For many, it is customary to devote some time every day to receiving new information, studying new discoveries, Interesting Facts and other interesting data. It is widely believed that only fundamentally new information can become valuable. However, as practice shows, no less valuable information can be obtained by studying already known facts. Indeed, in this case, it is possible to avoid the imposition of unconfirmed hypotheses and unsubstantiated data. Therefore, sometimes it is worth turning to the study of familiar beings and phenomena. For example, you can pay attention to the well-known and beloved by many creatures - a hare. How can rabbits surprise you?

It would seem that today there are practically no white spots in information about the life and behavior of hares, because observing them and studying them does not cause exceptional difficulties. However, the answer to the question how long does a hare live has become not so unambiguous. After all, if earlier the standard life expectancy of a hare was from seven to nine years, and some centenarians even reached seventeen years. But today, due to many external factors environment, hares rarely live even to five years. Few people know that hares have rather low vision, but they make full use of their excellent hearing and good sense of smell.

Hares are incredibly fast animals. Some types of hares, for example, a brown hare, can reach speeds of seventy kilometers per hour. Hares do not keep in large groups, but prefer to live in pairs or alone. Hares live in specially built nests in shallow pits, in which offspring are also born. Newborn hares from the first days are quite developed, have wool and already open eyes. However, the mother carefully cares for the newborn for no more than a week, and then only occasionally visits the offspring. That is why a significant part of the little rabbits die early in the clutches of enemies.

The process of molting is characteristic of most living organisms. This process is accompanied by discarding the old cover and replacing it with a new one. The hare molting period lasts quite a long time, namely: about two and a half months in each of the periods. And hares molt twice a year: in spring and autumn. For example, for a white hare, the molting period ends with a cardinal change in color. In winter, this animal is characterized by a white coat color, and in summer the coat color ranges from grayish-red to almost brown.

It is important not to be afraid to discover new details about already known things. After all, not everything is interesting that is fundamentally new, but it is interesting that it can sincerely amaze.

Hares are small animals belonging to the hare genus. These animals, familiar to people since childhood, undeservedly enjoy the fame of weak and cowardly creatures. In fact, the hare is not at all as timid and defenseless as it is commonly believed. This is a fairly strong and dexterous animal for its size, quite capable of standing up for itself in case of a threat.

Description of the hare

Hares belong to the hare family, which, in turn, is included in the order of lagomorphs.. In addition to hares and rabbits, pikas also belong to this order. The main distinguishing features of hares are long ears, a short tail and long hind limbs, thanks to which these animals can move with large jumps.

Appearance

Hares do not differ in large size and powerful physique: only some of these animals can reach a length of 65-70 cm and a weight of 7 kg. And their compact torso, somewhat flattened from the sides, as a rule, looks rather thin and thin. The main distinguishing feature of all hares is their long ears of a characteristic elongated shape.

Depending on the species, hare ears can vary in length, but they are never shorter than 1/2 the length of their head. In most of these animals, the ears are pointed at the ends, but there are species of small hares in which the ears are rounded at the top. The hare's head seems small in relation to the body, and its outlines resemble an oval tapering towards one end. The lip, divided into two halves by a deep groove, has a characteristic rounded shape.

This is interesting! The teeth of lagomorphs are similar to the teeth of rodents. The difference between these two orders in the structure of the teeth lies in the fact that hares, rabbits and pikas have not one pair of incisors on the upper jaw, but two, and the posterior pair is less developed than the anterior one.

Another similarity between the animals of these two orders is that, like those of rodents, the teeth of hares are constantly growing and need regular grinding, which is why these animals try to eat solid food.

In large hares, the hind limbs are 25-35% longer than the forelimbs, while in small species, the fore and hind limbs are almost the same in length. On the front paws, these animals have five fingers, on the hind legs - 4-5. The feet are quite long, with thickly furred soles and almost straight, sharp claws, which are necessary for hares to protect themselves from predators and to dig up snow and topsoil in winter, when they have to feed on various roots.

The tail of almost all hares is very short and fluffy, shaped like a pom-pom, but at the same time, due to its small size, it is almost invisible from some angles. The fur of most species of lagomorphs is thick and soft, and it covers almost the entire body of the animal: a narrow strip of fur grows even on the inner surface of the lip. The color of the hares is varied: grayish, brownish, sandy or brownish. In many species, the color of the fur changes to white by winter, which helps the animals more successfully hide from predators.

