Home / / Aktioun Hues: Early mowing of the meadows is fateful for the young hares and other animals as well

Aktioun Hues: Early mowing of the meadows is fateful for the young hares and other animals as well

‘Bunny in the pit sat and slept, sat and slept’… . Unfortunately, even when the mower was so close to him that it was too late to escape.

Such a fate can befall young hares when they sit in their grassy hollow after birth and wait for their mother to return: in case of danger, they crouch very close to the ground and remain motionless; they are not fast enough to flee. This is why the early mowing dates on agricultural land in May can be their undoing – as can tillage by rolling or dragging beforehand. The fawns, which are also currently lying in the meadows, are in a similar situation to the young hares. There are relatively easy-to-apply measures for both animals:

Systematically walk the area before mowing to be able to relocate the animals. More and more areas are now being inspected using drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras.
Always start mowing from the inside and then work your way outwards so that all animals can escape and are not ‘encircled’ in the centre.

Quellenangabe: „https://www.praxis-agrar.de/pflanze/pflanzenbau/tierschonende-mahd“

Postpone the first mowing date, e.g. from 15 June at the earliest. By then the animals are older, can walk better and are already moving around more. This also encourages ground-nesting birds, many insects and, last but not least, typical meadow herbs.
Such measures are already being remunerated by so-called ‘biodiversity programmes’ – agricultural support programmes in which farmers can participate voluntarily.

Whenever mowing is carried out – this can also be done on a small scale in private gardens – some of the vegetation should always be left standing to protect biodiversity. This higher-growing area then serves as a refuge for everything that creeps and flies: butterfly caterpillars can develop undisturbed, the meadow daisy can ripen and drop its seeds and much more. In these unmown areas in the open landscape, the master lamp finds more food and cover.

Over 120 reports have now been entered on iNaturalist under ‘Aktioun Hues’. We have illustrated three particularly beautiful sightings here.

iNaturalistkw17

F Birlenbach

iNaturalist josee8495

Translated by deepl.com – free version

16.05.24