Mad As A March Hare

 

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Hares at Play
The birds are gone to bed, the cows are still,
And sheep lie panting on each old mole-hill;
And underneath the willow's gray-green bough,
Like toil a-resting, lies the fallow plough.
The timid hares throw daylight fears away
On the lane's road to dust and dance and play,
Then dabble in the grain by naught deterred
To lick the dew-fall from the barley's beard;
Then out they sturt again and round the hill
Like happy thoughts dance, squat, and loiter still,
Till milking maidens in the early morn
Jingle their yokes and sturt them in the corn;
Through well-known beaten paths each nimbling hare
Sturts quick as fear, and seeks its hidden lair.

by John Clare 

 All things that love the sun are out of doors;
The sky rejoices in the morning's birth;
The grass is bright with rain-drops;—on the moors
The hare is running races in her mirth;
And with her feet she from the plashy earth
Raises a mist, that, glittering in the sun,
Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run.

 from 'Resolution and Independence' by William Wordsworth

We may have disturbed a boxing match this afternoon. As we cycled past a long, wide field, near Pickering, over the hedge we saw two beautiful, nut brown hares. After giving us a cursory glance, they fled, at speed. 

I've been fortunate enough to see a hare almost every day this week while out and about around Normanby. They are very busy at this time of year as it's the breeding season. If you spot them boxing, the chances are that a reluctant female is fighting off a too-persistent male. Click here and here to find out more.

Much folklore is attached to hares. Click here to find out more and listen to folk music featuring the hare.   

There's a history of hares being linked to the moon, with 'moon-gazing' hares a symbol of fertility.  I was given a moon-gazing hare for my 50th birthday!

Hares feature in stories. As a child one of my favourites was 'Little Grey Rabbit's Birthday' by Alison Uttley in which Hare finds it hard to keep secret a surprise birthday party. 

Click here to read Aesop's fable about the hares and the frogs and here to read 'The Hare and the Tortoise.'

Read about a real-life treasure hunt for a golden hare in 'Masquerade' by Kit Williams. 

Writing prompts:

• Write about a time when, like the 'timid hare' in John Clare's poem, you were able to 'throw daylight fears away', then 'dance and play'?
• Have you ever found it hard to keep a secret? Write about what happened. 
• Write a poem about the most beautiful animal you have ever seen.