Behavior and lifestyle

Hares are terrestrial animals, they can neither swim well nor climb trees or rocks. Some types of lagomorphs create colonies, while others prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle. These animals do not fall into anabiosis with the onset of cold weather: they all year round keep active.

During the day, hares, as a rule, prefer to rest in depressions in the soil or in dense bushes overgrown with thick grass, and at dusk and at night they go out in search of food. In winter, when there is no grass, they often hide in a shallow hole dug by them under freshly fallen snow that has not yet had time to compact. These animals move in large jumps, while their speed can reach 70 km / h.

Their eyesight is weak, however, this deficiency is fully compensated for by well-developed hearing and smell.. Hares are cautious animals, but in the event of danger approaching, they often choose expectant tactics: they will hide in the grass or in the snow, and wait for what the potential enemy will do next. And only when the stranger approaches at a very close distance, the beast jumps up from its place of lying and rushes away.

This is interesting! When a hare runs away from a pursuer, it confuses its tracks: it winds, jumps sharply to the side, and can even run some distance in its own tracks.

It is precisely because this animal tends to jump out from under the feet of an unsuspecting and simply passing person right from under his feet and rush from him as fast as possible, people consider hares to be cowardly animals. Although, in fact, this behavior can hardly be called shy, rather, it is caution and unwillingness to mess with a possible predator.

The fact that the hare is far from being a cowardly creature is evidenced by at least the fact that when the enemy nevertheless overtakes him and tries to grab him, this, at first glance, a harmless animal, can quite successfully defend himself. To do this, he lies on his back and beats the pursuer with strong and muscular hind legs, equipped with long and sharp claws. Moreover, the strength and accuracy of these strikes is often such that an annoying stranger who does not want to leave the hare alone often receives mortal wounds. It is not for nothing that not a single professional hunter will pick up a live hare by the ears: after all, in this way, the beast can dodge and hit it with its hind limbs.

How long does a hare live

The average lifespan of hares in their natural habitat is 6-8 years. However, a lot of animals die much earlier, ending their days in the teeth or claws of numerous predators, as well as being shot down by hunters. Especially many small rabbits die, which are very easy prey even for small carnivores and omnivores. In captivity, hares often live up to 10 or even 12 years.

sexual dimorphism

Rabbits do not differ from males in fur color, and their constitution is almost the same. The main difference between hares of different sexes is in size: females are usually smaller, moreover, hares have a more rounded head, while males are usually somewhat elongated and laterally flattened.

Types of hares

There are more than thirty species of hares in the world, differing from each other in size.

Features of the structure, behavior and lifestyle:

• Antelope hare.
• American hare.
• Arctic hare.
• Alaskan hare
• Black-tailed hare.
• White-sided hare.
• Cape hare.
• Yellow hare.
• Black-brown hare.
• Bush hare.
• Sandstone hare.
• Tolay hare.
• Rocket hare.
• Yunnan hare.
• Korean hare.
• Corsican hare.
• Iberian hare.
• Manchurian hare.
• Curly hare.
• Hare Stark.
• White-tailed hare.
• Ethiopian hare.
• Hainan hare.
• Dark hare.
• Burmese hare.
• Chinese hare.
• Yarkand hare.
• Japanese hare.
• Abyssinian hare.

This is interesting! The Don hare also belongs to this family, which lived in the territory in the Late Pleistocene. of Eastern Europe and North Asia, but has long since died out. It was an animal large enough for a lagomorph with well-developed chewing muscles, which, according to the results of genetic studies, was the closest relative of the modern one.

Range, habitats

These animals live everywhere except Australia and Antarctica. Even in the Arctic and Alaska, you can see Arctic hare and Alaskan hare living there. At the same time, the following species are found on the territory of Russia: hare, hare, Manchurian hares and tolai hares. Depending on what species the hares belong to, they can live in a variety of climatic zones: from the arctic tundra to humid rainforest or, conversely, arid deserts and semi-deserts. These animals settle both on the plain and in the mountains, at an altitude not exceeding 4900 m.

Some of these animals, such as the white hare, prefer to settle in the forests, while other lagomorphs inhabit exclusively open spaces, such as steppes or semi-deserts. Some species, especially those that live in arid climates or in highlands, occupy empty burrows dug out by other animals, despite the fact that the hares themselves, unlike their closest relatives - rabbits, never dig holes. Most species of hares are sedentary animals, but in the cold season, during the period of foodlessness, they can migrate over short distances in search of food.

