What does a real rabbit look like? Hares. Mating period for rabbits

Pregnancy

Hares are one of the most common animals in the world. Even though they have very valuable fur, being for this reason a favorite object for hunting, hare fertility does not allow this population to disappear.

In total, there are 30 species of hares in the world, each of them is distinguished by its habits and external features. Let's talk today about one of them - a white hare.

white hare Description of the hare

So why white? In winter, this subspecies of the hare changes its color from gray (sometimes grayish-reddish) to snow-white. Only on the tops of the ears may there be black spots.

The weight of a hare is from 1.6 kg to 4.5 kg, the length ranges from 40 to 65 cm. The animal has a neat rounded tail, the length of which barely reaches 7 cm, and chic ears 8 to 10 cm long. species are always wide, feet and fingers, on which are covered with thick fur.

The molting period for hares of this species occurs in spring and autumn - 2 times a year. In those regions where snow falls in small quantities, white hare do not change color.

Females are often slightly larger than males.

Habitat

So where does this snow-white handsome man live? This species is most widely distributed in northern latitudes - North America, Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden. In Russia, hare can be found in Siberia, Kamchatka and Sakhalin, in Ukraine - in Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and Sumy regions.

Belyaks prefer to live in places where food is plentiful for them, regardless of the time of year. Most often these beauties can be found on the edges of mixed and deciduous forests, in thickets of bushes, in reeds near water bodies, in tall steppe grasses. The hare tries to settle where predators lack it.

Food

What do rabbits eat? Belyaki belong to the category of herbivores:

AT summer time these long-ears love to eat such herbaceous plants as clover, cereals, dandelion leaves and flowers, yarrow, goldenrod and many others medicinal plants that grow in their habitat.
Hares in autumn feed on small branches of shrubs.
In winter, these beauties they feed on the bark of trees such as aspen, birch, willow, etc. They can get dry grass and cedar cones from under the snow. Sometimes they eat dry berries left on the bushes. It can also eat mountain ash, wild rose, juniper and alder. If there are orchards not far from the hare habitat, then there you can also find a hare gnawing the bark of fruit trees.
In the spring this fluffy switches back to herbaceous plants and young shoots of trees and shrubs.

There were unusual cases- white gourmets found, dug up and ate truffle mushrooms.

Lifestyle

What is the behavior of a white hare? Their highest peak of activity falls on the evening and predawn time.

In winter, hare hares pull out a small mink in the snow for themselves, where they hide in bad weather or during daylight hours. In the summer of such shelters, the hare usually do not make, but settle down in a secluded place simply by crushing the grass.

From the place of their shelter to the place of feeding, the hare mostly move along the same route. This becomes especially noticeable in winter time- they tread paths so well that even a person can freely move along them.

In search of food, this long-eared is able to move very long distances - up to 10 kilometers in one night. But if the long-eared has enough food, then in the same night he can walk only one kilometer.

The hare has very poorly developed eyesight and sense of smell, but it has excellent hearing. The ability to move very quickly is the only means of protection in case of danger.

reproduction

Belyak, like all his long-eared counterparts, is a very prolific animal. Mating season usually occurs in spring and summer months. In females, fertility peaks between 2 and 7 years of age. Pregnancy lasts from 47 to 55 days, shortly after giving birth, the hare mates again. In one season, the female is able to breed from 2 to 4 broods, depending on her age and nutrition. Lambing takes place in a secluded place on the surface of the earth. The first hares are born in April-May, the second in June-July, the third in August-September. Rarely, the first babies appear already in March, and the last ones in November, but such broods usually die.

For one litter, on average, 5–7 hares are born, but sometimes it reaches 11. Babies are born covered with thick fur, sighted, unlike many other animals, and capable of independent movement. The weight of newborns is only 100-130 grams.

For the first 8 days, the hares feed exclusively on their mother's milk, after which they begin to taste the grass. Since hare milk is very fatty and nutritious, babies eat no more than once a day. After 15 days, the cubs are already moving away from their mother and lead an independent life. White squirrels reach puberty at the age of ten months.

The life expectancy of this hare is 17 years, but, unfortunately, most of them do not even live up to 5 years - predators, poaching and infections are to blame.

population

The number of belyakov, as well as its fellows, varies from year to year.

Protection of this species

white hare listed in the Red Book of Ukraine as an endangered species.
Added to the Red List International community for the conservation of nature.
Is under protection Berne convention.

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. The international scientific name of the hare genus is Lepus (lat.). Hares only at first glance seem to be harmless animals. Thanks to powerful legs and long claws, they are able to withstand danger. Since ancient times, this fluffy animal has been a desirable prey for hunters because of 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, making it easier for the animal to hear.

