Boxing Hares?

[Jon]

Wirral (Heswall fileds and the fields below Dungeon wood) and Altcar near Formby are good places to see hares boxing. I saw them in the first week of February (Wirral) and they are still boxing now. The trick is getting close enough. If you are lucky the car may do but I am considering camouflage netting and just sitting down in a hedgerow. Jon

[RobF]

I've seen hares boxing and mating at night, around 2 hours after dark in mid March.

Rob

[newly opened eye]

I saw a hare alone who was practising his/her boxing in Birmingham 6/2.
It was the first time I had seen a hare.
A fortnight before I saw my first woodpecker which is why I have chosen this user name.
Looking forward to seeing more .

[Melus]

Hares can be seen boxing now but the main time is the end of feb beginning of march, depending on the weather. We get the saying, 'Mad as a March Hare' from the fact that the female will 'box' with an amourous male, and the males will chase each other as a territorial thing. This can be the best time to see hares and count them as they tend to be more concerned with finding a mate than human disturbance. The most I have ever counted was 80 in a 40 acre freshly ploughed field in Lincolnshire, a fantastic sight.

A real good book about the hare, which covers everything from superstitions and folklore to the future of the hare is 'The Hare' by Jill Mason. It is priced at £20 but is a real informative and easy read, alternatively try getting a copy from your local library.

Regards
Gary

[diggleken]

Another most interesting book is The Leaping hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson, from 1974, try for it 2nd hand, its full of good stuff.
Our Mountain Hares here in the Pennines/Derbyshire will be boxing too - they are most easily seen near rocks on the high tops, as they like to sunbathe and absorb the warmth - they will still be boxing into April, and are easily seen as they are white!
Cheers
Ken

[fairplay]

Originally Posted by Jonny

I think it should be banned, sounds cruel to me...............Jon (LOL)

No worries, it's regulated by FIFA who are used to boxing matches on the pitches.

Neil.

[kenny243]

Originally Posted by Fournier

Does anyone know when Hares begin to box (if they haven't already) - it's something I'd really like to see.

Also is there a particularly good time of day? Does it rely on the weather?

You can see Hares boxing at just about any time of year, though early spring through to late summer is more usual.
To see some video of boxing (and mating) Hares which I filmed last June, visit: YouTube - WildPlacesNE's Channel

[artdemole]

Saw them Hareing round a field this time last year just before it got ploughed.Three of them chaseing one hare.Went on for at least 30 mins before i carried on walking..

[posie]

Originally Posted by kenny243

You can see Hares boxing at just about any time of year, though early spring through to late summer is more usual.
To see some video of boxing (and mating) Hares which I filmed last June, visit: YouTube - WildPlacesNE's Channel

Hi kenny243, thankyou for the link, I had a look, and it's nice for peeps who have never seen it in the real.There's also lots of other interesting videos on there...thanks again....Posie...

[kenny243]

Originally Posted by posie

Hi kenny243, thankyou for the link, I had a look, and it's nice for peeps who have never seen it in the real.There's also lots of other interesting videos on there...thanks again....Posie...

Thanks Posie,
I'm glad you find the videos interesting, we're trying to put as much varied stuff on there as possible, to get more people interested in our native wildlife.

Kenny