Hares diet

The basis of the hare diet is low-calorie plant foods, such as tree bark and branches, leaves, and herbaceous plants. Particularly fond of hares living in temperate climate zone, clover, dandelions, sedge, yarrow and alfalfa. In the warm season, these animals are not averse to eating blueberry shoots and berries, mushrooms, as well as the fruits of wild-growing apples and wild pears.

This is interesting! Often, hares make predatory raids on agricultural fields and gardens, where they gnaw bark. fruit trees and eat vegetables such as cabbage, parsley, turnips, carrots and other garden plants.

In autumn, as a rule, they switch to eating tree bark and small succulent twigs, and in winter, during the period of starvation, they dig various roots and dry grass from under the snow.

Reproduction and offspring

Depending on their habitat, hares produce offspring from one to four times a year. Species living in the North manage to breed only one brood of rabbits during the summer, while southern species can breed much more often. Their first rut begins at the end of winter or at the beginning of spring.

At the same time, there are often fights between males competing for the attention of the same hare: rivals jump on each other, trying to push the enemy back, beat him with their hind legs, and sometimes, rising to their full height, box with their front ones. The winner, who has achieved the attention of the female, begins to jump around her, as if inviting her to run a race with him.

At the same time, a hare couple is sometimes so carried away by mutual courtship of each other that they do not notice anything around, even the approach of predators. Pregnancy in rabbits lasts from 26 to 55 days, after which several cubs are born, the number of which varies depending on the species and living conditions. Usually, the female gives birth to from 1 to 11 babies.

This is interesting! In species of hares living in burrows or other natural shelters, the offspring are born hairless or covered with fur, but blind, while in hares living on the surface of the earth, females give birth to hairy and sighted cubs.

The latter at birth are noticeably superior in growth and development to their newborn "relatives" who were born in holes: they can literally move and hide in the grass in the very first hours of their lives. Depending on the time of the birth of the cubs, they are called differently.

So, hares from the first litter are called nastoviks, those born in the summer - herbalists or flyers, and those that were born closer to autumn - deciduous. Previously, it was believed that the hare - bad mother and that she does not care about her cubs at all: she will feed them with milk immediately after giving birth and run away.

True, at the same time, the hares do not die of hunger at all: they are fed by other hares who are nearby. But at present, not all zoologists share this opinion: some scientists believe that the mother hare does not abandon her cubs, but is constantly near them. True, in the event of a threat, she will not protect them, but will prefer to flee. At first, the female feeds her rabbits with milk, and later they completely switch to plant foods. These animals, depending on their species, reach sexual maturity at the age of ten weeks to two years.

The hare is a small mammal animal, recently belonging to the order Lagomorphs and the hare family. Before that, they were considered a type of rodent. international scientific name genus of hares - Lepus (lat.). Hares only at first glance seem to be harmless animals. With powerful legs and long claws able to withstand danger. From ancient times this fluffy animal is a desirable prey for hunters due to its dietary meat and rare fur.

Hare - characteristics, description, and appearance of the animal

The hare has a slender, slightly elongated body, up to 68-70 cm long.

The hare has long locator ears, 9–15 cm long. The hearing of this animal is more developed than other sense organs. Sound can be picked up by one ear, independently of the other, which facilitates the animal's auditory orientation.

A distinctive feature of the hare is the long foot of the hind legs, which gives it the ability to run away from predators (fox, owl, wolf) at a speed of 80 km / h, sharply change direction and jump to the side. A small animal can easily climb to the top of the hill, but it descends from it, rolling head over heels.

The sweat glands of a hare are located on the soles of their paws. It is almost impossible for a predator to smell a recumbent animal.

In spring and autumn, hares molt.

The stomach of lagomorphs is divided into two sectors. One section is designed for fermentation of food, the other for its digestion.

How much does an adult hare weigh?

The average weight of an animal is 5-7 kg. The tail of the hare is small, raised up.

Is a hare a rodent or not?

Lagomorphs differ in blood composition from rodents.

Another distinguishing feature is the structure of the teeth. In the upper jaw, hares have incisors, 2 pairs on each side. The inert palate is a bridge connecting the right and left molars. In rodents, it is in the form of an integral bone platform. There are no gaps between the protruding parts of the upper and lower teeth, which allows better processing of food.

