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Brown Hare - Lepus europaeus
It is larger, longer-eared and longer-legged than a Rabbit with a body length of 50-70 cm.
Fields and open countryside.
All year round
It breeds on the ground rather than in a burrow and relies on speed to escape. Normally shy animals; hares change their behaviour in spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around meadows. During this spring frenzy, Hares can be seen "boxing". This is when Hares strike one another with their paws. For a long time it had been thought that this was inter-male competition but closer observation has revealed that it is usually a female hitting a male, either to show that she is not yet quite ready to mate or as a test of his determination.
Less common now, than previously, probably due to changes in land use. It remains widespread in lowland Britain, but scarce in the Highlands.
Uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015
UK Map
Species profile
- Common names
- Hare, Brown Hare
- Species group:
- Mammals
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Lagomorpha
- Family:
- Leporidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 533
- First record:
- 26/07/1997 (Harry Ball)
- Last record:
- 07/04/2024 (Markham, Marian)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
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