European hare

Description

Together with the Alpine hare, the European brown hare is the largest hare in Europe. The snout-vent length is 55 to 68 cm, the tail length 75 to 140 mm, the length of the hind feet 124 to 185 mm and the length of the ears 100 to 140 mm. Adult animals weigh 3.5 to about 5.0 kg.

The coat is long, the outer fur is curved in most of the distribution area. The woolly hairs have a white base. The back is variably coloured and can be yellowish grey, ochre-brown or brown-red with yellow shading and speckled with black. The back is darker than the sides of the body and the face. The flanks are more rusty yellow or reddish brown. The head and neck, the chest and the legs are light brown, the belly is creamy white. The ears are pale grey and show a black, roughly triangular spot at the tip. The tail is black on the underpart and white underneath. In winter coat, the sides of the head including the base of the ears are whiter and the hips more grey.

Habitat

The relatively warmth-loving species inhabits open and semi-open landscapes such as sparse forests, steppes, dunes and the agricultural landscape with hedges, bushes or adjoining forests from sea level up to 2500 m.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldhase). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 18 August 2021