Hare

Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus Lepus. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The genus includes the largest lagomorphs. Most are fast runners with long, powerful hind legs, and large ears to dissipate body heat.^[1] Hare species are native to Africa, Eurasia and North America. A hare less than one year old is called a "leveret". A group of hares is called a "husk", a "down", or a "drove".

This article is about the animal. For other uses, see Hare (disambiguation), Jackrabbit (disambiguation), Lepus (disambiguation), and Leveret (disambiguation).

Members of the Lepus genus are considered true hares, distinguishing them from rabbits which make up the rest of the Leporidae family. However, there are five leporid species with "hare" in their common names which are not considered true hares: the hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), and four species known as red rock hares (Pronolagus). Conversely, several Lepus species are called "jackrabbits", but classed as hares rather than rabbits. The pet known as the Belgian hare is a domesticated European rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.^[2]

Genus Lepus

[13]

A was buried alongside an older woman in Hungary mid fifth millennium BC.

European brown hare

12 metapodials were found in a Swedish grave from third millennium BC.

Mountain hare

The (originally described as a Cape hare, amended according to range) was tamed by northern Chinese people in the neolithic period (~third millennium BC) and fed millets.

Tolai hare

Lagomorpha

Windling, Terri. The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares.

F.S.A.Scot. "The Hare in Folk-lore" The Folk-Lore Journal. Volume 1, 1883

William George Black

Gibbons, J. S., Herbert, K., Lascelles, G., Longman, J. H., Macpherson, H. A., & Richardson, C. 1896. The Hare: Natural history.

[1]

Palmer, TS. Jack Rabbits of the United States 1896. Washington,: Govt. Print. Off.

[2]

Edwards, P. J., M. R. Fletcher, and P. Berny. Review of the factors affecting the decline of the European brown hare, Lepus europaeus (Pallas, 1778) and the use of wildlife incident data to evaluate the significance of paraquat. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment 79.2-3 (2000): 95-103.

[3]

Vaughan, Nancy, et al. Habitat associations of European hares Lepus europaeus in England and Wales: implications for farmland management Journal of Applied Ecology 40.1 (2003): 163-175.

[4]

Smith, Rebecca K., et al. Conservation of European hares Lepus europaeus in Britain: is increasing habitat heterogeneity in farmland the answer? Journal of Applied Ecology 41.6 (2004): 1092-1102.

[5]

Reid, Neil. Conservation ecology of the Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus). Diss. Queen's University of Belfast, 2006

[6]

Natasha E. McGowan, Neal McDermott, Richard Stone, Liam Lysaght, S. Karina Dingerkus, Anthony Caravaggi, Ian Kerr, Neil Reid, National Hare Survey & Population Assessment 2017-2019, [report], National Parks and Wildlife Service. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 2019-11, Irish wildlife manuals, No.113, 2019

[7]

Kane, Eloise C. Beyond the Pale: the historical archaeology of hare hunting, 1603-1831. Diss. University of Bristol, 2021.

[8]

Reid, Neil. Survival, movements, home range size and dispersal of hares after coursing and/or translocation. PloS one 18.6 (2023): e0286771.

[9]

BBC Nature section about hares