View source for Hare

{{Short description|Genus of mammals in the family Leporidae}}
{{About|the animal|other uses|Hare (disambiguation)|and|Jackrabbit (disambiguation)|and|Lepus (disambiguation)|and|Leveret (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Hares
| image = Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis) close-up (30544290256) (2).jpg
| image_caption = [[Scrub hare]] (''Lepus saxatilis'')
| taxon = Lepus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = [[Mountain Hare|''Lepus timidus'']]
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}
'''Hares''' and '''jackrabbits''' are [[mammals]] belonging to the [[genus]] '''''Lepus'''''. They are [[herbivore]]s and live [[Solitary animal|solitarily]] or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are [[precociality|able to fend for themselves shortly after birth]]. The genus includes the largest [[Lagomorpha|lagomorphs]]. Most are fast runners with long, powerful hind legs, and large ears that dissipate body heat.<ref name="britannica">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Andrew |title=Hare |url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/hare-mammal |website=Britannica |access-date=6 February 2022}}</ref> Hare species are native to Africa, Eurasia and  North America. A hare less than one year old is called a "leveret".<ref>{{Cite Dictionary.com |leveret |access-date=2025-03-23}}</ref>

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 hare]]s (''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|domesticated European rabbit]] which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.petplanet.co.uk/small_breed_profile.asp?sbid=12/|title=Rabbit - Belgian Hare Small Breed Profile &#124; PetPlanet.co.uk|website=PetPlanet}}</ref>

==Biology==

Hares are swift animals and can run up to {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}} over short distances.<ref>{{cite book| publisher = IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Lagomorph Specialist Group| isbn = 2831700191| last1 = Chapman| first1 = Joseph| last2 = Flux | first2 = John | title = Rabbits, Hares and Pikas : Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan | date = 1990|page=2}}</ref> Over longer distances,  the [[European hare]] (''Lepus europaeus'') can run up to {{convert|35|mph|order=flip|abbr=on|round=5}}.<ref>{{cite book| publisher = National Geographic Books| isbn = 9780792259367| last1 = McKay| first1 = George| first2 = Karen|last2= McGhee| title = National Geographic Encyclopedia of Animals| url = https://archive.org/details/nationalgeograph00kare| url-access = registration| date = 10 October 2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalgeograph00kare/page/68 68]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vu |first=Alan |title=''Lepus europaeus'': European hare |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lepus_europaeus.html |access-date=9 January 2013 |work=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology}}</ref>  The five species of jackrabbits found in central and western North America are able to run at {{convert|40|mph|km/h|order=flip|abbr=on|round=5}} over longer distances, and can leap up to {{convert|3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} at a time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jackrabbit/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207174802/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jackrabbit/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 7, 2010 |title=Jackrabbits, Jackrabbit Pictures, Jackrabbit Facts - National Geographic |date=11 April 2010 |publisher=Animals.nationalgeographic.com |access-date=2013-01-12}}</ref>
 
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 (ethology)|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]]".<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Collins|title=Definition of 'March hare'|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/march-hare}}</ref> This is present not only in intermale competition, but also among females (called ''does'') toward males to prevent copulation.<ref>{{cite journal|year=1984|title=The myth of the mad March hare|journal=Nature|volume=309|issue=5968|pages=549–550|author=Holly, A.J.F.|author2=Greenwood, P.J.|name-list-style=amp|doi=10.1038/309549a0|pmid=6539424|bibcode=1984Natur.309..549H |s2cid=4275486 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Flux, J.E.C.|title=Myths and mad March hares|journal=Nature|volume=325|issue=6106|year=1987|pages=737–738 |doi=10.1038/325737a0|pmid=3821863|bibcode=1987Natur.325..737F |s2cid=4280664 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Hares, like all [[leporid]]s, have jointed, or [[Cranial kinesis#Hares|kinetic]], skulls, unique among mammals. 

===Differences from rabbits===
{{Main|Rabbit}}

Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. They have 48 chromosomes,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hsu |first=T. C. |title=An Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes : Volume 1 |date=1967 |publisher=Springer New York |others=Kurt Benirschke |isbn=978-1-4615-6422-5 |location=New York, NY |oclc=851820869}}</ref> while rabbits have 44.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Painter |first=Theophilus S. |date=1926 |title=Studies in mammalian spermatogenesis VI. The chromosomes of the rabbit |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.1050430102 |journal=Journal of Morphology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=1–43 |doi=10.1002/jmor.1050430102 |bibcode=1926JMorp..43....1P |s2cid=85002717 |issn=0362-2525|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Hares have not been domesticated, while some rabbits are raised for food and kept as [[pet]]s.

