Too many hares and… thumbs of roe deer.

The hunting season is almost over. The period of hunts for deer, fallow deer and pheasants is ending, and hunters in some regions of Poland have already hidden their weapons into safes to deal with something completely different and very, very important. The turn of January and February is the perfect time to take care for the reintroduction of hares.

According to the portal www.agropolska.pl „In the Lubelskie Voivodeship, the action of introducing hares to the natural environment was carried out. Last week, the local ecosystem was joined by another 280 hares. ” Whenever I read this type of news, a smile appears on my face. Not that I was a gloomy every day, but such news pleases me especially. This means that subsequent hunting clubs have taken action to rebuild the population of small game in their hunting ground. The described action takes place as part of the „Program for rebuilding the population of small game in the Lublin Province” whose aim is to counteract the decline in the population of small animals. The whole took off in 2009 and the end of the program is scheduled for 2020 Scroll down to the next part.

According to the information provided in the article, in the 2018/2019 season, 280 hares were reintroduced, which went to seven adaptive aviaries. Since 2009, as many as 2,200 hares have arrived in the Lubelskie Voivodeship! The fact that I had the sense to settle the hares and care for their population, became convinced myself when in December I had the pleasure to participate in the first driven hunt for decades in 9 years.

Of course, in order for us to hunt, we must first take care not only of resettlement, but also for the area, feed base, and effectively reduce the population of fox, which has lost the natural enemy in the form of rabies. You need a special plan, work schedule and, above all, time, a lot of time. It is not about letting the hare in one season and the next time you go with a shotgun to hunt. We all know it’s stupid. You must prepare for this. Here’s how to do it in a nutshell?

The predator’s reduction is a key, because fox is one of the most important factors affecting the mortality of the hares that are being resettled. It is important to carry out the reduction not only after reintroduction but also throughout the year and subsequent years. An adequate place rich in shielding plants and a good feeding base is also necessary for successful resettlement. The adaptive homestead itself, which should be located near the target place of resettlement, is extremely important. Hares should stay in a closed enclosure for the first week, and after a period of a week such a pen should be opened allowing the hares to move freely from and to the enclosure. At the initial stage, it is necessary to monitor it specifically in terms of food availability as well as potential threats from the predator. The authors of the resettlement programs devote a lot of attention to the adaptation farms themselves, because omitting their construction may result in the failure of the program. It is also recommended to put up boxes with food at the premises, which was delivered to the hares in the farm.

It is also important to monitor the area of ​​the homestead and its neighborhood both before and after its opening. To threaten the safety of a hare can not only a predator, but also a man, and as we know poaching in many fisheries is a big problem. Scroll down to the next part.

The above description are only key issues, and anyone who would like to explore the subject, I encourage you to read materials about such programs. The whole is very well described both in the materials of the Lublin province and, for example, in the program of rebuilding the population of small game in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. Documents  is easy to found on the web. They concern not only the hare, but also partridges, pheasants, inventory methods of small game and the same issues concerning the broadly understood breeding.

If the quoted numbers do not make any impression on anyone, I would like to mention that according to the article, the Proszowicki County Council appealed to the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture for legal solutions aimed at paying compensation for damage caused by reintroduced hares, because the current regulations do not allow it . It turns out that hares in this area are able to eat up to 40 percent of crops, and also come under the houses and do huge damage to vegetable gardens.

I do not know the plans of the hunting clubs which in these regions lead the resettlement, but I know that thanks to the use of rational hunting economy, the hares population in their areas will not be too little or too much. Finally, I would like to remind everyone of Abelarda Gizy’s standup, in which he asked if anyone saw too many hares. I think that it is worth asking for a meeting with farmers from Prochowice. I’m just afraid that during such a visit, he can tell to roe that it’s enough to grow thumbs to master the world.

Happy hunting!