Why "The Kingdom of the Hare"

One evening in our first summer at the house, a family of hares loped into the garden and settled down outside the kitchen window. They were so much at ease that they seemed to be the true owners of the land. Even when we eventually gave away our presence, there was no panic, and they unhurriedly resumed their patrol down the field to wherever they had made their form.

We believe their territory must be wide. We can go weeks without seeing any, then suddenly they reappear, singly or in groups. Certainly, there is plenty of room for them, either in the fields up to the house and down towards the stream at the floor of the Glen, or up through the bracken and gorse to the ridges at the top of the glen and over into the next territory.

A remarkable sight in the winter months is when the local farmers assemble to release their beagles in a pack to hunt hares. We have been out walking in a remote spot when we have heard an approaching cacophony of excited barking, then suddenly been swarmed by a mob of thirty or more lean, glossy beagles. At times they briefly swirl around in confusion, before one claims to pick up the trail, and the rest surge afterwards. As they disappear in a suede-coloured cloud over the top of the ridge, you might notice the farmers forming a convoy of 4x4s on the road, trying to anticipate where they might turn up next.

Despite the energy and athleticism of the beagles, their success rate at catching their quarry is about the same as Wile E. Coyote's was with Roadrunner. The farmers are not interested in eliminating the hares, their presence is an excuse for a social gathering in the quiet winter months. Once the sheep are back in the fields in March, the beagles go back into kennels.

While there is little to be done about the threat to hares from the air, the farmers' concern for their flocks leads them to persecute other predators - foxes, rats and, at one stage, escaped mink. A more recent threat has also been confronted by the farmers: trappers who travel to remote areas to capture live hares to use in hare coursing or greyhound training. We have heard of outsiders being ambushed and forced to release their captives, with dire threats of the consequences of a return visit. Leave our King alone!