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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Langley|first1=Liz|title=What's the Difference Between Rabbits and Hares?|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141219-rabbits-hares-animals-science-mating-courtship/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220122938/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141219-rabbits-hares-animals-science-mating-courtship/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 20, 2014|website=National Geographic|date=19 December 2014}}</ref>

===Diet===
{{Further|Cecotrope}}

Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract, expelling the waste as regular feces. For nutrients that are harder to extract, hares, like all [[lagomorpha|lagomorphs]], ferment fiber in the [[cecum]] and expel the mass as [[cecotrope]]s, which they ingest again, a practice called [[cecotrope|cecotrophy]] or refection. The cecotropes are absorbed in the small intestine to use the nutrients.<ref name="britannica"/>

=== Habitat ===
Hares can be found in a wide variety of habitats, ranging from desert environments and arctic tundra to temperate grasslands, forests, swamps, mountains, and tropical regions. Some hares such as the [[snowshoe hare]] may change their fur color to better hide as the seasons change. The adaptability of the [[European hare]] to different environments has led to it becoming an [[invasive species]] in regions where it is newly [[Introduced species|introduced]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Feldhamer |first1=George A. |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalogy-adaptation-diversity-ecology-fifth-edition-george-a.-feldhamer-joseph- |title=Mammalogy: adaptation, diversity, ecology |last2=Merritt |first2=Joseph F. |last3=Krajewski |first3=Carey |last4=Rachlow |first4=Janet L. |last5=Stewart |first5=Kelley M. |date=2020 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-1-4214-3652-4 |edition=5th |location=Baltimore |pages=359–360, 363 |lccn=2019017733}}</ref>

===Classification===
{{see also|List of leporids}}
[[File:Jack Rabbit Ears.jpg|thumb|right|Hare]]
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - California Hare - John J. Audubon.jpg|thumb|Brooklyn Museum - California Hare - John J. Audubon]]
[[File:Lepus capensis arabicus-cropped.jpg|thumb|Cape hare (''Lepus capensis'')]]
[[File:Common and irish hare.jpg|thumb|[[European hare]] (above) and [[mountain hare]]]]
[[File:Alaskan Hare Skeleton.jpg|thumb|Alaskan hare's skeletal system ([[Museum of Osteology]])]]
* '''Genus ''Lepus'''''<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Lagomorpha | id = 13500099 | pages = 195–205}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Database |first=Mammal Diversity |title=Mammal Diversity Database |date=2022-02-01 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.5945626 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5945626 |access-date=2022-03-24}}</ref>
** Subgenus ''Macrotolagus''
*** [[Antelope jackrabbit]], ''Lepus alleni''
** Subgenus ''Poecilolagus''
*** [[Snowshoe hare]], ''Lepus americanus''
** Subgenus ''Lepus''
*** [[Arctic hare]], ''Lepus arcticus''
*** [[Alaskan hare]], ''Lepus othus''
*** [[Mountain hare]], ''Lepus timidus''
** Subgenus ''Proeulagus''
*** [[Black jackrabbit]], ''Lepus insularis''
*** [[Desert hare]], ''Lepus tibetanus''
*** [[Tolai hare]], ''Lepus tolai''
** Subgenus ''Eulagos''
*** [[Broom hare]], ''Lepus castroviejoi''
*** [[Yunnan hare]], ''Lepus comus''
*** [[Korean hare]], ''Lepus coreanus''
*** [[European hare]], ''Lepus europaeus''
*** [[Manchurian hare]], ''Lepus mandshuricus''
*** [[Ethiopian highland hare]], ''Lepus starcki''
** Subgenus ''Sabanalagus''
*** [[Ethiopian hare]], ''Lepus fagani''
*** [[African savanna hare]], ''Lepus victoriae''
** Subgenus ''Indolagus''
*** [[Hainan hare]], ''Lepus hainanus''
*** [[Indian hare]], ''Lepus nigricollis''
*** [[Burmese hare]], ''Lepus peguensis''
** Subgenus ''Sinolagus''
***[[Chinese hare]], ''Lepus sinensis''
** Subgenus ''Tarimolagus''
*** [[Yarkand hare]], ''Lepus yarkandensis''
** ''[[Incertae sedis]]''
*** [[Tamaulipas jackrabbit]], ''Lepus altamirae''
*** [[Japanese hare]], ''Lepus brachyurus''
***[[Black-tailed jackrabbit]], ''Lepus californicus''
*** [[White-sided jackrabbit]], ''Lepus callotis''
*** [[Cape hare]], ''Lepus capensis''
*** [[Corsican hare]], ''Lepus corsicanus''
*** [[Tehuantepec jackrabbit]], ''Lepus flavigularis''
*** [[Granada hare]], ''Lepus granatensis''
*** [[Abyssinian hare]], ''Lepus habessinicus''
*** [[Mediterranean hare]], ''Lepus mediterraneus''
*** [[Woolly hare]], ''Lepus oiostolus''
*** [[West Sahara hare]], ''Lepus saharae''
*** [[Scrub hare]], ''Lepus saxatilis''
*** [[Moroccan hare]], ''Lepus schlumbergeri''
*** [[White-tailed jackrabbit]], ''Lepus townsendii''

