December 2019 BBC Wildlife 93
OURWILD WORLD
JohnLewis-Stempel
MEET THE AUTHOR
Thefarmerandwritertellsuswhyhe
couldn’t resist focussing on hares.
What’syourmostmemorable
encounterwithahare?
I’veseenhares‘box’inmoonlight,I’ve
helda hareinmyarms,butmystandout
meetingwitha harehappenedwhenI was
seven,andlivedina housecutintothe
hillside.Onemorning,whilewashingmy
face,I lookedoutofthebathroomwindow
- andthere,directlyoutside,was a hare
lookingin,washingitsface.
Whydidyouchoosethehareforyour
thirdspeciesinthisillustratedseries?
Thehareis oneofthedefining,immemorial
Britishanimals.It evokesourcountryside
asperhapsonlytheoakcan.If wehave
hares,westillhaveourBritishnature.
So,thehareis anenvironmentallyand
culturallyimportantspecies.Also,isn’tthe
harejustplainwonderful?It fascinatesus
becauseit is ourfastestlandanimal,it
intriguesuswithitsmadMarchcourtship,
it beguilesusbecauseitsoffspringare
postercute...whatis nottolove?
Whatmakesharessomysterious and
guresofmythsandlegends?
Haresarenocturnal(primarily),andthey
aresecretive,andtheyaresorrowfully
solitary.Intheabsenceofknowledge,
speculationaboutthehareabounded,
helped by the fact that hares are, frankly,
asbizarreastheyarebeautiful.Theyhave
thecurious,almosthumanhabitof
‘boxing’inearlyspring,whiletheirbody
partsseemborrowedfromotheranimals:
donkey’sears,lion’seyes,lurcher’slegs.
Overthemillennia,theharehasbeen
consideredshape-shifter,fabricatedonthe
moon(accordingtotheChinese),a witch’s
consort,andmore.Eventoday,when
formercountrysideanimals,suchasthe
fox,havetakenuptown-dwelling,thehare
remainsdeterminedlyruralanda rare
sightformostpeople.It retainsitsmagic.
Whatdoyouthinkshouldbedoneto
helpthedecliningpopulationsofthe
threeharespeciesintheBritishIsles?
Well,themajorcauseforthedeclineofthe
brownhare,ourcommonesthare,is
changedownonthefarm– notablythe
switchtoautumncerealplantingand
to‘silage’grassfodderinsteadofold-
fashionedhay.Theresult?Thehare
suffersfamineanddisturbanceduringthe
breedingtime.Thefixisn’trocketscience:
it is providingundisturbedcoverandgood
grazing.Also,thebrownhareneedsa
‘close’seasonwhenit is notshot.Finally,
andlet’snotshirkthis,weneedtoconsider
protectingallourspeciesofharefromthe
modernproliferationofmammalian
predators. Especially ‘mr fox’.MS
Hareshaveoften
inspiredfolklore
tales and myths.
Throughthe
AnimalKingdom
LifeCyclesof
British&Irish
Butter ies
Thisenticingbook
relates 13 remarkable
animalstories,such
asanAmurleopard
stalkingpreythrough
snowySiberiaandtheperilous
migrationofwildebeestacross
parchedAfricangrasslands.Harvey
deftlyavoidstheriskoftriteness
inherentinsuchanunabashed
‘greatesthits’ofthenaturalworld.
Hisunderstatedtextprovidesan
easyread,packedwithinsight.
ButPepper’sartwork– delightful
collagesblendingphotographs
withsassyillustrations– makes
thebooktrulyspecial.
James LowenNature writer
Forthefirsttimein
nearly 100 years,allthe
stagesofthelife-cycles
ofalltheBritishand
Irishbutterflyspecies
appearinonevolume.Following
thesuccessoftheUKButterflies
website,Eeleshaswrittena
comprehensiveaccountofeach
species,includingverydetailed
descriptionsandhigh-quality
photosofthedifferentstepsfor
eachspecies’life-cycle,withat
leastonephotoperlarvalinstar.
Thiswillbea popularhandbook
forbothseasonedandamateur
naturalists alike.MS
YOUNGER READERS
BOOK
BY DEREK HARVEY & CHARLOTTE PEPPER, DK, £9.99
BY PETER EELES, NATUREBUREAU, £35
Hares: Andrew Parkinson/naturepl.com/Getty
ThePrivateLife
oftheHare
Doubleday,
£9.99
A baldeagle
soarsabovethe
Rocky Mountains.