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Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus Lepus. They are and live Solitary animal or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality. The genus includes the largest Lagomorpha. Most are fast runners with long, powerful hind legs, and large ears that dissipate body heat. Hare species are native to Africa, Eurasia and North America. A hare less than one year old is called a "leveret".
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 Domestic rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.
Normally a shy animal, the European brown hare changes its behavior in spring, when it can be seen in daytime chasing other hares. This appears to be competition between males (called bucks) to attain dominance for breeding. During this spring frenzy, animals of both sexes can be seen "boxing", one hare striking another with its paws. This behavior gives rise to the idiom "mad as a March hare". This is present not only in intermale competition, but also among females (called does) toward males to prevent copulation.
Hares, like all , have jointed, or kinetic, skulls, unique among mammals.
Some rabbits live and give birth underground in burrows, with many burrows in an area forming a warren. Other rabbits and hares live and give birth in simple forms (shallow depression or flattened nest of grass) above the ground. Hares usually do not live in groups. Young hares are adapted to the lack of physical protection, relative to that afforded by a burrow, by being born fully furred and with eyes open. They are hence precocial, able to fend for themselves soon after birth. By contrast, rabbits are altricial, being born blind and hairless.
Hares can be prepared in the same manner as rabbits—commonly roasted or parted for breading and frying.
Hasenpfeffer (also spelled Hasenfeffer) is a traditional German cuisine stew made from marinated rabbit or hare, seasoned with black pepper (German Pfeffer) and other spices. Wine or vinegar is also a prominent ingredient, to lend a sourness to the recipe.
Lagos stifado (Λαγός στιφάδο)—hare stew with pearl onions, vinegar, red wine, and cinnamon—is a much-prized dish enjoyed in Greece and Cyprus and communities in the diaspora.
The hare (and in recent times, the rabbit) is a staple of Maltese cuisine. The dish was presented to the island's Grandmasters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as well as Renaissance Inquisition resident on the island, several of whom went on to become pope.
According to Halakha, the hare is among mammals deemed not kosher foods, and therefore not eaten by observant Jews. Muslims deem coney meat (rabbit, pika, hyrax) to be halal, and in Egypt, hare and rabbit are popular meats for mulukhiyah (jute leaf soup), especially in Cairo.
Jugged hare, known as civet de lièvre in France, is a whole hare, cut into pieces, marinated, and cooked with red wine and juniper berries in a tall jug that stands in a pan of water. It traditionally is served with the hare's blood (or the blood is added right at the end of the cooking process) and port wine.
Jugged hare is described in an influential 18th-century English cookbook, The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse, with a recipe titled, "A Jugged Hare", that begins, "Cut it into little pieces, lard them here and there ..." The recipe goes on to describe cooking the pieces of hare in water in a jug set within a bath of boiling water to cook for three hours. In the 19th century, a myth arose that Glasse's recipe began with the words "First, catch your hare."
Many other British cookbooks from before the middle of the 20th century have recipes for jugged hare. Merle and Reitch have this to say about jugged hare, for example:
In 2006, a survey of 2021 people for the Good Food television channel found only 1.6% of the people under 25 recognized jugged hare by name. Seven of ten stated they would refuse to eat jugged hare if it were served at the house of a friend or a relative.
In England, a rarely served dish is potted hare. The hare meat is cooked, then covered in at least one inch (preferably more) of butter. The butter is a preservative (excludes air); the dish can be stored for up to several months. It is served cold, often on bread or as an appetizer.
The constellation Lepus is taken to represent a hare.
The hare was once regarded as an animal sacred to Aphrodite and Eros because of its high libido. Live hares were often presented as a gift of love.John Layard, The Lady of the Hare, "The Hare in Classical Antiquity", pp.208 - 21 In European witchcraft, hares were either witches' familiars or a witch who had transformed themself into a hare. Pop mythology associates the hare with the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre as an explanation for the Easter Bunny. However, this belief is modern in origin.
In European tradition, the hare symbolises the two qualities of swiftness and timidity.Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cambridge University 2014, p.32 The latter once gave the European hare the Linnaean name Lepus timidus The Popular Encyclopaedia 3.2., Glasgow 1836, p.634 that is limited to the mountain hare. Several ancient fables depict the Hare in flight: In one, The Hares and the Frogs, they decide to commit mass suicide to relieve the angst of constantly fleeing threats, but reconsider when they startle frogs on the way to throwing themselves into the river. Conversely, in The Tortoise and the Hare, perhaps the best-known among Aesop's Fables, the hare loses a race through being too confident in its swiftness. In Irish mythology folklore, the hare is often associated with the Aos sí or other pagan elements. In these stories, characters who harm hares often suffer dreadful consequences.
In literature and art
In fiction
In art
Three hares
A study in 2004 followed the history and migration of a symbolic image of three hares with conjoined ears. In this image, three hares are seen chasing each other in a circle with their heads near its centre. While each of the animals appears to have two ears, only three ears are depicted. The ears form a triangle at the centre of the circle and each is shared by two of the hares. The image has been traced from Christianity churches in the English county of Devon right back along the Silk Road to China, via western and eastern Europe and the Middle East. Before its appearance in China, it was possibly first depicted in the Middle East before being reimported centuries later. Its use is associated with Christian, Judaism, and Buddhism sites stretching back to about 600 AD.
Place names
The hare has given rise to local place names, as they can often be observed in favoured localities. An example in Scotland is "Murchland", murchen being a Scots language word for a hare. (1984). 9780550118011, W. & R. Chambers. ISBN 9780550118011
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