==In human culture==
===Food===
====Meat====
[[File:Albrecht Dürer - Hare, 1502 - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Young Hare]]'', a watercolour, 1502, by [[Albrecht Dürer]]]]

Hares and rabbits are plentiful in many areas, adapt to a wide variety of conditions, and reproduce quickly, so hunting is often less regulated than for other varieties of game. They are a common source of protein worldwide.<ref>{{cite journal | title = What is the role and contribution of meat from wildlife in providing high quality protein for consumption? | last1 = Hoffman | first1 = L.C. | last2 = Cawthorn | first2 = D.M. | journal = Animal Frontiers | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | date = October 2012 | pages = 40–53 | doi = 10.2527/af.2012-0061 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Because of their extremely low fat content, they are [[protein poisoning|a poor choice as a survival food]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Gary L. Benton |url=http://www.brushfiresmt.com/index_files/Page1094.htm |title=Vitamins, Minerals, and Survival |publisher=Preparedness and Self-Reliance |access-date=2017-10-30 |archive-date=2015-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315061418/http://www.brushfiresmt.com/index_files/Page1094.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Hares can be prepared in the same manner as rabbits—commonly roasted or parted for breading and frying.

{{lang|de|[[Hasenpfeffer]]}} (also spelled {{lang|de|Hasenfeffer}}) is a traditional [[German cuisine|German]] [[stew]] made from marinated rabbit or hare, seasoned with [[black pepper]] (German {{lang|de|Pfeffer}}) and other spices. Wine or vinegar is also a prominent ingredient, to lend a sourness to the recipe.

{{lang|el-Latn|Lagos stifado}} ({{lang|el|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|Inquisitors]] resident on the island, several of whom went on to become [[pope]].

According to [[Halakha|Jewish tradition]], the hare is among mammals deemed not [[kosher foods|kosher]], 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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Rabbit Molokhia|date=10 December 2008 |publisher=SBS Food|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/molokhia}}</ref>

====Blood====
The blood of a freshly killed hare can be collected for consumption in a stew or casserole in a cooking process known as [[jugging]]. First the [[gut (anatomy)|entrails]] are removed from the hare carcass before it is hung in a [[larder]] by its hind legs, which causes blood to accumulate in the chest cavity. One method of preserving the blood after draining it from the hare (since the hare is usually hung for a week or more) is to mix it with red wine vinegar to prevent [[coagulation]], and then to store it in a freezer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hares, Brown, Blue or White.|author=Bill Deans |url=http://website.lineone.net/~bill.deans/hare.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930031415/http://website.lineone.net/~bill.deans/hare.htm |archive-date=2007-09-30 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Mother Earth News |issue=41 |date=September–October 1976 |title=Farming for Self-Sufficiency Independence on a 5-acre Farm |author=John Seymour |author2=Sally Seymour |name-list-style=amp |url=http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock_and_Farming/1976_September_October/Farming_For_Self_Sufficiency_Independence_on_a_5_acre_farm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901225058/http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock_and_Farming/1976_September_October/Farming_For_Self_Sufficiency_Independence_on_a_5_acre_farm |archive-date=2006-09-01 }}</ref>

