A dozen hares were spotted sitting tall against gold wheat stubble in North Yorkshire, following what a local farmer described as an 'unbelievable breeding season.' The observation came after the farmer, Richard, sent a message to a friend: 'Just seen a gorgeous hare and thought of you. They’ve had an unbelievable breeding season.'
Rich Wildlife Habitat
The fields in the area are small and rolling, featuring ponds, wet scrapes, woodlands, and huge hedges teeming with life. Wide margins and hard-to-cultivate corners are planted with wildflower mixes to support birds and pollinators. The landscape provides constant cover and food, buzzing with grasshoppers, crickets, hoverflies, bees, butterflies, beetles, and riddled with field vole tunnels, badger trails, and flattened patches where deer and hares have rested.
Encounter with Hares
Following a trail on all fours through a hedge into a field of bright gold wheat stubble, a roe deer broke cover, bounding away in its thin summer coat. Then the hares came into view—a dozen or so, dark against the gold. The deer had alerted them, and they sat tall, braced against the earth, watching.
Studying the nearest hare through binoculars, the observer noted its uncompromising appearance: a ripped physique and an all-seeing, dark-lined eye reminiscent of an Egyptian god—sovereign, unknowable, inalienable. The creature seemed like a hieroglyph resisting decoding, with many folk names failing to capture its essence.
Persecution and Resilience
Hares are among the most persecuted wild mammals in the UK. The 'sport' of hare coursing is reportedly booming under the influence of international organised crime. Yet these hares, unaware of the threat, moved at an unflustered lope rather than a run, knowing exactly where they were going in a landscape that offers them options.
