I thought I would lighten the mood this week, get away from all the gloom surrounding Corona Virus and have a taste of spring in the blog. Particularly as spring does seem to have arrived in the past few weeks with lovely long warm sunny days. So here is a picture of some boxing hares I took recently in Little Thurlow. For those who don’t know it Little Thurlow is a little Suffolk village about 5 miles north of Haverhill. It is a very attractive village with a number of thatched properties. The village is an estate village associated with the Soame family who lived in the local manor house. The village’s association with the family dates back to 1542, although the village is much older, with the parish church of St Peter’s dating back to the early 14^th Century.

I particularly liked this photo of boxing hares, which seems to be a rather common subject for thatched animals in this area. But why do hares actually box with each other? Why does this happen in the spring, giving rise to the expression ‘mad march hares’? Apparently, Hares do this because they are now in mating season, with the males (bucks) seeking out any females (does) that have come into season. The boxing usually occurs when a male is being too persistent with a female, chasing her across fields in an attempt to mate.