Brown Hare

The European hare, like other members of the family Leporidae, is a fast-running terrestrial mammal. It is the largest of the hares native to Europe, being 55 to 65 cm (22 to 26 in) long from head to body with 7.5–14 cm (3.0–5.5 in) tail and weighing 3.5–5 kg (7.7–11.0 lb). The hare's elongated ears range from 9.4 to 11.0 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) from the notch to the tip. It also has long hind feet that have a length of between 14 and 16 cm (5.5 and 6.3 in). The dental formula is 2/1, 0/0, 3/2, 3/3. The European hare is slenderer than the European rabbit, and its dark limb musculature gives it great stamina when running at high speeds in open country. By contrast, cottontail rabbits are built for short sprints in more vegetated habitats. Other adaptions for endurance running include wider nostrils and larger hearts. In comparison to the European rabbit, the hare has a proportionally smaller stomach and caecum. Grizzled yellow-brown fur covers the back and becomes rufous on the shoulders, legs, neck and throat and white on the underside and black on the tail and ear tips. The fur on the back is typically longer and more curled than on the rest of the body. The European hare's fur mostly remains the same throughout the year, although the sides of the head and base of the ears do develop white areas and the hip and rump region may gain some grey.

The European hare is native to much of continental Europe, reaching as far north as 60N, and as far east as Central Asia. It has also been introduced, mostly as game animal, to North America in Ontario and New York State, and unsuccessfully in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, the Southern Cone in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru and the Falkland Islands, Australia (including Tasmania), both islands of New Zealand, the south Pacific coast of Russia, and Ireland. The European hare primarily lives in open fields and shelter in scattered vegetation. It is a versatile species and thrives in mixed farmland. In its native steppe habitat, European hare populations are spread apart; they average roughly 2 individuals per 100 hectares. Conversely, population densities of up to 275 hares per 100 hectares are seen in milder climates. According to a study in the Czech Republic, hares are most numerous at areas with below 200 m (660 ft) above sea level, and an average temperature 10 °C (50 °F) throughout the year. With regards to climate, the European hare density was highest in "warm and dry districts with mild winters". In Poland, the European hare is most abundant in areas with few forest edges, perhaps because foxes can use these for cover. …

The European hare is primarily nocturnal and spends a third of its activity foraging. During daytime, it hides in a depression in the ground called a "form" where it is partially hidden. It can run at 70 km/h (43 mph), and when confronted by predators it relies on outrunning them in the open. It is generally thought of as asocial but can be seen in both large and small groups. It does not appear to be territorial, living in overlapping home ranges of around 300 ha (740 acres). Communication between hares is by a variety of visual signals. Interest is shown by raising ears, while lowering ears warns others to keep away. When challenging another individual, a hare thumps its front feet; the hind feet are used to warn others of a predator. It squeals when hurt or scared, and a female makes "guttural" calls to attract her young. A hare can live for 8–13 years.

Food and foraging. The European hare is primarily herbivorous and forages for wild grasses and weeds. With the intensification of agriculture, it has taken to feeding on crops when preferred foods are not available. During the spring and summer it feeds on soy, clover and corn poppy as well as grasses and herbs. During autumn and winter, it primarily chooses winter wheat, and is also lured by hunters with piles of sugar beet and carrots. It also eats woody material from shrubs and young fruit trees during winter. …

Across Europe, over five million European hares are taken by hunters, making it probably the most important game mammal on the continent. This popularity has threatened regional varieties such as those of France and Denmark, through large-scale importing of hares from Eastern European countries such as Hungary. Hares have traditionally been hunted in Britain by beagling and hare coursing. In beagling, the hare is tracked by a party of small hunting dogs, beagles, followed by the human hunters on foot. In Britain, the 2004 Hunting Act banned hunting of hares with dogs, so the 60 beagle packs now use artificial "trails", or may hunt rabbits instead. Hare coursing with greyhounds was once an aristocratic pursuit, forbidden to lower social classes. More recently, informal hare coursing became a lower-class activity and was conducted without the landowner's permission; it is also now illegal. Despite its illegality, hare coursing continues, often causing damage to agricultural land where hunters trespass into farms in pursuit of a hare. In Scotland concerns have been raised over the rise in numbers of hares shot under license. Hare is traditionally cooked by jugging: a whole hare is cut into pieces, marinated and cooked slowly with red wine and juniper berries in a tall jug that stands in a pan of water. …

In Europe, the hare has been a symbol of sex and fertility since at least ancient Greece. The Greeks associated it with the gods Dionysus, Aphrodite and Artemis as well as with satyrs and cupids. The Christian Church connected the hare with lustfulness and homosexuality, but also associated it with the persecution of the church because of the way it was commonly hunted. In northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares or rabbits. Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England, where "the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the 'Hare-pie Bank'", the 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton proposed a possible connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre. In his 19th-century study of the hare in folk custom and mythology, Charles J. Billson cites folk customs involving the hare around Easter in Northern Europe, and argues that the hare was probably a sacred animal in prehistoric Britain's festival of springtime. Observation of the hare's springtime mating behaviour led to the popular English idiom "mad as a March hare", with similar phrases from the sixteenth-century writings of John Skelton and Sir Thomas More onwards. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, March Hare appears in a tea-party with the Hatter.

Any connection of the hare to Ēostre is doubtful. …