European Hare

Habitat: Hares are found in open areas. They mainly inhabit farmland, particularly grain fields, beet fields and fallow land. Forests are mainly used as shelter during the winter months.

Appearance: The hare is found throughout almost all of Europe, with the exception of Ireland, the Mediterranean region and Scandinavia. In the east, the hare has spread naturally throughout Russia. The hare is native to Africa.

Pairing season: Hares are polygamous. The breeding season runs from December to August. During the day, hares hide in shallow burrows they dig themselves in the ground, known as “leks”. Between suckling, the young hares lie separately at a short distance from the hare’s burrow to avoid attracting predators. They can produce 3 to 4 nests of 3 to 6 young per year.

Characteristics: head-torso length 50-65 cm, tail length 8.5-12 cm, weight 2.5-6 kg, average age 2-4 years, but can live up to 12 years.

Food: They benefit from a wide variety of crops and habitats with a large food supply. Hares are herbivores and feed on young grasses, grains, weeds and all kinds of crops. They prefer wild herbs and grasses to cultivated crops. During the summer they mainly eat (un)weeds, during the winter mainly grass.