Dead hares

[Heym SR20]

This is what happens in nature when a population gets too high, and nature takes over. Should really happen in Mankind as well. It did to some extent with COVID, abd Spanish Flu. It’s definitely happening through our own stupidity and greed.

May be worth notifying the vetinary authorities in case something more sinister is going on.

 

[Buchan]

@Buchan any known hare disease?

All hare disease have a very precise duration of 24 hours.

 

[Buchan]

The local sheep boys round here or the ones with large hare populations on their farms anyway , always link a rise in Liver fluke in their flocks to the rise in hare numbers. Hares are an important vector for fluke. Open up a few bodies and check for fluke in the liver.

Hare and rabbit can be a definitive host for fluke, but they are not a significant source compared to sheep, cattle or deer.

A bit of precision/pedantry - it's not a vector - a vector spreads disease without being affected by it. (It's like calling cartridges bullets...)

 

[Drum123]

Hare and rabbit can be a definitive host for fluke, but they are not a significant source compared to sheep, cattle or deer.

A bit of precision/pedantry - it's not a vector - a vector spreads disease without being affected by it. (It's like calling cartridges bullets...)

Would the significance not depend on the numbers of hares / rabbits ?
I really have no evidence that rabbits or hares spread fluke to livestock sufficiently to impact the economic success of the farm , other than the belief of said farmers. We are talking rabbits and to a lesser extent hares , in huge numbers.

 

[Apthorpe]

I've had similar experiences four or five years ago. The population recovered since then. There was a lady who was collecting the carcasses for research, she arranged collection from the local vet....I can't remember her details offhand, but it wasn't anything particularly alarming in the long term.

I'll add her details if I find them later. Otherwise any proper rural vet would probably have her details

 

[Buchan]

Would the significance not depend on the numbers of hares / rabbits ?
I really have no evidence that rabbits or hares spread fluke to livestock sufficiently to impact the economic success of the farm , other than the belief of said farmers. We are talking rabbits and to a lesser extent hares , in huge numbers.

Yes, pretty well all parasite problems are a numbers game. Adult fluke shed up to 50k eggs a day, sucking 0.5ml blood to do it, so they will only have small numbers.

 

[Mungo]

Were there any oil seed rape fields or game crops nearby? J

I don’t think so. All hill sheep farm.

 

[Apthorpe]

I don’t think so. All hill sheep farm.

Any gates nearby?

I've found them several times dead near gates and witnessed the cause. They can't see dead ahead. If they are chased by e.g. a fox, they can run full tilt at a gateway and brain themselves on the bottom bar of a five bar gate.