The agouti, the so-called humpbacked or golden hare, is classified as a rodent.

The color of the hare is directly related to the season. In summer, his coat can be brown, reddish-gray, brown. The color of the animal is uneven, since the down under the coat has a dark shade. There are also small inclusions. The coat on the belly of a hare is always white. In winter, the fur of a fluffy animal becomes lighter, but only in a white hare it is flawlessly white. The color of the tips of the ears of the lagomorphs is black all year round.

How many years does a wild hare live

Males live an average of 5 years, females up to 9 years. A tamed hare lives much longer.

The type of eared animal has an impact on the number of years lived. So, a white hare can live up to 17 years. Such cases are unique. Rusaki live much less, more often than 5 years. They rarely live past the age of 14.

The American hare lives an average of 7-8 years. The black-tailed hare lives up to a maximum of 6 years, but often representatives of this species die much earlier from diseases or predators. Agouti (or as they are also called golden or humpbacked hare) can live up to 20 years.

Seal - bearded seal lives about 30 years, males often live only up to 25 years.

Types of hares

The hare genus consists of a dozen subgenera, each of which is divided into species.

White hare (Latin Lepus timidus). Body length about 44-65 cm; weight 1.6-4.5 kg. A distinctive feature of this white hare is its ability to masterfully disguise itself. The hare has a white coat color in winter, in summer the fur becomes gray. The white hare is the target of many sport hunters. Habitat: Russia (including the Arctic); China, Mongolia, northern Europe, South America.

European hare (Latin Lepus europaeus). The largest representative of the lagomorphs, has brown fur. The length of the body is 68 cm, weight up to seven kilograms. The fur is shiny, curls a little. The tail and ears are larger than those of the hare. Rusak, one might say, a steppe hare. Habitat: Europe, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Transcaucasia, Arabian Peninsula, North Africa.

Antelope hare (Latin Lepus alleni). The length of the body is 45-60 cm. A distinctive feature of the antelope hare is its impressive size ears, up to 20 cm. They help to normalize the heat exchange of the animal in a hot climate. This species lives in northwestern Mexico and American Arizona.

The Chinese hare (Latin Lepus sinensis) is distinguished by its miniature size. The body length is 30-45 cm, weight is within 2 kg. The color of the fur varies from chestnut to red. The coat is short, hard in structure. Habitat: China, Taiwan and Vietnam; inhabits predominantly highlands.

Tolai hare (Latin Lepus tolai). Outwardly, it has similar features with a hare, only noticeably more compact in size. Body length 39-55 cm, weight 1.5-2.8 kg. A tolai hare has larger limbs and ears than a hare. It lives in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Northeast China and Mongolia. In Russia, almost everywhere.

Yellow hare (Latin Lepus flavigularis). Body length 60 cm, weight 4 kg. Ears and legs are large. The yellowish hare has the original color of the ears. From their base to the back of the head there are two black stripes, sides white color. The habitat of the hare: the coast of Tehuantepec Bay in Mexico. Terrain: Coastal grassy dunes and open grasslands. Awake in the dark.

Broom hare (Latin Lepus castroviejoi). The body length of a hare of this species is 45-65 cm, weight is from 2.6 to 3.2 kg. The color of the hare is black-brown, with small white patches. Lives in Spain, listed in the Red Book of this country. The species is widespread in areas with little vegetation. In many respects, the broom hare is similar to the hare.

Black-tailed (California) hare (Latin Lepus californicus). Body length 47-63 cm, weight 1.5-3 kg. hallmark species are long ears and massive hind legs. The fur in the upper part of the body is gray-brown in color. The back of the animal is decorated with a black stripe. The population of these lagomorphs is most impressive in the western United States and in Mexico. The black-tailed hare is a loner.

Manchurian hare (Latin Lepus mandshuricus). The body size of the Manchurian hare is 40-55 cm, weight 1.3-2.5 kg. The legs, tail and auricles are relatively short, which gives the Manchurian hare similar features to the wild (European) rabbit. The fur is hard, bristly. The color of the coat is brown, uneven, with gray patches. On the back there is a strip of dark color of longer hair. It is found in the south of the Russian Far East, in the Chinese region of Manchuria and in the north of Korea. We can say that this is a forest hare that prefers deciduous forests with dense shrubs.

