I read that hares are suckled for only a few weeks, but I saw a half-grown leveret suckle its mother. How long does the mother suckle the young?
Tom Flanagan
Hares suckle their young for up to five weeks, by which time the leveret is a third the weight of an adult hare, and seven or eight times the weight at birth.
I’ve watched a tiny meadow pipit fledge a cuckoo. What’s in it for the meadow pipit, having lost its own chicks and nearly collapsed with exhaustion?
Kealin Ireland
Kilnagross, Co Leitrim
Birds are hard-wired to feed hungry chicks in response to their begging call. The cuckoo’s is as loud as several chicks’; the pipits respond accordingly. They are responding to instinct and get nothing for it. They reject a cuckoo’s egg if they spot a cuckoo near the nest. It would repay them to keep a closer watch on their nest.
Glen Webb of Rathfarnham sent a photograph of a rosy footman moth from Kilkenny. There have been only three or four sightings in this country. Frank Smyth of Co Donegal sent a photograph of the beautiful morning glory plume moth, Emmelina monodactyla.
Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address
