If you wanted to know more about hares and wild rabbits, you’re in the right place. Let’s find out more about them and we’ll start by answering the main question;
Where do hares live? Hares can be found all over the world. Hares live in parts of North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They like to live in areas that have a lot of trees, bushes, and vegetation so that they can hide, but they also love to have places that are open because they enjoy running around.
There are many types of hares:
- the European hare,
- the mountain hare,
- the artic hair,
- the snowshoe hare,
- the scrub hare,
- and the Indian hare
Each different type of hare lives in different areas of the world. Some hares are also known as jackrabbits. The black-tailed jackrabbit is a large hare that is found in North America. These hares live in the western part of the United States and the southern part of Mexico, and they love to live in deserts, prairies, farmlands, and dunes.
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What are the differences between hares and rabbits?
While hares and rabbits may look similar, but they are in fact different animals. Hares and rabbits both belong to the same family, the Leporidae family, but they are still considered to be different species. Another animal that is part of this family with hares and rabbits is the pika. There are few good ways to be able to tell the two critters apart.
1. Hares are bigger! Hares have longer ears and longer legs than rabbits. Because of this, hares are also faster runners. This comes in handy since hares like to spend time in open areas, which makes them need to be able to run away from predators quicker.
2. Hares and rabbits have different taste buds! Hares love to snack on twigs, tree bark, and the shoots of plants, while rabbits like to eat grasses, leafy plants, and vegetables.
3. Hares change colors with the seasons! Hares and rabbits both shed their coat. When rabbits shed their coat, they may have a slight change of color in their coat. But hares often have a drastic change in their fur. Hares use their fur as camouflage. Hares may be brown in the summer months to blend in with the ground but in the winter they may be a bright white color to fit in with the snow.
4. Hares and rabbits like to live in different homes! Hares live above ground in logs or nests, but rabbits like to live in dens made by other animals, like a woodchuck den.
5. Hares like to live alone! Most of the time, hares live all alone in solitary. Rabbits, on the other hand, live in groups called colonies. In a colony, there can be more than 20 rabbits living together.
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How big do hares get?
Hares can grow to be about 20 to 30 inches long, with an additional length of their tails coming in at another couple of inches. They usually weight about 5 to 15 pounds when they are fully grown.
How fast can hares run?
As you know, hares love to run! And they can run pretty fast! Hares can run at speeds at up to 40 miles per hour.
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What are their predators?
Since hares are so fast (and bigger than lots of similar animals), they are not the first choice of
How long do hares live?
Since there are so many different types of hares, the life expectancy of each type varies. For example, the arctic hare usually only lives about 18 months, but other varieties of hares, like the scrub hare, can live to be up to five years old.
Are hares tricky?
If you know the famous story The Tortoise and the Hare, you may be wondering if hares in real life are tricky like in the story. Hares are more like the opposite in real life. They are naturally very shy creatures, and they are a bit timid. There is even a saying “as timid as a hare” meaning that someone is easily scared and jumpy from human contact.