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Mad
March hares!
How will I know if I'm looking at a hare?
Hares belong
to the same family as rabbits - lagomorphs - but they are much swifter
than rabbits, as their limbs are much longer.
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Face
off - a hairy moment for a hare
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Hares
are generally between 48cm and 70cm
in length and weigh about 3-5kg.
Brown hares are larger than rabbits, with longer limbs, and a loping
gait. They have black-tipped ears that are equal in length to their
head. The tail is held down when running, showing its black dorsal
surface. The fur moults in spring and autumn, the summer coat being
a little lighter than the hare's reddish winter coat.
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Hares
a few jokes for you!
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Bad
joke 1
Q: What do you call a row of rabbits walking backwards?
A: A receding hare-line!!!
Bad joke 2
Two mates are at a pub having a beer when the bald one starts
complaining about being bald. His friend says he should have
a hair transplant operation. The bald guy says he cant afford
it, so his mate says he should go and have some rabbits tattooed
on his head. The bald guy says: "how will that help?"
His mate says: "well, from a distance they will look like
hares." (hairs - get it??) Tee hee! |
Where
should I look for hares?
Brown hares are widespread in central and western Europe, including
England and Wales, but they are absent from north western Scotland,
Sardinia, the Balearic Islands and most of Spain and Portugal. It
is thought that they were introduced into Britain during Roman times,
probably from Asia. They were introduced to Ireland for sport in
the 19th century and their spread has been checked by competition
from the Irish hare (a subspecies of mountain hare).
Brown hares prefer temperate open habitats. They are found in most
flat country among open grassland and arable farms, and can live
up to 1500m in the Pyrenees. They use woodland and hedgerows as
resting areas in the day.
The best times to spot a hare are early morning and just around
dusk.
What
do they like to eat?
Brown
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.
What
are their habits?
Brown hares rest in a shallow depression in fields or long grass
known as a form, where only their back and head are visible.
An adult occupies a range of 300 hectares, which it may share with
other hares as they are not territorially aggressive. Courtship
involves boxing - the traditional 'mad March hare' behaviour. This
is actually unreceptive females fending off males, rather than fighting
between males. Brown hares escape predators by out-running them
- at speeds up to 40mph!
Brown hares are the fastest land animals in the UK.
Females can have up to 3 litters a year, and on average, give birth
to four young (known as leverets).
Hare facts courtesy of BBC
Wildfacts
Cambridgeshire
Mammal Atlas - help us to track the mammals in our county
>>
You
can find out more about Britain's mammals at BBC
Wildfacts or BBC
Life of Mammals or The
Mammal Society.
February
is...fantastic Mr Fox month >>
January
is... rat and vole month >>
December
is.... deer month >>
November is.... hedgehog month
>>
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