SPRING is well and truly sprung this month, at least in theory. Longer days and warmer evenings allow us more time to get out and about and enjoy the sights and sounds of the countryside.

Hares are almost synonymous with March, so what will these beasties be up to? Well, they’ll be mad, obviously.

The displays of leaping, chasing and ‘boxing’ that we see going on are linked to mating. It was assumed that these bouts were two males fighting over a female, but it’s now accepted that most fights are actually the female trying to avoid the unwanted attentions of a male.

It may be that the whole display is actually a test of the male’s suitability for mating. It’s thought that any male who can go a few rounds with his intended and still have the energy to chase her around a field must be Mr Right.

The hares we see in the fields around East Lothian are usually brown hares. These are not a native species and were probably introduced in Roman times, or possibly even earlier than that. They look a bit like large rabbits, but they have noticeably longer ears and legs.

Brown hares are largely nocturnal and spend much of the day lying up in a shallow depression called a form (unlike rabbits, they don’t dig burrows). This should make them a bit vulnerable to predators but they counter this with their tremendous speed and agility. As the fastest UK land mammal (reaching speeds of up to 45mph), they can pretty much outrun anything that might want to eat them.

There is another hare found in the county, but you’ll need to head for the hills to see it. This is the mountain hare, which is native to Scotland but largely restricted to upland areas.

Strictly speaking, the mountain hare is only native to the Highlands, so our local ones are the result of introduction programmes.

Mountain hares are smaller than brown hares and their appearance can change throughout the year. Depending on the season, they can appear in assorted mottled shades of grey/brown through to almost pure white, providing camouflage against snowy ground.

Springtime can be when the mountain hare is most visible, as the coat can remain white after the snow has melted. The summer colouration has a distinctly blueish tinge, leading to the alternative name of the blue hare.

Both species belong to the genus Lepus, which, together with rabbits, makes up the family Leporidae. There are over 60 species of Leporidae worldwide and (fun fact) most are coprophagous – they eat their own poop.

This delightful habit stems from the fact that the first pass through the digestive system doesn’t remove all the nutrients in the food. So the animal first produces soft green pellets which it eats again – the second digestion extracting more goodness and leading to the hard dark pellets that are commonplace anywhere hares and rabbits are found. Charming!