Mad July Hares

A pair of Brown Hares (Lepus europaeus) boxing in a stubble field in July. After an unsuccessful early morning photography session I headed to a local farmers field on the lookout for Hares. Despite using my car as a hide two hares ran off immediately but fortunately two others remained behind feeding on the remains of Barley and new green shoots which had sprung up amongst the sun-bleached stubble. Suddenly, without warning the Hares started to box and I was treated to a fantastic display of pugilism and gymnastics. I’d thought this mad behaviour was confined to the month of March. However, later I discovered that this happens throughout the mating season, between January and September, as the Doe fights off the unwelcome attention of Bucks. Using a fast shutter speed of 1/2000sec, and two stops of positive exposure compensation, I was able to capture this image which was the best of lot of near misses. A tricky subject to photograph but an incredibly enjoyable experience.