Changes in farm practice hitting hares, claims research

Research from Queen's University, Belfast, suggests the decline in the hare population is almost certainly associated with changes in farming practice.

It says hares require a patchwork of grassland for feeding and tall, uneven vegetation, such as rushes, for hiding and sleeping.

Research leader Neil Reid said: "Hares may mistake the tall grass of silage fields as a good spot for lying-up and giving birth. Silage is harvested when leverets are born and the machinery may trap and kill young hares."

CW 17/7/10