Jugged hare, known as {{lang|fr|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://prospectbooks.co.uk/j/|author=Tom Jaine|work=The History of English Cookery|title=A Glossary of Cookery and other Terms|publisher=Prospect Books}}</ref><ref name=Guardian1>{{cite news|title=Chips are down for Britain's old culinary classics|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2006-07-25|page=6|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/07/25/2003320323}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/gl_j.htm|title=Jugged|work=The Great British Kitchen|publisher=The British Food Trust|access-date=2009-01-24|archive-date=2008-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509064847/http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/gl_j.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipes_result.asp?name=juggedhare|title=Recipes: Game: Jugged Hare|work=The Great British Kitchen|publisher=The British Food Trust|access-date=2009-01-24|archive-date=2007-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026113931/http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipes_result.asp?name=juggedhare|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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&nbsp;..." 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.<ref>{{cite book| last=Glasse|first= Hannah|title= The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy|publisher= London|year= 1747|page= 50}}</ref> In the 19th century, a myth arose that Glasse's recipe began with the words "First, catch your hare."<ref name=Guardian1 />

Many other British cookbooks from before the middle of the 20th century have recipes for jugged hare. Merle and Reitch<ref>{{cite book |title=The domestic dictionary and housekeeper's manual |url=https://archive.org/details/b21531675 |author=Gibbons Merle |author2=John Reitch |name-list-style=amp |location=London |publisher=William Strange |year=1842 |page=[https://archive.org/details/b21531675/page/n122 113] }}</ref> have this to say about jugged hare, for example:
:The best part of the hare, when roasted, is the loin and the thick part of the hind leg; the other parts are only fit for stewing, hashing, or jugging. It is usual to roast a hare first, and to stew or jug the portion which is not eaten the first day. ...
:''To Jug A Hare.'' This mode of cooking a hare is very desirable when there is any doubt as to its age, as an old hare, which would be otherwise uneatable, may be made into an agreeable dish.

In 2006, a survey of 2021 people for the [[Good Food|UKTV 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hannah Glasse's Jugged Hare |access-date=2017-10-30 |url=https://www.janeausten.co.uk/first-catch-your-hare-hannah-glasses-jugged-hare }}</ref>

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.

===Taming===
No extant domesticated hares exist. However, hare remains have been found in a wide range of human settlement sites, some showing signs of use beyond simple hunting and eating:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sheng |first1=Pengfei |last2=Hu |first2=Yaowu |last3=Sun |first3=Zhouyong |last4=Yang |first4=Liping |last5=Hu |first5=Songmei |last6=Fuller |first6=Benjamin T. |last7=Shang |first7=Xue |title=Early commensal interaction between humans and hares in Neolithic northern China |journal=Antiquity |date=June 2020 |volume=94 |issue=375 |pages=622–636 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2020.36|s2cid=219423073 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* A [[European brown hare]] was buried alongside an older woman in Hungary mid fifth millennium BC.
* 12 [[Mountain hare]] metapodials were found in a Swedish grave from third millennium BC.
* The Tolai hare (originally described as a [[Cape hare]], amended according to range) was tamed by northern Chinese people in the neolithic period (~third millennium BC) and fed millets.

===In mythology and folklore===
The hare in African folk tales is a [[trickster]]; some of the stories about the hare were retold among enslaved Africans in America and are the basis of the [[Br'er Rabbit]] stories. The hare appears in [[English folklore]] in the saying "[[Mad as a March hare|as mad as a March hare]]" and in the legend of the White Hare that alternatively tells of a witch who takes the form of a white hare and goes out looking for prey at night or of the spirit of a broken-hearted maiden who cannot rest and who haunts her unfaithful lover.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://folk-this.tripod.com/thewhitehare.html |title=The White Hare |publisher=Folk-this.tripod.com |date=1969-05-13 |access-date=2013-01-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannia.com/history/legend/collection/legcol06.html |title=Legends of Britain: The White Hare |publisher=Britannia.com |access-date=2013-01-12}}</ref>

The constellation [[Lepus (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.<ref name=Layard/> Live hares were often presented as a gift of love.<ref name=Layard>John Layard, ''The Lady of the Hare'', "The Hare in Classical Antiquity", [https://books.google.com/books?id=RuIhnnVzk-0C&q=Hare+in+classical+&pg=PA208 pp.208 - 21]</ref> 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 polytheism|Anglo-Saxon]] goddess [[Ēostre]] as an explanation for the [[Easter Bunny]]. However, this belief is modern in origin.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

In European tradition, the hare symbolises the two qualities of swiftness<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.englishdaily626.com/similes.php?006|title=Similes|website=www.englishdaily626.com}}</ref> and timidity.<ref>Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, ''Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'', Cambridge University 2014, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0DPeAgAAQBAJ&dq=hare+timidity&pg=PA32 p.32]</ref> The latter once gave the European hare the [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean name]] ''Lepus timidus''<ref>''The Popular Encyclopaedia'' 3.2., Glasgow 1836, [https://books.google.com/books?id=96amePyJ_7wC&dq=hare+timidity&pg=PA634 p.634]</ref> that is limited to the mountain hare. Several ancient fables depict [[the Hare in flight]]: In one, [[The Frightened Hares|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|Irish]] 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====
{{Main|List of fictional rabbits and hares}}
<!-- Please do not add any fictional rabbits to this article, instead please add to the list in the article "List of fictional hares and rabbits" -->