Tibetan Curly Hare (Latin Lepus oiostolus). The body length is 40-58 cm. Weight 2.3 kg. The fur of an animal of this species has yellowish tinge on the back, the coat is slightly wavy. Habitat: China, India, Nepal. Location: highlands of Tibet.

Agouti (lat. Dasyprocta) or South American golden hare (humped hare). This animal belongs to the order of rodents, is a relative guinea pigs. In the people, agouti is also called the golden (or golden) hare. This animal has a body length of 50 cm, weight about 4 kg. It got its second name due to its golden color. The humpback hare is distributed throughout Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil. Agoutis are very good swimmers.

A hare, unlike a rabbit, which is a burrowing animal, needs space and a lot of movement. With a strong desire, hares can be bred at home, following certain rules.

Features of keeping a hare at home:

• A hare needs a spacious cage or aviary.
• Walking around the apartment. Until the age of 1 month under strict supervision, from 1 month free range.
• The hare must be vaccinated and get rid of worms.
• The hare must be immediately taught to go to the toilet, use diapers or dry grass as a tray filler. Granular filler should not be used.

Hares are very sociable animals, living in an apartment, they need constant interaction with a person, games, attention. But these animals should not be constantly held in their arms, they do not like hugs.

Features of feeding a hare at home:

• Hare milk is very fatty in composition, up to 20%, so it is impossible to feed a hare with cow's milk or human baby formulas. It is recommended to give bitch and cat milk substitutes every 3-4 hours.
• You can't sweeten milk for rabbits.
• From the age of two weeks, in addition to milk, green grass, leaves and twigs should be given.
• From a month and a half, it is necessary to completely transfer the teenager to solid food: green grass, twigs, berries, fruits.
• From two months, add grain-free ready-made feeds to the hare's diet.

It is impossible to release an already tamed hare into the wild, he will not survive.

Rabbit giant (Flandres)

One of the most amazing representatives of the lagomorphs is the Flanders, or Belgian giant. This is an industrial breed of rabbits. The body length of adults is 67 cm, weight 7-10 kg. The coat is thick, the color is hare-gray, yellow-gray, dark gray, iron-gray. The breed began to breed in 1952.

Seal sea hare

The bearded seal, or bearded seal, belongs to the family of true seals. The body length is 2.5 meters. In winter, the weight is 360 kg. The sea hare seal lives in the shallow waters of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. From the skin of a seal, representatives northern peoples make household items. Pregnancy of a female bearded seal lasts a year, one cub is born, with a body length of 120 cm. The ability to reproduce appears at the age of five.

Hares are land animals, they cannot swim and climb trees. Some species love space, spaces with little vegetation. Other species belong to forest hares, inhabit areas with dense thickets. Hares can live apart, some species live in colonies and build burrows. The white hare lives in the tundra, rarely in the forest and forest-steppe zone. The rodent humpback hare is a resident of the tropics and savannas. Lagomorphs inhabit the entire Earth. WITH recently they were brought to Australia South America, Madagascar, and Southeast Asia.

What does a rabbit eat?

Hares are mammals and eat plant foods.

Brown hare food:

White hare diet:

The humpback hare feeds on fruits and other parts of plants.

The sea hare seal eats benthic invertebrates and bottom fish: flounder, polar cod, goby.

In nature, hares can form pairs, but a separate lifestyle is not uncommon. A hare can bring offspring three times a year, 5-10 rabbits in each brood. The gestation period is 50 days. The fecundity of hares is high. Cubs are born with a woolen cover, they can see and walk. In the first seven days of life, hares need milk. But by the third week they are fully adapted to plant foods. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 7-11 months.

• Hares communicate by playing drum rolls with their paws.
• By touching the plants with their noses, the hares inform their relatives of their arrival.
• Despite the fact that hares are vegetarians, they can eat poultry meat, such as partridges, tearing game with their paws.
• The hare's hind legs are asymmetrical from birth.
• In rabbits, the phenomenon of double pregnancy sometimes occurs, when even before the birth of offspring, repeated fertilization can occur.

Latin name - Lepus timidus
English name- Mountain (Arctic, variable, Alpine, hill, polar, varying) hare
Class Mammals
Order lagomorphs (Lagomorpha)
Hare family (Leporidae)

Lagomorphs, unlike rodents, have 2 pairs of incisors in the upper jaw, the second pair being smaller and located behind the first. Therefore, they were previously called two-pair cutters.

