The European Brown Hare On The Move

Catalogue Number: PW007

The European Brown Hare changes its behaviour in spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around meadows, this appears to be competition between males to attain dominance (and hence more access to breeding females).

During this spring frenzy, hares can be seen "boxing"; one hare striking another with its paws. For a long time it had been thought that this was more inter-male competition, but closer observation has revealed that it is usually a female hitting a male; either to show that she is not yet quite ready to mate, or as a test of his determination.

Wildlife photography is very much a case of research and sit and wait, and that is what I had to do here. I was in a small hide that I had put up just outside Ballantrae in Western Scotland.

This chap showed in the distance and then started running towards me. I used my Nikon 80-400mm VR lens handheld, and managed to catch him before he ran out of range.

Nice to get a hare running towards you!