====In art====
{{Main|Rabbits and hares in art}}

====Three hares====
[[File:Paderborn Dom asv2024-05 img05.jpg|thumb|upright|''Dreihasenfenster'' (Window of Three Hares) in [[Paderborn Cathedral]]]]
{{Main|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|Christian]] 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|Jewish]], [[Islam]]ic and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] sites stretching back to about 600&nbsp;AD.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk/hares/index.html| title=The three hares project | author=Chris Chapman | year=2004 | access-date=2008-11-11}}</ref>

===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", {{Lang|sco|murchen}} being a [[Scots language|Scots]] word for a hare.<ref name="Warrack">{{cite book|editor1-last=Warrack|editor1-first=Alexander|title=Chambers Scots dictionary|date=1984|publisher=W. & R. Chambers|location=Edinburgh|isbn=9780550118011}}</ref>

==References==<!-- Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46 (2008) 1191–1197 -->
{{Clear}}
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171107031918/http://www.endicott-studio.com/articleslist/the-symbolism-of-rabbits-and-hares-by-terri-windling.html Windling, Terri. ''The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares''.]
* [[William George Black]], F.S.A.Scot. "[[s:The Folk-Lore Journal. Volume 1/The Hare in Folk-lore|The Hare in Folk-lore]]" ''The Folk-Lore Journal''. Volume 1, 1883
* Gibbons, J. S., Herbert, K., Lascelles, G., Longman, J. H., Macpherson, H. A., & Richardson, C. 1896. ''The Hare: Natural history''.     [https://archive.org/details/haremacp00macp]
* Palmer, TS. ''Jack Rabbits of the United States'' 1896. Washington,: Govt. Print. Off.[https://archive.org/details/jackrabbits00tspa/page/n1/mode/2up]
* Edwards, P. J., M. R. Fletcher, and P. Berny. ''Review of the factors affecting the decline of the European brown hare, Lepus europaeus (Pallas, 1778) and the use of wildlife incident data to evaluate the significance of paraquat''. ''Agriculture, ecosystems & environment'' 79.2-3 (2000): 95-103.[https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=043d74e8a4caed2b13a610fce8d357deabcbe184]
* Vaughan, Nancy, et al. ''Habitat associations of European hares Lepus europaeus in England and Wales: implications for farmland management'' ''Journal of Applied Ecology'' 40.1 (2003): 163-175.[https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00784.x]
* Smith, Rebecca K., et al. ''Conservation of European hares Lepus europaeus in Britain: is increasing habitat heterogeneity in farmland the answer?'' ''Journal of Applied Ecology'' 41.6 (2004): 1092-1102.[https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00976.x]
* Reid, Neil. ''Conservation ecology of the Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus)''. Diss. Queen's University of Belfast, 2006 [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil-Reid-3/publication/233813390%20Conservation%20ecology%20of%20the%20Irish%20hare%20Lepus%20timidus%20hibernicus/links/09e4150bccb8278ad8000000/Conservation-ecology-of-the-Irish-hare-Lepus-timidus-hibernicus.pdf]
* Natasha E. McGowan, Neal McDermott, Richard Stone, Liam Lysaght, S. Karina Dingerkus, Anthony Caravaggi, Ian Kerr, Neil Reid, ''National Hare Survey & Population Assessment 2017-2019'', [report], National Parks and Wildlife Service. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 2019-11, ''Irish wildlife manuals'', No.113, 2019 [http://edepositireland.ie/handle/2262/90383]
* Kane, Eloise C. ''Beyond the Pale: the historical archaeology of hare hunting, 1603-1831''. Diss. University of Bristol, 2021.[https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.845189] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210205714/https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.845189 |date=2022-12-10 }}
* Reid, Neil. ''Survival, movements, home range size and dispersal of hares after coursing and/or translocation.'' ''PloS one'' 18.6 (2023): e0286771.[https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286771]

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101203134833/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Hare BBC Nature section about hares]

{{Lagomorpha|L.}}
{{Lagomorpha Genera|Le.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q46076}}
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[[Category:Lepus| ]]
[[Category:Meat by animal]]
[[Category:Leporidae| ]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]