Hare Today Gone Tomorrow

“This week I will be mostly eating…….well wood pigeon actually”, I’ve been helping a farmer friend out up near Morpeth with a pigeon problem on his newly sown winter cereals and this wild harvest is one of the tastiest free meals you can get, I think its like best fillet steak. But the whole exercise got me thinking about what's good and what’s bad about certain land use practices and what effects this has on our wildlife.

A serious agricultural pest (but very tasty) - the wood pigeon

My farmer friend is very good, his hedges are tall and bushy and not flailed to within an inch of their life like many are, he rarely cuts them leaving a varied canopy and they maintain a good crop of berries and other fruits. They have been supplemented with additional plantings to vary the species mix. He also leaves good margins around his arable fields, which have healthy vole populations that the resident barn owls enjoy and there is always some winter stubble for the small birds and most importantly through good stewardship his use of pesticides and fertilizers has been dramatically reduced so he has a very good bug population.

All of these factors were very apparent as I sat in my hide waiting for more pigeons to arrive. The small bird population was excellent and being swelled by recent autumn arrivals the day was a very pleasant experience. The final accolade for the day was on returning to my vehicle I was witness to a titanic struggle between two of natures finest athletes.

Passing the rape fields with Morpeth as the backdrop, ear splitting screams were emanating from the hedge, knowing what might be ensuing I crouched down to witness the spectacle. Stoat vs rabbit a time immemorial struggle but hang on thats no ordinary rabbit!! stoat vs hare, WOW now there’s a fight. There was only going to be one winner in this struggle, the hare I thought…….wrong!

The mightiest of hunters - the stoat

Despite the obvious weight and size differences, the stoat clung gamely to its task looking something like Lester Piggott astride a giant Percheron galloping over the plains. I didn’t for one second think it stood a chance as the bucking bronco show continued for nearly five minutes, all the time the little soldier hung gamely on. Then it was over, his mortal grip complete the hare sank into the rape with just a final kick of the leg.

Not quite fully grown but what a size difference, what an achievement, why go to the Serengeti when you have this on your doorstep.

The message was clear as I passed through the neighbouring farmland on my way home, here the hedges were skeletal, the fields were large and barren, save for sentinel trees with their obligatory crows aloft.

Such simple measures, sometimes so quick to install and execute can have such profound effects on our beleaguered wildlife. On our little farm, hares are common, so the loss of one to a predator is a perfect example of nature as it should be pure and unadulterated, ‘red in tooth and claw’. It is an example of how a little effort can go a long way, if only more land managers and government would follow suit and put a little more aside, oh and we dont carry out predator control we let them control themselves.

As for me I had an experience that will live me forever, one that I revisited over and over again as I tucked into my pigeon a la O’Hara, until next time keep watchin.