Chris Smith - Photographer

THE HARE
Lepus europaeus

In the UK, only one family, hares and rabbits of the Double Toothed Rodents, sub-order DUPLICIDENTATA are resident. These have a second pair of small incisor teeth behind the two large front teeth. Apart from Great Britain hares are indigenous to Europe, west of Russia and south of the Baltic.
The sexes are very much alike, but the buck has a slightly smaller body, shorter head and redder shoulders. Length, (head and body) can be between 22-24 inches, weight between 7-13 lbs. The female has 6 teats.
Leverets (the young of the hare) are born after 30 days gestation; usually 2-5 in number, but 8 is on record. These young are born covered with thin hair, their eyes are open and within hours are able to run and they are completely independent at 1 month. At this age they resemble the adults in colour, but maybe more ‘russet’. Young females can breed at about a year old, and 3-4 broods can be produced over a year.
The main courting season for hares is Feb-March; hares do not pair up for life. Leverets can be born in any season, and female hares are good mothers, and will often fight to defend their young. The young are born in the open, and usually the female finds separate forms for each, and carries them to these in her mouth. She will visit them to suckle them, by day and by night.
The hare is an un-sociable animal, that can select a convenient place and spend almost all day and sometimes all night crouched in them shrinking almost flat when alarmed. Hares are very swift and agile, their long back legs favouring running up hill, they twist and turn to shake off pursuers. When leaving or returning to a form hares will often take one or two large leaps, this to baffle scent. Hares possess all the cunning and guile of a fox when being hunted, often doubling back on its tracks, or making long sideways leaps. The hare has poor eyesight straight ahead, so this, and the habit of using regular runs makes it easy to snare.
The hare’s survival in the UK is due to it being protected for sport.