Conservation status of the species

The white hare refers everywhere to ordinary species easily adaptable to life in different conditions, including next to a person. However, its numbers change dramatically over the years, sometimes by several hundred times. In this, by the way, hares are similar to rodents. The main reason for the sharp decline in the number of hares are mass diseases - epizootics. Hares are game animals, and for the sake of their meat and skins, enough of them are harvested. a large number of, however, in most of the range, the population of the mountain hare is stable.

View and person

The white hare belongs to hunting and commercial animals; it is sport hunted almost throughout its range in certain seasons of the year. Possible harm, brought by hares in the fields and in gardens, is very insignificant, and has a great influence on economic activity does not provide a person.

white hare

white hare

white hare

white hare

white hare

Spreading

The white hare is very widely distributed. It lives in the tundra, forest and even, partially, in the forest-steppe zones of Europe, Asia and North America. However, wherever the hare live, they always have favorite biotopes. For example, in the tundra they prefer bushes and the banks of rivers, lakes and seas. In the forest zone, whites avoid continuous forest areas, especially taiga, but prefer forests with clearings, meadows, clearings and burnt areas. White hare are common everywhere near human settlements.

Interestingly, within their vast range, white hare vary in size, and sometimes in color. So, the largest hares live in the tundra of Western Siberia (up to 5.5 kg), and the smallest - in Yakutia and on Far East(3 kg).

Appearance

The white hare is a rather large animal, body length - from 45 to 65 cm, weight - from 1.6 to 4.5 kg. It has a thick, soft coat that changes color with the seasons. In winter it is white with black tips of the ears, in summer it is gray-brown. The ears are long, the tail is short and always white, the legs are long, especially the hind legs - jerky when jumping. The paws are relatively wide, and the feet are covered with a thick brush of hair. In winter, these hairs become even thicker, and the hare moves through the snow as if on skis. Due to this, the body load per 1 cm² of paws in a hare is only 9–12 g, while in a fox, for example, 40–43 g, in a wolf - 90–103 g, in a hound dog - 90–110 g.

In most of the range, hares turn white in winter, and only where there is no permanent snow cover do they remain gray in winter. So the famous New Year's song about how "a cowardly gray bunny jumped under the Christmas tree" clearly does not belong to our region. At all seasonal molt is a very important event in the life of a hare. It happens 2 times a year - in spring and autumn, and its beginning is associated with a change in the length of daylight hours and, to a lesser extent, with the ambient temperature. Therefore, it is not uncommon when, at the beginning of winter with little snow, white hares find themselves in a very difficult position, when already whitened animals become clearly visible against the background of a dark, snow-free land.

Of the sense organs in hares, hearing is best developed, vision and smell are weaker, therefore, to motionless standing man sometimes they get very close.

The structure of the teeth is peculiar, hares have two pairs of incisors on the upper jaw, unlike rodents, which have one pair. There are large, clearly visible incisors, and on the sides and slightly behind them are small quadrangular teeth. There are no fangs, and between the incisors and molars there is a space without teeth - a diastema. The teeth are deprived of closed roots and grow throughout life, because in connection with feeding on roughage, the crowns wear down quickly.

Feeding and feeding behavior

Hares are herbivorous animals, and their diet is clearly seasonal. In spring and summer, they feed on the green parts of plants. In winter, the diet of hares changes dramatically, and roughage begins to dominate in it: small branches of shrubs and tree bark. There are cases when hares dug mushrooms out of the ground, in particular deer truffles, and willingly ate them. Like all herbivores, white squirrels experience a shortage of mineral salts, so they periodically eat the earth, go to salt licks, gnaw on the bones of dead animals and horns shed by elks and deer.

Lifestyle and social behavior

The white hare is a twilight or even nocturnal animal. Usually during the day the hare hides, and after sunset it goes out to feed (fattening). In summer, with a long daylight hours, the night hours for feeding are not enough for the hare, and it also feeds during daylight hours. Usually, a feeding hare travels no more than 1–2 km per day, and in wet weather or heavy snowfall in winter it may not go out to feed at all.

Hares are solitary animals occupying their individual plot of 3 - 30 hectares. In most of the range, hares are sedentary, and their small movements are associated with a change in foraging grounds depending on the time of year. Mass long-distance migrations of white hare occur only in the tundra, when high snow cover makes twigs of dwarf willows and birches inaccessible. The length of such migrations can reach several hundred kilometers.

