How do hares ever sleep?

pgj2015

As they don't borrow underground, and just sleep in shrubs/ long grass at night, would they not e sitting ducks for foxes, minks etc?

pgj2015

pgj2015 wrote: »

As they don't borrow underground, and just sleep in shrubs/ long grass at night, would they not e sitting ducks for foxes, minks etc?

They make a kind of nest for sleeping I believe...not sure how that’d protect them from predators as you note but they are very quick

Danzy

Rest in a seat, a little space in high grass near the middle of a field.

A hare will turn at full speed in amazing ways.

pgj2015

They must sleep with one eye open or you would imagine they wouldn't have a chance with all the foxes and minks etc wandering around at night. I have one that I see eating grass on my lawns.

fryup

would a stoat go for one? i know they go for rabbits

Rows Grower

fryup wrote: »

would a stoat go for one? i know they go for rabbits

It would want to be one brave stoat, hares are very big compared to a stoat.

Boardnashea

Rabbits and hens are big compared to stoats but they still manage to wreck havoc in a hen run.

New Home

But a swift kick from a hen and a swift kick from a hare are a tad different...

Rows Grower

Boardnashea wrote: »

Rabbits and hens are big compared to stoats but they still manage to wreck havoc in a hen run.

Most people will have seen rabbits and hens but few will have seen a full grown hare and even fewer a stoat.

A full grown hare is a big creature and a full grown stoat is not, a hare would be at least twenty times the body weight and as alluded to already the power in a hare's leg is a remarkable.

I wouldn't like a slap off one myself and I'd be twenty times bigger than one.

New Home

Young leverets might be seen as prey, though.

Esel

Not an expert, but I would think their safety while sleeping is due to being well hidden and possibly giving off little or no scent - probably the same goes for leverets in hiding.

Rows Grower

Esel wrote: »

Not an expert, but I would think their safety while sleeping is due to being well hidden and possibly giving off little or no scent - probably the same goes for leverets in hiding.

I'm lucky enough to have seen Irish mountain hares many times and about a half dozen times I've seen them when I was still inside the house here although these were always younger ones.

I've often stumbled across "forms" where they sleep, you will easily recognise one if you come across it as it looks like a mini tornado occurred in the long grass or rushes but you nearly have to walk into it to notice it.

I often saw a dozen young hares feeding on grass in the one field that some farmer has nurtured for his cattle, they must be able to smell it from miles away.

They are a very interesting creature, I've seen pairs of them boxing in an open field in fights that went on for a couple of minutes and I've almost stepped on one a few times when I've been out walking early in the morning.

When a hare gets a fright and takes off from the resting place right in front of you all of a sudden, you'll get a handy fright yourself at their awesome power and speed. They'd blow a stoat 20 yards or more back the way he came with one lash of the hind leg.