leveret
In March they go mad and this is when we may see them boxing with each other; though this perceived madness is just a natural part of their life cycle and is caused by a spring-time desire to mate. When two hares box it is generally caused by a male (buck) pursuing a female (doe) who is not yet ready to mate and she will give him what for by punching him around the ears!
It is the ears which are one of the best identification features of the brown hare. Superficially hares are similar to rabbits but their ears have distinctively dark tips which are lacking in rabbits. Hares are much larger than rabbits, often looking like dogs. They run instead of hopping and often stand tall on their legs, looking quite thin and bony.
Most rabbits dig burrows, though some will live above ground in thickets; all hares live above ground and simply make a shallow depression, known as a 'form', in the grass at the edge of a field in which to give birth.
Young hares are known as leverets and they must suckle from their mother regularly in the first few weeks of life. Between suckling their mother may leave her young for a few hours at a time and during that time the leverets will stay stock-still relying on their camouflage for safety. This strategy can also seem a little mad; the young hare in the photograph allowed me to get within a few inches of it without moving.
The young hare pictured had been born in the garden of a chalet in Suffolk but generally brown hares are more at home in large arable fields; but where your garden backs onto open land there is always a chance that you might find one of these leverets in the summertime. Brown hares may raise three litters each summer so keep an eye out for their leverets over the next couple of months.