The mad hares of March are the males, which
bound, kick and stand on their back legs to box with each other in a ritual
that impresses the females before mating. At such
times they seem oblivious to danger and can easily be approached.
does can be just over 2 feet long and slightly larger than the males.
Appearance: The brown
hare is tawny coloured with the upper parts a mixture of brown and grey
hairs and the flanks and underside paler. The ears have black tips.
hares feed mainly on herbs in the summer, and predominantly grasses in the
winter. They also feed on cereal and root crops, and in bad seasons, it
has been suggested that they may eat animal corpses.
The feamle hare has 3 - 4 litters per year each containing 2 - 4 leverets(young
hares). The young are born above ground with a full coat of fur.
Aproximately 42 days..
Hares are distinguished from
their relatives the rabbits by their larger size, longer ears and longer
hind legs. Normally the two animals do not mix. Hare tracks, especially
in snow, can be distinguished by the longer stride and the absence of toe
and pad marks due to the hairy soles of their feet. Hares live in well defined
territories spending the day lying in shallow depressions under cover known
as "forms" a picture of which is below..
The leverets are sometimes distributed
in seperate "milking forms", visited at intervals by the does.
When hares are disturbed, they will remain still up to the last moment,
then dash away at high speed, twisting and doubling back to escape capture.
They scream when in fear or agony and are said to grind their teeth
as a warning sound.
Brown hares live on open downland and farmland,
even on airfields, in the lowlands of the British Isles. Hares are unaffected
by myxomatosis and since rabbits were killed
off in such large numbers by the disease, hares have spread into woodland.