 |
|
Netting Hares
April 27, 1970 -- "We set
the net in the snow gully... Herded them down towards
it, they ran into and over net as we allowed them
time to hesitate and see the net... Re-set net
again herded them back again. This time Phil and
I had to really run to cut them off and chase around
a bit. Then we had them going straight into the
net. Both caught and Phil dove on one but by the
time I got to the other, he had gone. I made a
flying tackle but missed. I latched onto the front
end of Phil's just as it was going and we held
[and marked it]". April 27, 1970; -16°C (3°F).
|
|
 |
|
Predictable Behaviour
"A hare has the peculiarity
that if it meets a line stretched across its
path so that it blocks the way, it will never
jump over it, but always try to get under. The
Eskimos take advantage of this and suspend nooses
from an outstretched line, so close together
that there is no interval between them. When
the hare puts its head into the noose it tightens
and holds it. In recent times, when they have
steel traps, they may be set in the runs. The
hare will not leave the beaten track and will
step into the trap without the slightest fear".
-Freuchen 1935
|
|
 |
|
|
Archaeology
Digging
Up Stories | Viking Hare
Yarn | Catching Hares
Catching Arctic Hares
Archaeological sites wherein stones and boulders have been
placed to form drives for catching Arctic hares (Lepus
arcticus)
have been found on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, and in Greenland.
 |
 This tapestry, "Two Traps", brings to life the ancient technology of the traditional hare snare, which is called niggaq in Inuktitut. The artist is Atungauyak Eeseemailee and the weaver is Olassie Akulukjuk. Both are from Pangnirtung, Nunavut.
|
Archaeologists have found many hare-snare arrangements in
the broad grassy valleys at the eastern end of Sverdrup Pass
on Ellesmere Island. They were constructed by the Thule people
about 800 years ago. Large numbers of hare bones found in
the Thule house-foundations suggest that the snare systems
were effective.
The stories of this ancient technology remain alive with
Elders in Greenland and Canada, so we know how it was used.
The people strung lines between the tops of the taller rocks
and suspended nooses or snares from the lines. The hares
would jump over the smaller rocks lined up between the large
rocks and be caught in the snares.
Near the site of David
Gray's research camp in Sverdrup Pass are two hare drive
sites. The one on the top of Snare Hill is the most extensive
one yet found. The other lies along the edge of a hill above
Balanced Rock Canyon. The sites consist of curved lines of
large rocks about 3 m apart, with a line of small stones on
the ground between the rocks.
When trying to capture Arctic hares for marking and tagging
during his research studies, David Gray used similar technology,
driving a group of hares towards nets and live-traps instead
of snares.
|