During the day on the bed, the hare hides or hides in some kind of shelter. For example, in winter, on clearings, hares use snowy voids formed in blockages and windbreaks. In these voids, the animals dig snow holes, in which they hide at the slightest danger. Attempts to dig and catch a hare in such shelters usually end in failure. From the place of lying to the place of feeding, hares run along the same route, and these paths are often used by several animals. During the winter, these snowy hare paths are so compacted that they can easily withstand a person. Going to lay, hares usually move in long jumps, confusing their tracks and making the so-called “doubles”, that is, they return along their own trail. Sometimes at the same time the hare is behind the pursuer. Often hares make long jumps sideways from the route. For hunters, this jump is called "estimation". In general, hares are very good at confusing tracks, and “reading” these tracks is a whole science for both four-legged hare hunters (fox, dogs) and for humans.

Reproduction and parenting behavior

Hares are fertile animals, for example, in the North they have 2 (sometimes 3) broods per season, on average 6–7 hares in each. The first brood sometimes appears even in the snow, and these hares are called "martovichki" or "nastovichki", and the last - at the end of summer or even at the beginning of autumn, and then the hares are called "leaf-fall". As a rule, the mortality of rabbits from early and late broods is very high.

The rut of hares is very violent, with fights between males. Pregnancy lasts an average of 50 days, hares are born sighted, covered with soft gray fur and able to jump a few hours after birth. Hares do not dig holes for childbirth, they give birth right on the surface of the earth. According to some reports, the hare stays close to the brood and even in danger tries to “take away” the predator, pretending to be wounded. But according to others, on the contrary, it quickly leaves so as not to attract the attention of predators to the hares. The fact is that 2-3-day-old hares have practically no smell, and it is very difficult to detect them hidden in the grass. From here, apparently, the saying about bad human mothers came from - “leaves children like a hare”. Usually the hare returns to feed the rabbits, but often a strange female running past can also do this. The milk of hares is very fatty, up to 15% fat, and hares grow quickly. By the end of the first week of life, they can already pluck grass, and at the age of 2 weeks they become independent. Puberty in whites comes early, as early as 10 months, and females reach the highest fecundity at 2–7 years.

Lifespan

The life expectancy of a white hare in nature does not exceed 6–7 years.

life in the zoo

At the Moscow Zoo, hare hares live in a large enclosure of the exposition " Animal world Russia". In addition, they are constantly kept in a group of so-called "traveling animals", the demonstration of which accompanies lectures and conversations both in the zoo and outside it.

Hares are tamed very well (contrary to ideas about their cowardice), only they do not like loud noise. Often we are asked the question of how animals get into the zoo and into the group of "exit" animals. In different ways, and here is one of those stories.

Once a visitor came to us and brought a young absolutely tame hare. A few days later, another owner of the same hare came and told this. He picked up a half-dead, crippled hare in the field, apparently hit by some kind of agricultural machinery. And this man was not only a good man but also an excellent surgeon. That's a lucky bunny! It was collected “in pieces”, and the animal survived, recovered, only slightly limped on its hind leg. And he became so tame that he followed his master everywhere like a dog. It was impossible to return it to nature, so the hare remained to live in a Moscow apartment. But the doctor's wife turned out to be not so hare-loving and, taking advantage of her husband's business trip, took the hare to the zoo. The returned owner wanted to see his pet. As a rule, we do not allow former owners to visit abandoned animals, so as not to injure them in vain. But here we made an exception. How happy they both were: both the man and the hare! We were ready to return the beast (we had not yet had time to “put it on allowance”), but the doctor decided not to risk peace in the family. The hare stayed with us. The owner visited him several more times, and the hare always recognized his savior and showed his joy in every possible way. And then the doctor decided not to "torment the soul" either to himself or to the hare, and stopped coming. The hare quickly got used to the staff of the "traveling" group and for many years "worked" excellently at traveling lectures. He was never capricious and obeyed any of our trainers. But he had no other favorites, except for the previous owner. The set of food received by the hare in the zoo is very diverse. Here are crackers, and oats, and peas, and vegetables, and hay (fresh grass in winter and fresh grass in summer), and brooms (dry in winter and green in summer). Twice a week, the hares receive aspen stakes with bark, and always in excess - lick salt. Thus, the zoo strives to bring the diet as close as possible to the natural one. The total amount of food consumed by the hare per day is about 2 kg. "Exit" hares in the order of encouragement when tamed receive cookies or sugar.