BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

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

Butteries

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.