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| European Hare
Lower Risk
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European hare running photo by Malene Thyssen | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 |
It is a mammal of temperate open country, unrelated to the superficially similar rabbit. It breeds on the ground, rather than in a burrow, and relies on speed to escape. With its long legs, it is a byword for sprinting.
It is larger, longer-eared and longer-legged than a rabbit, and is strictly herbivorous. They eat grasses and herbs during the summer months but change to feeding on twigs, bark, and the buds of young trees in winter, making them a pest in orchards.
Normally a shy animal, it changes its behaviour in spring, when hares can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around meadows; this appears to be competition between males to attain dominance (and hence more access to breeding females).
During this spring frenzy, hares can be seen "boxing"; one hare striking another with its paws. For a long time it had been thought that this was more inter-male competition, but closer observation has revealed that it is usually a female hitting a male; either to show that she is not yet quite ready to mate, or as a test of his determination.
It is declining in Europe due to changes in farming practices. Its natural predators include the Golden Eagle and carnivorous mammals like the Red FoxThis article is about the animal called the Red Fox. Information on the comedian John Elroy Sanford can be found at Redd Foxx. The Red Fox Vulpes vulpes , the most familiar of the foxes, has the widest range of any terrestrial carnivore. The largest speci and WolfThe Wolf or Grey Wolf Canis lupus is a mammal of the Canidae family and the ancestor of the domestic dog. Wolves once had an almost worldwide distribution, but are now limited primarily to North America, Eurasia, and the Middle East. Their preference on h.
In pre-christian Britain the hare was associated with the spring goddess EostreEostre is generally said to be an Anglo-Saxon goddess, but her existence in any real pre-Christian Germanic mythology is disputed. She is associated with various aspects related to the renewal of life: spring, fertility and the hare (for its quick and num, and a connection lives on in the Easter BunnyThe Easter Bunny is a symbolic rabbit or hare, usually in depictions, used in the celebrations of Easter especially in Western European cultures. Alledged pre-Christian origin The word "Easter" is sometimes said to have originated from the name of a pre- celebrations.
This species has become introduced and is now feralA feral animal or plant is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. Wyoming Mustang (feral)courtesy of U. BLMWild Horse and Burro Program Applicability Animals A feral animal is one that has reverted from in Eastern North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea, where it is sometimes known as the 'Eastern Jackrabbit'. It was imported from GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east by a farmer living near Cambridge, OntarioWaterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario with Cambridge in red Cambridge (2003 population 117,963) is located on the Grand River in Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada. The city was formed in 1973 when the city of Galt merged with the towns of, Canada in 1912.
It escaped from the farm, successfully colonized fields and woodland edges, and quickly made the "Jackrabbit" a common sight in southern Ontario, New York State and New England. Natural predators such as eagles, owls, foxes, coyotes, and bobcats, together with humans and dogs, have kept the American population under control.
" Jackrabbit" in American usage (attested in 1882) more specifically refers to the closely related Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) and the White-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii). The name is supposed to be a shortening of "jackass-rabbit", so called for its long ears.
For hares in general, see Hare.
Leporids