Hare
Normally a shy animal, the European brown hare morphs into the ‘Mad March Hare’ come spring time.
With the arrival of spring, hares can be spotted chasing one another around grassland and even boxing.
For a long while it was assumed that these boxing hares were male, but closer observation has shown that it is usually a female hitting a male – possibly as a re-buff to mating, or maybe to test his determination and strength.
A significant difference between hares and rabbits is that hares do not have their young below ground. Instead they choose a flattened nest of grass – and their babies are born covered in fur with their eyes open, ready to defend themselves soon after birth. Hares are also larger than rabbits.
Facts
Appearance: A larger version of a rabbit, hares have black-tipped ears which are equal in length to the head.
Size: 48-70cm
Weight: 3-5kg
Lifespan: 10 years
Diet: Mainly herbs in the summer and grasses in the winter
Family: Leporidae
Did you know?
- Brown hares are the fastest land animals in the UK
- A group of hares is known as a ‘drove’
- The brown hare is becomingly increasingly rare in the UK
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