Springwatch Viewers Shocked By 'Hardcore Hare Porn' Before The Watershed

***WARNING: CONTAINS STEAMY HARE BONKING FOOTAGE***

Springwatch viewers were left shocked by 'hardcore hare porn' before the watershed. Watch here (if you're OK with hare sex):

The popular British wildlife series returned to our screens last night (Tuesday 25 May) at 8pm - but many people were surprised that footage of hares getting down and dirty wasn't saved for a trashy late night spin-off. Springwatch: When Nature Gets Naaasty, or something like that.

Presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan explained the mating rituals of the species as people across the country observed the hares getting at it - like rabbits.

First off, they detailed how males and females often fight during the copulation process.

Michaela said: "You may think it's male on male fighting for the rights for the female, but it's not.

"It's actually the ladies, the jills, fighting off the males, the jacks. They fight them off if they're not ready to mate yet, if the male is being too eager.

"I think that's a pretty cool avoidance tactic myself - when you've got a male with his amorous ego, you just give him a bit of a right hook, bit of a body blow."

BBC

Chris added: "It's part of a mating ritual. She's testing their diligence, how long do they chase her for, how many days are they after her or maybe they test their strength when she's got them up and she's boxing them."

Kinky.

Indeed, many people seemed shocked that the horny hares were included in the show:

Many others commented on how 'beautiful' and 'wonderful' the hares were, with another admitting they have a 'hare obsession'. Hopefully these people were just referencing hares generally.

Commentating on the 'great bit of biological behaviour being demonstrated by one of Britain's most popular mammals', Chris explained: "The males mate with them, and we know that the females only ovulate once they've started copulating, and during the course of the year they'll give birth to several litters."

So there you go, educational and raunchy content for your licence fee.

You can catch up on the last episode of Springwatch on BBC iPlayer, and you can watch episode two at 8pm tonight (26 May) on BBC Two.

Topics: Viral, TV and Film, BBC, Funny, Animals, Nature

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey