The brown hare could be considered the Usain Bolt of our Surrey wildlife, as he can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. They are easily told apart from rabbits; not only are hares taller and slimmer, but they also sport much longer hind legs and longer ears.
You can find brown hares on any open farmland or large grass areas - unlike their rabbit cousins they don't dig burrows but instead just create shallow depressions in the ground where they will hunker down to avoid being spotted. If threatened or startled they can quickly leap into a fast paced zig zag sprint to escape. They are perfectly adapted for living in open spaces.
They become more visible as breeding season starts in spring. Females have boxing matches with the Males to either ward them off or to test their stamina to see if they would make a suitable father for their babies. Males will also box as they fight off rivals .
Females have 3 - 4 babies called leverets .
As herbivores, brown hares eat most vegetation including grass shoots, cereals, herbs and any other farmland crops. These amazing animals don't have many predators: their main threat is the fox who will take leverets when he can.
length 50 - 70 cm
weight 2 - 5 kg
lifespan 2 - 4 years
