The Hare's Tale

An attentive audience of 60 enjoyed Sue  Alderman's  delightfully illustrated presentation of 'Hare's Tales'. You'll never mix up your hares and rabbits again! The brilliant pictures included unwilling females up on hind legs fending off overamorous males; a rare one of the eventual mating (which takes place in a milli-second); several of adorable leverets; and a mother, sitting up, alert for predators, and suckling her young. 

Sue has been a devotee of these beautiful creatures from the age of five and, along with three other enthusiasts, she eventually founded The Hare Preservation Trust, a very active campaigning group currently engaged with government to establish a closed season for hare shooting: we're the only country that doesn't provide this level of protection for these magnificent Lagomorphs (along with rabbits, the hare is not a rodent!) 

We are fortunate in East Anglia to have a good population of brown hares so they are a much-loved sight as they play, fight, and race around their preferred landscape of mixed arable fields, headlands, hedges and woodland, resting in their hollowed out forms, well camouflaged, to stay safe from predators. 

The most disturbing thing we learnt was about the barbarous and illegal practice of hare coursing, where a pair of dogs, usually greyhounds/lurchers, chase a hare across farmland and bets are laid on which dog will succeed in killing the terrified creature. Vast amounts of money are involved and, apart from the savage cruelty caused to hares,  criminal damage is inflicted on farmland. Theft and violence can also occur, intimidating farmers and rural communities. And yes, it still takes place in Norfolk!

From 1st June 2026 much stricter sentencing guidelines on hare coursing offences will become law.

If you missed this meeting you can read our past article here

Thank you for all your generous donations which support FNM's general work, and which enabled us to give a sizeable gift to the Hare Preservation Trust.

And thank you to our splendid refreshments team and to those supporters who provided delicious cake etc. 

Forncett hare enthusiast, Norman Stevens has provided us with some photos of an unusual part-albino hare that lives in and around his garden.

 

 

Special thanks to Norman Stevens for the beautiful photograph, and to Carol Sharp for our stylish posters.