Distinctive feature 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 humpback 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 acquires grey colour. 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, the sides are white. 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 a yellowish tint, on the back the hair 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 of guinea pigs. In the people, agouti is also called 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 should 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 lagomorph is the Flanders, or the 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. Representatives of the northern peoples make household items from the skin of a seal. 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 and inhabit places with dense thickets. Hares can live apart certain types 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. More recently, they have been introduced 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.
A phenomenon sometimes occurs in rabbits double pregnancy when re-fertilization can occur even before the birth of the offspring.

The hare belongs to the order "hare-shaped". He has the ability to unrecognizably confuse his trail before lying on a day bed. This animal is a valuable object of both commercial and sport hunting.

Such popularity of the brown hare is explained by the huge range of its habitat. It is found almost throughout Europe, as well as in Asia Minor and Asia Minor.

Rusaks settle in open steppe areas interspersed with bushes and forest islands. Often, especially in winter, they move closer to human habitation, where it is easier to get food.

For almost the whole year, the hare lives alone, and only for the period of the rut, individuals briefly gather in groups, where several males fight for each female.

Below you can see beautiful photos of a brown hare:

Hares are active at dusk and at night, while in the daytime they hide from prying eyes, disguising themselves on their beds so skillfully that even coming close to a brown hare it is very difficult to see it. Thanks to the superbly developed vision, hearing and sense of smell, it is not easy to sneak up on the animal unnoticed. If the rodent is frightened away, it flees, developing speeds of up to 60 km / h on flat areas, easily swims across streams and rivers.

The breeding season for brown hares lasts from the end of winter - the beginning of spring to late autumn. A hare bears offspring for 30-40 days. In one season, an individual brings 2 - 4 litters, an average of 3-5 rabbits in each. The first days the newborn hares lie without moving, and the hare herself comes to feed them. Somewhere in 7 - 10 days, the hares already begin to eat grass, and after another two - three weeks they become completely independent. Puberty in a young hare occurs at the age of eight months.

The hare eats exclusively vegetable food. At any time of the year, its diet contains a variety of herbs and seeds. In winter, during a shortage of food, it includes shoots and bark of shrubs and trees. Often, gardens suffer from the teeth of a brown hare, in which, literally at night, a nimble animal can spoil a dozen fruit trees. Rough food is poorly digested, so hares sometimes eat their own droppings so that the necessary substances are better absorbed.

Video: Animals in the lens: Hare (1984) (film)

Latin name - Lepus timidus
English title- 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 hare everywhere refers to ordinary species, easily adapting 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. The possible harm brought by hares in fields and gardens is very insignificant, and great influence does not affect human economic activity.

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 forests, especially taiga, and 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 Western Siberia(up to 5.5 kg), and the smallest - in Yakutia and the 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. Generally seasonal molt is very important event in the life of a white man. 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, there are frequent cases 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 the nutrition of 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 lack 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 one 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 went - "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 feed consumed by the hare per day is about 2 kg. "Exit" hares in the order of encouragement when tamed receive cookies or sugar.

A hare is an animal that belongs to the class mammals, order hare-like, family hare, genus hare ( Lepus). Contrary to popular belief, they do not belong to rodents and are far from being so harmless. In case of danger, they show aggressiveness and resist the attacker. Since ancient times, the hare has been a desirable trophy for hunters due to tasty meat and warm fur.

Hare - description, characteristics, appearance. What does a hare look like?

hare body slender, slightly laterally compressed, its length in some species reaches 68-70 cm. The weight of a hare can exceed 7 kg. characteristic feature hare-shaped are wedge-shaped ears, reaching a length of 9 to 15 cm. Thanks to the ears, the hearing of the hare is much better developed than the sense of smell and vision. The hind limbs of these mammals have long feet and are more developed than the front ones. In the event of a threat, the speed of a hare can reach 80 km / h. And the ability to suddenly change the direction of running and jump sharply to the side allows these animals to get rid of the pursuit of enemies: wolf, fox, owl, etc. Hares run well up the slopes, but you have to go down head over heels.

hare color depends on the season. In summer, the fur of the animal has a reddish-gray, brown or brown tint. Due to the dark color of the undercoat, the color is uneven with large and small "spots". The fur on the belly is white. Hares change color in winter, their fur brightens, but only the white hare becomes completely snow-white. The tips of the ears of all members of the genus remain black. all year round.

How long does a hare live?

The average life expectancy of males does not exceed 5 years, females - 9 years, however, there are recorded cases of more long term The life of a hare is about 12-14 years.

Types of hares, names and photos

The genus of hares is diverse and includes 10 subgenera, divided into several species. Below are several types of hares:

Hare— hare(Lepus timidus )

The most common representative of the hare genus, inhabiting almost the entire territory of Russia, in Northern Europe, Ireland, Mongolia, South America and in many other countries of the world. This species of hares is distinguished by characteristic seasonal dimorphism - in areas with stable snow cover, the color of the fur becomes pure white, with the exception of the tips of the ears. In summer, the hare is gray.

hare(Lepus europaeus )

A large species of hares, some individuals of which grow up to 68 cm in length and weigh up to 7 kg. The fur of the hare is shiny, silky, with a characteristic waviness, of different shades. Brown color, white rings around the eyes. The habitat of the hare covers the European forest-steppes, Turkey, Iran, the north of the African continent and Kazakhstan.

