Approachability of Hares

[Tobyh]

Hi all,

I don't see hares very often in my part of the country but was lucky enough to spot one on Monday at the RSPB Dungeness site. What made me wonder is that it seemed remarkably approachable. I rounded a corner of a grassy path and he was eating around 40 feet or so away so I slowly bought the camera to bear and started taking shots. I should point out that the wind was quite strong and was in my face, I was wearing camo / dull colours.

Thinking I was pushing my luck I then knelt down and started edging closer and closer whilst taking shots and eventually abandoned the tripod and belly crawled and took handheld shots. At this point I was probably around 20 feet away (if that) and he was still taking no notice at all. Finally he actually ran right at me (when I took the portrait shot below) and realised around 10 feet away that I was there at which point he bolted back up the path.

As you'll see from the images he's a picture of health ( I say he, I have no idea of the sex) so was wondering if this is unusual?




Enjoyed the experience either way

TobyH

[Dogghound]

Interesting I find that you can walk right up to them without seeing them and they suddenly burst from the undergrowth about 5ft away scaring the life out of you. Ive known them to be approachable whilst in a car and they havent moved allowing me to stop the car very close. Never anything like what you describe though in the open. They have good hearing and smell and almost 360 degree vision so you would have thought it would have noticed you. Outstanding photo's too.

[Deb London]

Definitely one of my favourites - wonderful shots. I bet it was a great experience.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Wow thats excellent!

I had one walk past between 1 to 2m in front of the hide at Elmley Marshes a few weeks back but Im pretty sure it had no idea I was in there.

[pressld2]

Like Dogghound, I find they are much more approachable in a vehicle than they are on foot. So 10/10 for taking advantage of the situation and at least 20/10 for the quality of the images. They are spot on!

Dave P.

[Gill Catton]

I was doing a bat survey once and had one run directly towards me and it didn't seem to notice I was there until it was about 2m from me. It seemed to be quartering the field quite manically though and as it was a recent silage cut I feared that maybe it had lost babies and was therefore too distracted to notice me.

However, I have also had one run towards me in daylight (well it was more loping really) and again it was only about 10m from me before it noticed me.

I've also got reasonably close for a photograph by adopting the 'grandmother's footsteps' style of stalking. I can't help but feel that despite those huge eyes, they don't have the best eyesight if they don't see you move.

[Jonathan]

Although hares have all-round vision their forward vision is poor, so stand still if you see a hare running towards you and often it will come right up to your feet.

If you're spying across a field, how do you tell a clod of earth from a hare in it's form? If you walk towards it and it gets bigger it's a clod of earth, if it gets smaller it's a hare, flattening itself down as you approach. 'Clapped' rabbits do the same.

Cheers
Jonathan

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Although hares have all-round vision their forward vision is poor, so stand still if you see a hare running towards you and often it will come right up to your feet.

If you're spying across a field, how do you tell a clod of earth from a hare in it's form? If you walk towards it and it gets bigger it's a clod of earth, if it gets smaller it's a hare, flattening itself down as you approach. 'Clapped' rabbits do the same.

Cheers
Jonathan

Oooo, what does clapped rabbits mean? Is that a colloquial term for a rabbit trying to make itself smaller? I love finding out words like that.

[Stinky Bob]

Lovely shots Toby, the nearest I have got is the other end of bino's.

[Jim Ford]

Where I used to work there was an older character who used to tell us old local country tales. We loved to hear them, though we suspected some of them were not quite true. There was one tale involving his Dad and a hare.

'Dad' went into a local pub and the other locals told him there was a "big ole hare" in the field down the way, that was so crafty they they bet no-one was able to catch it. Dad replied "I'll get it"!

He took two sticks with him into the field and stuck one into the ground in the middle, while the hare watched him at a distance. He then hung his coat on the stick and went back out of the field the way he came. The hare watched the coat intently, while Dad went round and re-entered the field the other side. He then crept up to the hare, which was still watching the coat, and whacked it on the head with the other stick and won his bet!

Jim