Pictures and facts about the European hare

Pictures of the European hare are copyrighted by their owners

European hare

Order : Lagomorpha
Family : Leporidae
Species : Lepus europaeus

The tradition of the Easter bunny originates from West-european cultures, where it is a hare (Lepus europaeus) rather than a rabbit... German protestants had an abundance of eggs because of fasting. "German Protestants wanted to retain the Catholic custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, but did not want to introduce their children to the Catholic rite of fasting. Eggs were forbidden to Catholics during the fast of Lent, which was the reason for the abundance of eggs at Easter time." (source) The Easter bunny / hare would leave eggs for good children. The egg and its symbolism comes from the Romans: "The Romans believed that all life proceeded from an egg, so the egg came to symbolize birth and rebirth. Christians regarded eggs as the seeds of life and attributed them with the symbol of Jesus' resurrection." (source) Hares can run up to 70 kilometers per hour. Around spring, hares change their behavior and can be seen fighting each other, this can be either intermale competition or a female testing a male or rejecting him. Unlike the young of rabbits, the young of hares are born with fur and eyes open and are able to defend themselves quickly.

photo taken on 16 Sep 2004 by de:User:Fmickan, licensed under GFDL

Facts about the European hare

Cottons and European hares are restricted to the southern portion of the province between the Great Lakes of Huron, Ontario, and Erie on into Quebec where farmland and brushy cover provide suitable habitat.

European Hare European Hare in the news The European Hare (Lepus europaeus) is a species of hare native to Europe and western Asia.

European Hare Lepus europaeus As its name would suggest, the European hare is not native to Canada but it was successfully introduced to parts of Ontario from Germany.

European hares are often taken as a bonus.

Huge European Hares are often taken as a bonus.

It was found that the European hare is susceptible to the infection by leptospires and the etiological structure of leptospiral antibodies corresponds to that in other small mammals.

Localized populations of European hares are in southwest Connecticut.

The European Hare (Lepus europaeus) is a species of hare native to Europe and western Asia.

Brown Hare or Lepus europaeus is listed on the IUCN Red list (1996) as Lower Risk/Least Concern . (Full text)

European Hare or Lepus europaeus is listed on the IUCN Red list (1996) as Lower Risk/Least Concern . (Full text)

Pallas, 1778 The European Hare (Lepus europaeus) is a species of hare native to Europe and western Asia. (Full text)

European hares are ubiquitous, and the native ecological equivalents- Patagonian maras and mountain vizcachas- are in severe decline. (Full text)

The common European hare is Lepustimidus. (Full text)

During this hunt, European Hares are often taken as a bonus. (Full text)

Discussion Introduced into Dutchess County, New York, in 1893, the European Hare is the largest hare in its range. (Full text)

Lepus europaeus The European Hare Lepus europaeus is a species of hare native to Europe and western Asia. (Full text)

The European hare is sometimes called a jack rabbit. (Full text)

European hares are mainly solitary animals and group structures occur just in cases of high population densities. (Full text)

Compared to the local cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares, European hares are much larger animals with much longer ears, much bigger hind feet and a very impressive length of leap. (Full text)

European HareThe European Hare Lepus europaeus is a species of hare native to Europe and western Asia. (Full text)

However, sheep replace guanaco in numbers, and European hares are more common than the native ones. (Full text)