Mad as a March Hare

 

Mad as a March Hare

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Hares have long ears with black tips. The white part of the tail is not shown when a hare runs, unlike a rabbit's scut.

Made memorable by Lewis Carroll in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, the mad March hare is used as an allusion to excitable, unpredictable activity. Although March is particularly associated with flamboyant behaviour, hares can be seen behaving giddily at any time between February and September.

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The expression has been in use since the 16^th century. In 1500 The original poet of Blowbol’s Test wrote:

Thanne þey begyn to swere and stare, And be as braynles as a Marshe hare

(Then they begin to swerve and stare, And be as brainless as a March hare)

March is the peak time for hares to mate. The madness of the March hare is caused by the urge to mate. A male will chase a female to entice her and if she is not receptive she will begin to box with him, both contestants standing on their hind legs and hitting each other with their paws.

Sculpture of boxing hares 

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The brown hare, (Lepidus europaeus), was brought to Britain by the Romans. They probably originated in central Asia. They are largely crepuscular, but can be spotted in daylight. Hares do not live in communities in burrows, but lead solitary lives above ground, sheltering in forms about 4” deep that they scrape from the earth. Unlike rabbit kittens, which are born naked, blind and deaf and completely helpless, leverets can see and hear and are covered with fur at birth. A female hare can have up to four litters a year, each averaging four young, which she cares for on her own, leaving them in the form while she forages for food.

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Foxes are the major predators of hares, which exhibit a prodigious turn of speed when fleeing. They can reach 45 mph. Sometimes, they seem to disappear into thin air, an illusion created by them dropping into a form. On average they live for only two or three years, sometimes five. The oldest documented wild hare was 12½. Notwithstanding the threat from foxes, hare numbers have declined by 80% in the last century, largely due to changes in farming practices. They are also hunted as game and shot as pests. Wildlife Trusts are working with farmers to help them manage their land with wildlife in mind, planting hedgerows and maintaining field margins.

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Although hares are not generally seen in great numbers, there are at least four collective nouns for them – a down, a drove, a flick and a husk.