this year. Three quarters grown ones are everywhere around here. Fantastic creatures the hare. my favourite animal, I remember stumbling on leverets when I was a boy in east anglia and was once lucky enough to watch a group fighting and playing at very close quartrers to where i was hiding, long may they prosper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 I think your part of the world has always had a healthy supply of Hares, people from all over the world have come to Lincolnshire to shoot hare on those spectacular Hare drives. Nice if you're into that sort of thing! I also agree with Penelope big numbers could well attract the 'dog lads', a worrying prospect with the future of police helicopters in doubt. Nice creatures as you say though JDog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Numbers up here are the most ive ever known and great to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 I was sat out on my permission on Saturday. Saw lots of hares of varying size. Seem to be in abundance. Also lots of cock pheasants and a good number of partridge. However very few pigeons. Not a good time of year I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Three got up infront of the dog this morning as he was having his morning poop! He turned his head back to me as if to say " aren't I a good boy for not chasing" - yeah right been different if he was having a mooch lol Hares and rabbits compete. I have seen rabbits run many yards just to see offa hare and the seeing off will send fluff flying! I suspect as they are here rabbit numbers suffered with the winter floods so it's to the benefit of hares. No new hedges or trees presently so they are quite safe from my attentions for the next year in more As a guess they are about 1/3 up with no great big older ones ( these are better removed as they hold territory from younger more effective breeders imo) coursing when legal was very good at selecting the old but the lamping of hares with two practiced dogs is and was totally unfair and unsporting practice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynny Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Saw loads of them in the borders this weekend, Lovely to watch Atb Flynny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Was out yesterday afternoon looking for early rabbits, spent a good 20 minutes watching two hares having a boxing match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnie Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 A wonderful creature a pleasure to see, think they do well to survive as not a lot can really be done to help them as regards habitat, in conjunction with farming, just keep the fox numbers down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 How many have seen new born leverets? I found a nest of them a few years back at the back of my gardens. Photographed them and dropped the darn phone down a wall cavity within a few days - doh! Cute as and very dark chocolate colour Should be able to find them regular away but they are very good at hiding thier young. Well on the moorland environment at least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 How many have seen new born leverets? I found a nest of them a few years back at the back of my gardens. Photographed them and dropped the darn phone down a wall cavity within a few days - doh! Cute as and very dark chocolate colour Should be able to find them regular away but they are very good at hiding thier young. Well on the moorland environment at least Was building a school and a digger dug up a nest of 3. Took them home and we brought them up in the hoose. They are pretty hard to raise from very young but all 3 were coming fine till Mac stood on one that was hiding in his jumper on the floor but the other 2 lived to tell the story. They were comically tame and just one of the many species we have had the pleasure to do this with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrix's rifle Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Numbers up here are rising, lads with dogs finished most of them off a few years back but nowadays I usually see a couple at night if shooting, seen a lot in daytime. Problem here is you can stand next to the bloody things and they wont budge, just lie down and drop there ears :( lets just hope the poachers don't go after them again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Was building a school and a digger dug up a nest of 3. Took them home and we brought them up in the hoose. They are pretty hard to raise from very young but all 3 were coming fine till Mac stood on one that was hiding in his jumper on the floor but the other 2 lived to tell the story. They were comically tame and just one of the many species we have had the pleasure to do this with. Interesting, I always believed they were one of those things that didn't take to being domesticated in any way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Absolutely not,but then they were very young when i got them. When they were let out of their box in the lounge they used to run around playing as you see them in the wild and climb up on your lap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Not seen any leverets but was out foxing Monday night and counted 4 lots of lapwing chicks in the field. Nice to see, and nice to bag a fox too in the same field. Not seen any leverets but was out foxing Monday night and counted 4 lots of lapwing chicks in the field. Nice to see, and nice to bag a fox too in the same field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Absolutely not,but then they were very young when i got them. When they were let out of their box in the lounge they used to run around playing as you see them in the wild and climb up on your lap. Not realy into keeping wild things like that but it sounds sort of cool I rescued and returned to the wild a kestrel a few years back ( wrote about it one here) tried hard not to familiarise it but it did come down to me for food a while after successful release I like hares even though I shoot them when needed. Fascinating creatures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Not realy into keeping wild things like that but it sounds sort of cool I rescued and returned to the wild a kestrel a few years back ( wrote about it one here) tried hard not to familiarise it but it did come down to me for food a while after successful release I like hares even though I shoot them when needed. Fascinating creatures The old fella done the kestrel thing when we were very young and i remember him training them to the swinging thing with something on the end and that was amazing to see.Also long eared owls and also a roe doe he saved from the snare and it gave birth to twins in a shed and stayed around the farm for ages. Not long went by before one of us came home after finding something to nurse back although i remember coming home with a stoat that had been hit by a car when i was 7-8 and the old fella not best pleased. Obviously some things shouldnt become too tame but if its a flip between leaving to die or give it a chance we always tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben0850 Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 We are very lucky, heavily keepered estate and as such we have fairly significant hare numbers, have done for a long time. I generally thin out the older ones during the winter months (Giorgio Locatelli recipe for 'pappardelle alla lepre' is stunning) Have to say this year though a lot less rabbits and hares on territory not seen before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_seagrave Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Good to hear. A worthy animal, and such fine eating. I remember Big Don Brown used to make a gloriously viscous "hare stoo" and bring it to work in a flask in the winter. Absolute nectar - so rich and peppery - and guaranteed to keep the cold at bay. LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashd13ntt Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 The wolds part of Lincolnshire has always had a healthy Hare population for as long as I have been shooting (some 19 years). The area where JDog and I have permission on is well keepered and I believe that it helps massively. A healthy population which is controlled and, at the same time protected from predators, will always thrive. The estate that I pickup on has always taken around 50% of the hare population by shooting during November when all late litters of leverets can fend for themselves. During lamping in September and October I regularly see leverets not even half grown. They are a wonderful creature to watch when courting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 what a wonderful animal they are, stopped lifting a gun to em well over a decade ago, to me the are the embodyment of what the countryside is. long live the Freddy hare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted May 19, 2016 Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 Seeing a lot here in Sth Norfolk too. Paid a visit too a keeper buddy recently and lots of leverets near his house and in two fields saw 4 Chinese Water deer. These tasty creatures are now appearing near my house daily. We used to only get a few reds, occasional roe and lots of muntjac. Last week on my early morning dog walk saw a roe, a CWD and a couple of munties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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