A hare's breadth

The Hare by JiIl Mason
Merlin Unwin Books 184pp, £20
ISBN 1873674813 (hb)

This book claims to be "the first major book on the hare for over 30 years”, and is a photographic tour-­de-force. The author's husband, David Mason, is a gamekeeper turned photographer, and he knows how to get close to his subjects.  But this is an unfortunately timed book.  With the text also written by an ex-gamekeeper and with much of the book given over to aspects of legislation, hunting, cooking and otherwise destroying hares, it is already out of date following the recent ban on hunting hares with dogs.  This seems to be the author's particular expertise, and her shortcomings are revealed when she approaches the more scientific aspects of hares.  She is far from up to date on hare taxonomy, confusing subspecies with species, and ignoring recent literature such as that concerning the Italian hare.

There are interesting chapters on mythology, legends and folklore, but the coverage of hare biology is patchy.  Like the author, by hand-rearing hares I have come to appreciate what distinctive animals they are.  Anyone who thinks hares are like rabbits has never known a hare personally.  But this is a book that should be bought for the photography alone. By combining images of wild hare behaviour - from mating to being predated -with a record of hand-­reared leverets, a thorough pictorial reference has been produced. With hares so popular with wildlife artists, it will provide a source of inspiration and reference. It will also be a delight for general readers, provided they don't mind a few pictures of the death and destruction of hares.

John A Burton Hare expert

BBC Wildlife Magazine, May 2005         Reproduced by kind permission of BBC Wildlife Magazine