Happy Easter Everyone

[Stephen Blair]

hares are solitery compared to rabbits i think and sleep out in the open, this will limily their chances if disease i think

[skyhuck]

hares are solitery compared to rabbits i think and sleep out in the open, this will limily their chances if disease i think

 

Its passed by bitting insects mate, so if hare were susceptible I think they would have wiped them out years ago when numbers were low.

 

I think rabbits only survive because of their ability to reproduce so fast.

[Mick Stockbridge]

Rabbits survive because the are slowly becoming immune to myxomatosis.

It's even been known for an infected rabbit to make a full recovery and thereby go on to breed and pass on the immunity.

 

It,s supposedly okay to eat rabbits with myxi but the ones I've killed and left have never been touched by foxes, magpies and the like.

[Yve_Clark]

Correct Skyhuck. Upon googling, I can't find any details of confirmed cases of myxie in hares in their natural environment. Closest thing I found was this...

 

'Myxomatosis is very rare in hares. Only a few mountain hares develop clinical signs after experimental infection, but myxomatosis after natural infection has been reported'....

 

but it doesn't give any info of the cases reported.

 

And the Hare Preservation Trust says this.....

 

HARE PRESERVATION TRUST

News Bulletin 69

31 July 2009

Hares and myxomatosis

Some authorities say they never catch it, while others say they do, but only very rarely.

Myxomatosis is spread mainly by fleas in rabbit burrows, so possibly living above ground helps

hares avoid the disease. Also, although hares congregate into groups, especially when feeding,

they are much less social than rabbits. Hares do catch a disease known as European Brown Hare

Syndrome (EBHS) which is closely related to a rabbit disease known as Rabbit Haemorrhagic

Disease (RHD) - both being caused by viruses known as calciviruses.

 

So, I think that the wee hare is quite safe from myxie.

 

(Goodness, didn't think my photo would produce such an interesting discussion )

[armchairarborist]

We were climbing Queensberry and didn't see any sign of the 4x4's in Ae...where were you guys today?

 

club event on my dads farm at dalbeattie, Ae4x4club,

oh and managed some small felling in the quarry with crane extraction:thumbup: