Walker570 Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Just reading my copy of The Countryside Magazine (NFU) and there is a piece in there about hares dying. Dr Diana Bell is the lead researcher and they have found hares testing positive for RHD Type 2 and they are asking that any fresh hares found dead be retained and to call Dr Bell by e mailing d.bell@uea.ac.uk. She says there are currently several pathogens and it is too early to say which is currently the primary cause of the hare die-off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 I did mention this a while back Walker , and I thought at the time it was a form of myxomatosis that had been passed over to Hares. It will be interesting to find if any different strains are killing the Hares off . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Yes, I did see your thread but with having the e mail etc. thought I would put up a new one. Tragic if it is true as the old hares have a pretty hard time of it compared with rabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B725 Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 It's also in the shooting time's about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 16 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Yes, I did see your thread but with having the e mail etc. thought I would put up a new one. Tragic if it is true as the old hares have a pretty hard time of it compared with rabbits. I fully agree and it would be a very sad day if they declined to a dangerous level in population . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Strangely enough I was walking some pigeons of a rape field on Thursday morning of this week and there was a dead hare lying in the field, no signs of it being shot, in fact it looked in perfect condition apart from it being dead that is, its eyes were bright and although it was stone cold I would have said it wasn’t long dead, maybe a few hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 A pity I was late posting this then old'un. I only had the magazine through the post this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Is it localised to certain areas? Here I have never seen so many hares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Uni of East Anglia did the test revealing that RHD had killed the two they tested. I would think therefor east of England, but old'un says he say a dead one elsewhere so maybe countrywide. I know RHD soon spread once it arrived, initially wiping out rabbits completely in places where hundreds could be found in any one night lamping, here in West Leicestersire. With rabbits they tend to die down the hole but of course with hares living above ground the bodies will be found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washerboy Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 I have seen more pairing up this last month or so then I've seen in 10 yrs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Walker570 said: Uni of East Anglia did the test revealing that RHD had killed the two they tested. I would think therefor east of England, but old'un says he say a dead one elsewhere so maybe countrywide. I know RHD soon spread once it arrived, initially wiping out rabbits completely in places where hundreds could be found in any one night lamping, here in West Leicestersire. With rabbits they tend to die down the hole but of course with hares living above ground the bodies will be found. We do have RHD in rabbits in this area, about ten years ago there were large numbers of rabbits on the local farms then we had a bad outbreak of Myxomatosis which virtually wiped them out, after about five years they started to recover to some good numbers, one day I was having a walk around and found a perfectly healthy rabbit dead, about a week later I found another two, from this point on the rabbits just seem to disappear overnight and now I hardly see any on the local farms although some of the farms a little further from home have a few pockets of healthy rabbits, so its possible the Hare I found on Thursday died from RHD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted February 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, washerboy said: I have seen more pairing up this last month or so then I've seen in 10 yrs Yes, We saw a fair number at Barholm on the last cocks only day. RHD will wipe out rabbits almost overnight and may just leave a few young ones. Unusual as old'un says to see dead ones above ground as they tend to die down the holes. The frustrating bit being there is very little we can do about it. I remember back in the early 50s when myxy first came through it wiped every rabbit out on our farm. Back then we still took a dozen out on the milk van every Friday or Saturday morning orders from customers, paunched but still in the skin ..... imagine that these days! My pocket money was serious depleted Edited February 8, 2019 by Walker570 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 2 hours ago, oowee said: Is it localised to certain areas? Here I have never seen so many hares. 2 hours ago, washerboy said: I have seen more pairing up this last month or so then I've seen in 10 yrs We have got Hares but only a fraction of the numbers we once had , I don't think any local estates have Hare shoots like they once did in the past , 100 / 200 were once common for a organised Hare shoot , the last one we had must had been 20+ years ago , the tenant farmers were mumping about the damage Hares were doing to the crops , our boss told the head keeper to shoot around 60 and then keep an eye on the numbers , we got a number of guns organised and done a walk one and stand one Hare drives , this was around the first week in March so we could see them before the Winter drilling grain crops got to high , we were averaging 15/20 a drive and after the third drive if I remember rightly we had close on to 50 , the keeper let us do one more drive and we called it a day just after dinner , we easily got what we were allowed to get and we didn't know at the time that this was the last day we shot Hares in a so called organised style . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redial Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 I stopped shooting them a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalfordninja33 Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 I’ve seen more this year on our syndicate in Essex than we have for a long time. Used to have a shoot on site policy to help keep the coursers away, we stopped that about 3 years ago and they’ve recovered really well. The coursers are back as well 😢 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washerboy Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 Without being critical the sporting way is to see a dog chase a hare, shooting them is easy and obvious the best pest control way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 4 hours ago, washerboy said: Without being critical the sporting way is to see a dog chase a hare, shooting them is easy and obvious the best pest control way. Always amazed me that some people will shoot a hare and think nothing of it, but will go nuts if a man hunts them with a good coursing dog. Years ago I was out hunting rabbits on land we had permission on in Wales with my old mate (sadly now gone) and his whippet bumped a hare from its seat. What a sight to see, the hare made an absolute fool of the dog. You could see the moment the hare dropped a gear and out of nowhere just exploded in speed and left the dog eating his dust. You'll never get to see such an amazing performance shooting them from hundreds of yards away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washerboy Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 I was a member of several greyhound coursing clubs and so seeing hares shot is sacroiliac in my book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickyh Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 Why would you shoot something so heavy then have to carry it for the rest of the day? Learned my lesson in 1974 ! Funny enough out on the Pheasants a fortnight ago near Ilkley and saw over 40 Hares when we got to the Heather line. Still snow on the ground up there. Grand things they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 Hopefully doesnt have widespread consequences for the hare population. Our numbers are superb and the recovery in the last 10ish years pretty remarkable and hopefully it continues.Only shot one this season and lift the gun very sparingly to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 23 hours ago, washerboy said: I was a member of several greyhound coursing clubs and so seeing hares shot is sacroiliac in my book When Hare coursing was legal we used to have a club from Swaffham in Norfolk come on the estate for a days coursing , I used to go along as a beater and got the same pay as if we were game shooting . I always enjoyed the day although I wouldn't had done it for my first hobby , very few Hares were killed , in fact it was a rarity , once the second dog got one and another Hare got ran over when it crossed a road , apart from that I didn't see many more come to grief . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.