Elmley Hares - what's wrong with them?

[Deb London]

Just a quick question. At around 4 o'clock Sunday it was just turning dark when we drove to the car park at Elmley Marshes RSPB reserve in Kent. We'd popped in to use the facilities, have a quick walk and spot an owl if we could.

Has anyone any experience of the Hares on the approach road? We don't get Hare's where I live. But I'm not unfamiliar with the creatures. I have NEVER seen Hare's so close up before. They just seemed to be sitting about the place. And so many. I wondered if they were sick or something. Is this normal? Is it because we were in a car? Even if we were in a car, shouldn't they have been petrified, with all the raptors that were around?

[Farplace]

Does sound a bit odd, but hares (and other mammals) don't tend to react the same to cars as they do to humans on foot. I have often used my car as a temporary hide when watching wildlife. What was the weather like? and roughly how many hares? Did you also see rabbits and other mammals? Were they on the road, or on the verge? (if it has been sunny, the tarmac often stays warm longer than grass does, attracting bunnies etc to the road surface.)
Did the hares LOOK healthy?

[Adam Cheeseman]

Sounds pretty much like normal Hare behaviour. Cars make great hides to watch wildlife from, cos they don't recognise them as having humans inside. Hares can be quite approachable anyhow and quite often sit around out in the open. Hares don't go underground so will just lay up somewhere safe. Dusk is often a time for increased activity too as the decreased light levels make them and other species harder to see. Around Kent and Norfolk particularly you can see them quite frequently. The only raptors likely to have a go at a hare at Elmley would be Buzzards. Too big a prey item for a Harrier unless it's a poorly bunny.

Cheers,

Adam

[pressld2]

Yep, definitely quite normal behaviour for hares, particularly at Elmley which is the best place I know for photographing them. (At least, the best place that is open to the public.)

This was taken at the opposite end of the day back in April...



The camera recorded a subject distance of 6.3 metres but this is notoriously unreliable info. I had to zoom out to 250mm to fit him into the frame and he did approach too close for me to focus on at times.

Dave P.

[htcdude]

Originally Posted by Deb London

Just a quick question. At around 4 o'clock Sunday it was just turning dark when we drove to the car park at Elmley Marshes RSPB reserve in Kent. We'd popped in to use the facilities, have a quick walk and spot an owl if we could.

Has anyone any experience of the Hares on the approach road? We don't get Hare's where I live. But I'm not unfamiliar with the creatures. I have NEVER seen Hare's so close up before. They just seemed to be sitting about the place. And so many. I wondered if they were sick or something. Is this normal? Is it because we were in a car? Even if we were in a car, shouldn't they have been petrified, with all the raptors that were around?

I've only ever been to Elmley once, and I've only ever seen Hares once. And had exactly the same experience as you. It was pitch black when we left the reserve and driving back the Hares would just sit there unafraid of the car and it's beaming lights. Was great to see (although would've been nice to see during daytime too ) and to see them so close.

Nige

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by Farplace

Does sound a bit odd, but hares (and other mammals) don't tend to react the same to cars as they do to humans on foot. I have often used my car as a temporary hide when watching wildlife. What was the weather like? and roughly how many hares? Did you also see rabbits and other mammals? Were they on the road, or on the verge? (if it has been sunny, the tarmac often stays warm longer than grass does, attracting bunnies etc to the road surface.)
Did the hares LOOK healthy?

To be honest Jan I didn't count them, but more than 5, although in different places.

The weather had been lovely, so maybe the tarmac was warmer. They were just next to the road. Once we went and the tarmac was covered with what seemed to be thousands of Swallows. A magic road or what?

I didn't notice other mammals there, but did see/hear three other rodents (probably, one might have been a weasel) that day, which is quite unusual for me.

They looked healthy, but so docile. At one point I wondered if they had been released from captivity.

I had my window down. The one I was looking at knew I was looking back as it was eye-to-eye contact for quite some time. If I'd produced a shotgun I'm not at all sure it would have moved.

I was worried they might have been sick. But since this has been going on for a while it seems, then I am reassured. Slightly strange, glad others have seen the same thing. Fantastic shot Dave. If anyone is interested in these animals, you could do worse than a visit to this reserve.