Mad as a March Hare

LewesWildlife
, 22 March 2023
Mad as a March Hare
Hare © Daryl Peters

By Michael Blencowe

While the fields are still bare, March is the best time to observe Hares. On paper a Hare could easily be dismissed as a big rabbit but they’re different beasts altogether; it’s all in the way they move. A hare possesses powerful hind legs; a pair of pistons that can send them rocketing towards the horizon at over 40mph.

Hares are mostly nocturnal. They don’t burrow underground like rabbits but instead spend their days hidden in a shallow scrape (a form). Young Hares (leverets) are born in separate forms and attentive mother hares return to secretly suckle them undercover of dusk.

In spring amorous male Hares approach females in the hope of finding a mate but chatting up a Hare is a risky business. Potential sexual partners can suddenly transform into sparring partners when uninterested female hares rise up and strike a blow for equality by punching the males in the face. The frenzied ‘boxing matches’ that ensue are such a striking spectacle that they have given us the phrase ‘as mad as a March Hare’.

Yet who are we to be questioning the Hare’s mental stability? Us level-headed humans used to believe that sprinting Hares can start fires; eating Hare brains made you sleep better and witches could transform into hares and only be killed with silver bullets. Hares have been closely associated with Pagan springtime fertility rituals and the goddess Eostre and they still play a role in our Easter celebrations (albeit watered down, chocolate covered and transformed into the Easter Bunny). Their prominence in the English countryside has also diminished. Numbers have declined due to changes in farming practices, especially the removal of hedgerows. It’s been a long, cold winter. As spring returns the Sussex countryside will be exploding in a crazy celebration of life. 

Get out there, find yourself a Hare and experience the madness.

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Comments

  • Jan McKinnell:

    Michael, I just love reading anything you write about wildlife. It’s always full of interesting information, brilliantly composed and extremely entertaining. Thank you so much. Jan

    30 Mar 2023 19:04:00

  • Dawson Jacqueline:

    I use to watch Hares very Spring in a 10 acre field in Firle, East Sussex.
    They were So amusing to watch!
    And years ago I watch Hares actually boxing!
    They are one of my favourite creatures!

    31 Mar 2023 06:15:00

  • Jane Coward:

    Thank you for this interesting article and for the two lovely pictures of hares, so enjoyed.

    31 Mar 2023 07:30:00

  • Jenny Davies:

    I completely agree with Jan McKinnell’s comments. I always look forward to reading your articles and also the ones that are printed in our Parish Mag. Thankyou Michael for informing me and putting a smile on my face!

    31 Mar 2023 13:34:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    Thank you!

  • Paul Parsons:

    Is there a best time of day to observe and photograph Hares?

    02 Apr 2023 14:39:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    The best time to see hares is at dawn and dusk. 

  • Jenny Davies:

    I completely agree with Jan McKinnell’s comments. I always look forward to reading your articles and also the ones that are printed in our Parish Mag. Thankyou Michael for informing me and putting a smile on my face!

    05 Apr 2023 18:21:00

  • Neil Thrower:

    Just seen a Brown Hare in our fields at Lodsworth nr Petworth, first sighting

    01 Jul 2026 06:43:00

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