Antelope hare(Lepus alleni )

Representatives of the species are distinguished by very large and long ears, growing up to 20 cm. The auricles are designed in such a way that they allow the animal to regulate heat transfer when too high temperature habitat. The antelope hare lives in the state of Arizona in the USA and 4 Mexican states.

Chinese hare(Lepus sinensis )

The species is characterized by small body size (up to 45 cm) and weight up to 2 kg. The coloring of short, hard fur consists of many shades of brown, from chestnut to brick. A characteristic black triangular pattern stands out at the tips of the ears. This type hares are found in the hilly areas of China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

tolai hare(Lepus tolai )

Medium-sized individuals outwardly resemble a hare, but differ in longer ears and legs, as well as the absence of crimped fur. This hare is a typical representative of deserts and semi-deserts, lives in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and in the Russian steppes - from Altai Territory to the south of the Astrakhan region.

yellow hare(Lepus flavigularis )

The only population of yellowish hares inhabits the meadows and coastal dunes of the Gulf of Mexico Tehuantepec, hence it has a second name - the Tehuantepec hare. Large individuals, up to 60 cm long and weighing 3.5-4 kg, are difficult to confuse with other types of hares due to two black stripes running from the ears to the back of the head and along the white sides.

broom hare(Lepus castroviejoi )

The habitat of this species of hares is limited to the scrub wastelands of the north-west of the Cantabrian mountains of Spain. In appearance and habits there is a resemblance to a hare-hare. Due to extermination, predation and violation of the natural ecosystem, the species is on the verge of extinction and is listed in the Red Book of Spain.

blacktail(California) hare (Lepus californicus )

The species is characterized by long ears, powerful hind limbs, a dark stripe running along the back, and a black tail. It is considered the most common species of hares in Mexico and the United States.

Manchurian hare(Lepus mandshuricus )

Small representatives of this species of hares grow up to 55 cm and weigh no more than 2.5 kg. Ears, tail and hind legs are quite short, due to which there is a clear resemblance to a wild rabbit. The fur is hard and short, brown in color with black ripples. typical representative deciduous forests and shrub plains can be found in the Far East, in Primorye, as well as in Northeast China and Korea.

Curly hare (Tibetan curly hare)(Lepus ioostolus )

The species is distinguished by small size (40 - 58 cm) and a weight of just over 2 kg. characteristic feature considered yellowish wavy fur on the back. It lives in India, Nepal and China, including the mountain steppes of the Tibetan highlands, from where it got its second name - the Tibetan curly hare.

Where does the hare live?

Hares live in open steppe and forest-steppe landscapes. Numerous populations are found in desert-steppe regions, on open forest edges, fields and meadows, and in places of massive deforestation. They try not to climb into the depths of the forest, preferring areas with developed agriculture. They feel at ease in ravines and gullies overgrown with shrubs. These animals are well adapted to life in harsh environments. climatic conditions, therefore, they are found even in the expanses of the Arctic and Alaska. AT recent times populations in Australia and New Zealand have been noted. Not found only in Antarctica. Hares do not have permanent bunkhouses, although they can use abandoned fox or badger burrows. They are active in the evening and at night.

The diet of hares in spring and summer includes young branches and shoots of shrubs and trees, leaves of various plants, clover, dandelion and other herbs. They will not refuse vegetable and melon crops.

In winter, hares have to dig out the remains of agricultural crops from under the snow, eat the bark of shrubs and trees, including fruit trees, harming them. In the northern regions, there have been cases when hares ate partridges caught in hunting snares. Therefore, hares cannot be called pure vegetarians.

Hares breeding

AT vivo Hares live both alone and in pairs. During the year, these animals rut three times. The gestation period for a hare lasts up to 50 days. In one litter, there can be from 1 to 9 rabbits. Offspring are born sighted and capable of independent movement. In the first 5-7 days, hares need milk, but by 2-3 weeks of life they switch to grass food and become independent. Sexual maturity occurs by next spring.

It will seem strange, but hares are not always vegetarians. Hunters will not let you lie: it is enough to “forget” a partridge in a snare, like a hare, with pleasure, eat poultry meat, tearing prey strong paws with powerful claws.
The hare is by no means cowardly and not always good-natured. A case was recorded when the “oblique”, raised by a shepherd named Jerome, quickly adopted some habits from a male, bravely rushed at the dogs, trying to bite them.
There is no reason to call a hare really “oblique” - everything is in order with the eyes of the animal! And his winding while running, which the hunters associated precisely with vision problems, is due to the slightly asymmetric development of the right and left hare paws.